SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES:
Become A Disease Detective: Discover Public Health!,
The University of Texas at Austin, April 2008
DAVID CARPENTER, Ph.D. MBA, Southern Illinois University.
- Presentation: CSI-Public Health: Tackling Emerging Diseases and More in the Laboratory
Biography: David Carpenter is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield, Illinois. His current teaching responsibilities focus on infectious diseases basic sciences education and training of medical students and graduate students, with special emphasis on diseases of public health significance.
Prior to joining the SIU School of Medicine, Dr. Carpenter was Director of Laboratories for the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), a position he held from 1986 to January, 2000. In this position, he had responsibility for directing all operations of the IDPH clinical and environmental laboratories within the IDPH Division of Laboratories.
From 1977 to 1986, he was employed by BAXTER Healthcare of Deerfield, IL. He held positions in the BAXTER Dialysis Therapies division, conducting marketing research in support of new product development, and in the BAXTER R&D Division, managing laboratory units responsible for assuring and maintaining sterility of Baxter’s marketed products.
Prior to moving to Illinois, he was a Research Microbiologist at the US Army R&D Laboratories in Natick, Massachusetts, where he conducted research on processes to mitigate the microbial spoilage of food rations.
Dr. Carpenter received his BS in Mycology/Microbiology from the University of Vermont, and his PhD in Microbiology from the University of New Hampshire. Following, he held a Postdoctoral Research Associateship of the NAS/NRC. In 1986, he received an MBA in Marketing from Lake Forest College Graduate School of Management in Lake Forest, Illinois.
Dr. Carpenter has authored several scientific publications and holds a U.S. patent for a medical device. He is a member of many professional societies: American Society for Microbiology; Illinois Public Health Association; American Association of Bioanalysts; American Public Health Association where he served as chair of the Laboratory section in 1998-2000. In 1995, he was President of the Association of Public Health Laboratories. From 2003-2006, he was a member of the USDA National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection. He also served on the Advisory Committee to the Director of National Center for Environmental Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
ANDREW CODLIN, BS, University of Texas School of Public Health
Brownsville Regional Campus
Biography: Andrew Codlin graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in May 2008 and is currently pursuing a Masters of Public Health degree at the University of Texas School of Public Health Brownsville Regional Campus with a concentration in Global Health. While at UT Austin, he developed and piloted a tool to aid child-care facilities in the tracking and updating of immunization records as part of the Public Health Internship program. He is currently conducting a chart review of hospitalized H1N1 influenza patients in order to determine the risk factors for developing respiratory distresses following infection in Mexican-Americans. In Summer 2010, he will travel to Pakistan to conduct a study of the association between diabetes and TB / MDRTB. He plans to pursue a PhD in Epidemiology in Fall 2011.
MeLisa Creamer, BA, University of Texas School of Public Health
Austin Regional Campus
Biography: Ms. Creamer has been an MPH student at the Austin Regional Campus of the University of Texas School of Public Health since Fall 2008. She will begin the PhD in Epidemiology in Fall 2010. Her thesis topic was “is forced sex significantly associated with depression and/or suicide attempts.” Ms. Creamer’s research interests are in high-risk adolescent behaviors, including sexual behaviors, mental health, substance abuse, alcohol, and tobacco. She holds a BA in Sociology from American University in Washington, DC. Ms. Creamer also works as a graduate assistant providing support to the Academic Affairs Coordinator and the Regional Dean.
CAROL DAVIS, MSPH, Texas Department of State Health Services
Biography: Carol M. Davis has worked as an epidemiologist at the local, regional and state level in Texas. She currently works for the Texas Department of State Health Services as the lead Epidemiologist for respiratory and invasive diseases. Her routine duties include infectious disease surveillance, outbreak investigation, health data analysis, and technical assistance for regional and local health departments. Carol earned her Masters of Science in Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology at the Texas A&M University System Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health where she graduated with honors. Carol first became interested in public health while she was researching graduate schools. She wanted to find a program where she could study the impact of diseases upon populations without having to focus on the clinical aspects of disease progression in individuals. Epidemiology was a perfect fit.
SUSAN P. FISHER-HOCH, M.D., UT School of Public Health,
Brownsville Regional Campus
Biography: Sue Fisher-Hoch was born in England in 1940. After completing High School she attended the Sorbonne in Paris, then continued linguistic and cultural studies in Rome. She gained admission to the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine in 1970 at a time when women, particularly married women were not offered places, and was later given the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson fellowship, in memory of the first English woman doctor. She graduated First Class in 1975 with seven prizes for excellence. After internship with Dr. Sheila Sherlock at the Royal Free Hospital, she joined the Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford to train in virology. Between 1978 and 1982 she taught medical students, ran virology laboratories and conducted research, publishing several papers. By 1981 she had membership of the Royal College of Pathology in Virology, a Master’s degree in Microbiology with distinction and a doctoral degree in epidemiology (MD) from London University. Her doctoral thesis findings were published in the Lancet and were the first identification of hot water systems as the source of outbreaks of Legionnaire’s disease, as opposed to air conditioning. In 1982 she obtained a Wellcome Trust Fellowship to study the pathophysiology of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in primates in the Porton Down BSL4 facilities using biological respirators. (BSL4 or BSL4 is the highest level of containment that exists, used for the most dangerous viruses such as Ebola and Lassa.) This led to better understanding of the processes involved in shock and death in Ebola. In 1982 she spent three months in Bangkok, working on treatment of rabies using intrathecal ribavirin. In 1984 she was invited to the CDC, Atlanta space suit BSL4 laboratory and published her findings on Lassa fever virus in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, providing key information on the pathophysiology of Ebola and Lassa viruses. Back in England she was central to the discovery that the parvovirus B19 was responsible for Fifth’s Disease (Slapped Cheek Syndrome).
In 1985, she moved to the Central Public Health Laboratory to head the VHF unit, with its newly constructed glove box BSL4 laboratory. During this time she spent four months at the CDC Lassa Fever project in Sierra Leone to study the hematology of shock and bleeding in Lassa virus infected patients. She was at this time the UK representative on various WHO working groups, particularly hemorrhagic fevers and biosafety. Because the restrictive attitude of the UK authorities to work on BSL4 agents she moved in early 1986 to the CDC, Atlanta, where she remained for eight years, becoming Deputy Branch Chief, Special Pathogens Laboratory, and serving as Acting Branch Chief. Her responsibilities included primate studies of pathophysiology, vaccine evaluation, clinical and epidemiological advice for the United States and other countries, and supervision of the Sierra Leone Lassa Fever Research Unit. She published several major papers, notably efficacy of a Lassa Virus vaccine, comparative pathophysiology of Ebola isolates, and longitudinal studies of Ebola virus infections in monkeys. She was one of the team responsible for opening and operating the newest BSL4 laboratory at CDC.
Dr. Fisher-Hoch traveled widely and gained extensive experience working in China, Thailand, Indonesia and several countries in Africa, conducting studies and publishing reports. While with the CDC, she investigated outbreaks of Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever in South Africa, Senegal and Saudi Arabia, where she gave an invited lecture in Mecca. She investigated devastating outbreaks of Lassa fever in Nigeria. She played a major part in the investigation of the Reston outbreak in the US in monkeys imported from the Philippines, visiting Indonesia and the Netherlands to try to track the source of the virus, and then returning to the laboratory to perform primate studies. She was appointed an Adjunct Professor at Emory University, School of Public Health during this time, and taught students in their MPH program. She was responsible for supervision of field studies, including clinical trials of antiviral agents, and was involved in audit of a trial, and prepared study protocols for FDA approval.
In 1991, Dr. Fisher-Hoch moved to the division of Bacterial and Mycological Diseases at CDC, and broadened her experience in epidemiology and biostatistics. In 1992, she married Dr. Joseph McCormick, who was by that time with the Malaria Branch at CDC, and in 1993, they both moved to Karachi, Pakistan, to return to the field, taking up positions at the Aga Khan University. Dr. Fisher-Hoch was Research Professor, supervising the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory, the largest in Pakistan. She established a molecular epidemiology and molecular virology laboratory, and worked and published studies on important pathogens, such as hepatitis C (HCV), tuberculosis, typhoid and cholera. She identified and advised on an outbreak of CCHF in Quetta, Pakistan, and investigated on an outbreak of cholera in Gilgit, Northern Areas. She provided consultation to the Director of the Aga Khan Health Services, Kenya, on HIV and blood transfusions in hospitals in Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa and Dar-es-Salaam. At the Aga Khan Hospital, Dr. Fisher-Hoch has also gained further teaching experience, designing and teaching a virology course for medical students, tutoring and encouraging young faculty, and teaching on short regional epidemiology training courses.
Early in 1997, she and her husband moved to Lyon, France, where she took charge of the design, building and scientific program of a new BSL4 suit laboratory, financed by Charles Mérieux. This is now the most technologically advanced laboratory for handling dangerous viruses in the world. She launched a comprehensive scientific program with collaborators in Europe, the United States and Africa. The President of France, M. J. Chirac, officially inaugurated the laboratory in March 1999. Dr Fisher-Hoch has been awarded the Chevalier de Legion d’Honneur, Le Medaille de Lyon by the mayor and former Prime Minister of France, Raymond Barre, and Le Prix Scientifique du Group Paris-Lyon, for her work in designing, constructing, and rendering operational the BSL4 laboratory of Lyon. The laboratory was given official permission to operate at BSL4 on June 16th, 2000. During this period Dr. Fisher-Hoch participated in a meeting in Novosibirsk, Siberia, to try to develop scientific programs with the BSL4 laboratory there, and also was involved in reviews of the Nipah outbreak in Malasia, and worked with a team in Gabon performing immunological studies on patient samples from a recent Ebola outbreak in that country.
In January 2001, she moved to Brownsville, Texas, with her husband who was appointed Assistant Dean for the new Brownsville campus of the UT School of Public Health. She is a full professor in the new school. Since then she has established a solid research program in diabetes and complications of diabetes, including tuberculosis. This program has attracted solid NIH funding, and has made major advances in understanding of these diseases in minority populations. She has established a molecular microbiology laboratory, with a BSL3 for handling pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis and West Nile Virus.
Dr. Fisher-Hoch speaks fluent French, and Italian, and some Spanish. She carries both American and British passports. She has over the years contributed many chapters to major textbooks, written review articles, reviewed for several journals, and has more than 100 major publications. She has written invited editorials for the Lancet, and provided expert advice to the lay press and television, being featured personally in both media, and in books dealing with hemorrhagic fevers. With her husband, Joe McCormick she has published a popular account (Level 4, Virus Hunters of the CDC, now published in nine languages) of their adventures which has sold more than 70,000 copies, was translated into seven languages, and has been reissued in hard cover and paperback by Barnes and Noble.
VINCENT P. FONSECA, MD, MPH, Texas Department of State Health Services
Biography: Since May 2006, Dr. Vince Fonseca has been the Texas State Epidemiologist at the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). Before coming to DSHS, he spent 9 years in the Population Health Support Division (PHSD) of the Air Force Medical Service. PHSD is a center of expertise in preventive medicine and managed care. It is a think tank to promote evidence-based medicine and an effective, efficient managed-care system.
Dr. Fonseca was a preventive medicine physician at the US Army Center for Health Promotion as the Chief, Health, Fitness and Performance Branch. He also served with the United Nations Mission in Haiti as the preventive medicine officer, and was the disease surveillance physician at the office of the US Army Surgeon General. He has also been a medical director and a primary care physician at Army health facilities in Germany. He completed a public health and general preventive medicine residency at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and he is board-certified in Public Health and General Preventive Medicine. He received his MD from Boston University, a Master of Public Health in quantitative methods from Harvard University, and a BA in psychology from Rice University.
Dr. Fonseca has co-authored articles in: JAMA on morbidity surveillance following Hurricane Andrew; American Journal of Preventive Medicine on cardiorespiratory fitness; American Journal of Health Promotion on weight gain as a barrier to smoking cessation; Tobacco Control on the short-term health effects of smoking in a young, healthy population; Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on costs of smoking in the Air Force; Annals of Epidemiology on relative risk in cohort studies, Military Medicine on topics in unplanned pregnancy, breast cancer screening, costs of overweight, prevention of weight gain, and healthcare system workload trends and expenditures; Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine on clinical preventive services; in Disease Management on integrating behavioral healthcare into primary care and in Professional Psychology: Research and Practice on a clinical guide to manage suicidal patients.
ALLISON FOSTER, MBA, CAE, Association of Schools of Public Health
Biography: Ms. Foster has been at the Association of Schools of Public Health for over twelve years and is responsible for membership functions of the association, including working with schools of public health on student recruitment activities. One of Ms. Foster’s main functions is to manage the schools of public health centralized application service, SOPHAS. Ms. Foster’s background is in risk management and finance but she has spent the bulk of her career working in association management.
LINDA GAUL, Ph.D., MPH, Texas Department of State Health Services
Biography: Dr. Gaul taught general biology courses at the University of Texas at Austin for 11 years. Since 2001, she has been the leader of the Foodborne Illness Team at the Texas Department of State Health Services Central Office in Austin. Dr. Gaul oversees surveillance and investigations of 14 reportable infectious conditions, leads foodborne and waterborne disease case and outbreak investigations, and supports local and regional health department staff in all aspects of food and waterborne disease control.
MATTHEW GOLDSHORE, MPH, MSI, George Washington University
- Presentation: Ready to Take the Next Step? Graduate Education in Public Health
Biography: Matt Goldshore graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2007 and is currently an MD candidate at the George Washington University, School of Medicine and Health Sciences. He completed a Master of Public Health degree in the Department of Epidemiology and a graduate certificate in the Department of Global Health at the George Washington University, School of Public Health and Health Services in 2009. His graduating thesis was titled, “Comparative evaluation of two data collection systems for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF).” While in Austin, he participated in the Public Health Internship program at the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department in the Tuberculosis Control unit. His research focuses on the social epidemiology of Maternal and Child health in both developed and developing countries.
HANNAH GOULD, Ph.D. MS, President’s Malaria Initiative
- Presentations:
- Once Bitten, Twice Shy: Making Progress Towards Malaria Elimination
- Working in Global Health: What Does it Take?
Biography: Hannah Gould is an Epidemiologist with the President’s Malaria Initiative at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, GA. She received her BS in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology from the University of Texas at Austin (1996), her MS in Medical Entomology from the University of California at Riverside (2000), and her PhD in Epidemiology and Public Health from Yale University (2005). Her PhD research focused on the development of monoclonal antibodies to treat West Nile virus infection. After completing her PhD, Hannah joined CDC as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer in the Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases in Fort Collins, CO, where she worked on plague, Lyme disease, yellow fever, Rift Valley fever, and tick-borne relapsing fever. She then spent two years as an epidemiologist in the FoodNet program in the Enteric Diseases Epidemiology Branch where she worked on surveillance and epidemiologic studies of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, Yersinia, and Clostridium difficile. Currently, she works on malaria prevention and control in sub-Saharan Africa and on methods to evaluate the impact of malaria control efforts on childhood mortality.
WILLIAM H. HARVEY, Ph.D., Earlham College
Biography: William H. Harvey, Ph.D. is Emeritus Professor of Biology at Earlham College, Richmond, IN. Over his 30+ years on the biology faculty he taught microbiology, immunology, molecular genetics and served as the Chief Health Careers Advisor. Dr. Harvey has served in leadership roles and board membership for the National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions, NAAHP and is currently serving as the NAAHP liaison to ASPH where he has served as part of the planning team for SOPHAS. Dr. Harvey’s training is in virology, especially those viruses associated with animal tumors. His research specialty is the genetics of human leukemia especially hairy cell leukemia. He has a keen interest in emerging viral and bacterial pandemics.
D.A. HENDERSON, MD, University of Pittsburgh
Biography: D.A. Henderson, M.D., is currently professor of medicine and public health at the University of Pittsburgh and a distinguished scholar at the Center for Biosecurity in Baltimore. He is a professor and former dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. He served as Life Sciences Adviser to President G. H. W. Bush and was the first director of the newly created Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness in the Department of Health and Human Services. The recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the National Medal of Science plus many other awards, he has received the Japan Prize and has been knighted by the King of Thailand.
PHILIP HUANG, M.D., MPH, Austin /Travis County Health and Human Services Department
Biography: Dr. Philip Huang is currently the Medical Director and Health Authority for the Austin/Travis County Health Department. Prior to this, he served as Medical Director for Chronic Disease Prevention at the Texas Department of State Health Services and Chief of the Bureau of Chronic Disease and Tobacco Prevention at the former Texas Department of Health (TDH) for over 15 years where his responsibilities included oversight of state activities related to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, asthma and tobacco use prevention. Dr. Huang received his undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from Rice University, his MD from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, and his Master’s in Public Health from Harvard with a concentration in Health Policy and Management. While at Harvard, Dr. Huang led the successful movement to have Harvard divest of its tobacco stocks. Dr. Huang completed his residency training in Family Medicine at Brackenridge Hospital in Austin. He served 2 years as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officer with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention assigned to the Illinois Department of Public Health where he conducted epidemiologic studies in chronic disease and infectious disease outbreak investigations. He is an author or co-author of numerous publications related to chronic disease and tobacco use prevention. Dr. Huang is Board Certified in Family Medicine.
DAVID LURIE, M.B.A., Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/health/
Biography: This combined City/County Agency provides public health services, animal services, workforce development, day labor, youth development, child care, and services for the homeless; along with a comprehensive range of contracted community-based health and social services including basic needs, mental health and substance abuse services. The public health services include community health assessment, health promotion/healthy community initiatives, clinical services, health screening, emergency preparedness, communicable disease control, HIV services and environmental health. David has served in various other community health leadership positions including Director of Public Health for Seattle/King County and Commissioner of Health for the City of Minneapolis.
He is chairman of the Texas Public Health Coalition and Past President of the Texas Association Local Health Officials and has served on state and national public health committees focusing on health promotion, disease prevention, legislation, tobacco, and emergency preparedness. David is a former President of the U. S. Conference of Local Health Officers.
MEHRAN MASSOUDI, Ph.D. MPH, United States Public Health Service
Biography: Mehran S. Massoudi, PhD, MPH, is the Chief Science Officer/Associate Director for Science in the Scientific Education and Professional Development Program Office, SEPDPO (proposed), Office of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, at CDC in Atlanta and a commissioned officer in the US Public Health Service. CAPT Massoudi oversees the scientific and clearance issues in the Program Office, as well as being responsible for the emergency coordination activities. He also is the lead for the CDC-Tuskegee Public Health Ethics Fellowship, a collaboration between SEPDPO and the CDC Public Health Ethics Office.
Before joining SEPDPO, CAPT Massoudi was in Afghanistan from 2005-2007 overseeing the development of the Afghan Public Health Institute (APHI), Ministry of Public Health, Afghanistan. His duties included training and mentoring the staff in APHI, as well as assisting with the Ministry response to the Avian Influenza outbreaks in 2005 and 2006. Prior to his duties in Afghanistan, CAPT Massoudi was the SARS Surveillance lead in the National Center for Infectious Diseases, CDC from 2003-2005. In 2001-2002, CAPT Massoudi was the science advisor to the Smallpox Lead, National Immunization Program (NIP), CDC. He authored a paper that was utilized in the smallpox preparedness activities and planning showing that post-exposure prophylaxis with the smallpox vaccine is effective in preventing or reducing the risk of smallpox. CAPT Massoudi started his CDC career as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer in 1994, assigned to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, CDC in Cincinnati OH, before moving to Atlanta to join NIP in 1996. CAPT Massoudi has done four international deployments to Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Egypt for CDC/World Health Organization as part of the Polio Eradication Initiative.
CAPT Massoudi is also an adjunct assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH). CAPT Massoudi received his doctorate in Epidemiology and a master of public health degree from the University of Pittsburgh, GSPH.
JOSEPH MCCORMICK, M.D., UT School of Public Health,
Brownsville Regional Campus
Biography: Joseph B. McCormick is Regional Dean and James H. Steele Professor, UT Houston School of Public Health, with responsibility for developing the new Brownsville campus. He took that position in January 2001. He was born in Tennessee in 1942 and raised in rural Indiana. He obtained a scholarship to Florida Southern College from which he graduated in 1964 with a double major in chemistry and mathematics, with Honors and with the outstanding awards in both subjects. Though he had been awarded a National Science Foundation grant in physics and accepted for the Peace Corps, he elected instead to attend the Free University of Brussels, Belgium, for a year to acquire sufficient French to enable him to take up a position teaching sciences and mathematics in a secondary school in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo). The school was in a remote area of Zaire, and in the turbulence of immediate post independence in that country, this period gave him the wider experience of life he was seeking. He worked in the local hospital, which gave him an introduction to medicine and particularly an interest in health issues in an international setting. With this in mind, he returned to the United States in 1967 and entered Duke Medical School from which he graduated in 1971, having also obtained an MS from Harvard School of Public Health in 1970, and receiving the Upjohn Award for Community Health. During his medical training he spent two summers, one in Guatemala, where he learnt and used Spanish and in Haiti, where he was able to use his French. His internship and residency were in pediatrics at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia under Dr. C. Everett Koop. In 1974, Dr. McCormick joined the US Public Health Commissioned Corps and became an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer (EIS), Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Atlanta, GA, with the Special Pathogens Branch, Division of Bacterial Diseases, and became acting chief in his second year. He was also a fellow in the Preventive Medicine Residency Program at the Centers for Disease Control. He was involved at this stage with meningococcal meningitis in particular, spending extensive time over two years in Brazil, where he learnt sufficient Portuguese to communicate fluently. On completion of his epidemiology training, he stayed with CDC, moving to the Division of Viral Diseases. He was sent to West Africa, to found the CDC Lassa Fever Research Project, Sierra Leone, West Africa. Just as he was setting up this project, he was called to go to the Republic of Congo (then Zaire) to join the team investigating the Ebola epidemic of 1976, the very first epidemic that introduced Ebola virus to the world. His knowledge of this country and of the French (and lesser extent Lingala) languages allowed him to undertake the difficult task of traveling through remote areas of northern Zaire to reach Sudan in an attempt to establish a connection with a second, concurrent outbreak in Sudan. Again in 1979, he was called on by WHO to lead the investigation of a second Ebola hemorrhagic fever outbreak in Sudan. He returned after this investigation to Sierra Leone, living and working for three years in the Eastern Province, conducting extensive and definitive studies of the epidemiology and treatment of Lassa hemorrhagic fever. Data from these years were published in landmark reports in the New England Journal of Medicine in the form of a definitive effective treatment for this disease, and in the Journal of Infectious Diseases which ran a series of four papers discussing the clinical disease, laboratory characteristics, epidemiology and pathophysiology all in the same issue. More than 1500 patients with laboratory confirmed Lassa fever were treated over 13 years, and the Project generated a number of other major publications. The Project is unfortunately no longer functional since rebels from Liberia overran most of Sierra Leone, and the Eastern Province was particularly badly affected.
On his return to Atlanta in 1982, Dr. McCormick became Chief, Special Pathogens Branch, Division of Viral Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control, and rapidly attained the rank of Medical Director (Navy Captain 06). He was director of the Biosafety Level 4 laboratory at CDC for 8 years, and oversaw the design and inaugurated the current BSL 4 facility at CDC. He was also director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers. In 1982, he identified the virus, now called Hantavirus, that causes a worldwide hemorrhagic disease, and causes the Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome in the Americas. During this time he became involved in AIDS and led the original team that did the first AIDS investigation in Africa and established the Project SIDA in Kinshasa, Zaire, and later the Project Retro-Ci in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. He co-authored numerous papers in major journals, including Science, and established a key point in the natural history of HIV infection in Africa, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, by testing specimens saved in his laboratory from the 1976 Ebola outbreak including isolation of the oldest HIV virus. Dr. McCormick was the principle founder in 1983 of the Projet SIDA in Kinshasa, Zaire, the earliest and best-established prospective study of AIDS in Africa, and subsequently a similar project (Projet RetroCi) in Abidjan. In 1988 he was given sabbatical leave, to attend Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation, La Jolla, Ca. where he worked in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Oldstone on the molecular virology and immunology of arenaviruses and HIV.
In 1990-91, Dr. McCormick elected to consolidate his work in HIV by moving to be assistant to the Director, Division of HIV/AIDS at CDC. He widened the scope of his interests and experience by taking a position in the Malaria Branch as Chief, Immunobiology Activity, Malaria Branch, Division of Parasitic Diseases, CDC. During this period he established a cohort study of malaria in infants and young children, with a cellular and molecular biology oriented field laboratory facility in Kisumu, Kenya. This study has generated seminal data on the natural history of immunity to malaria in young children, and has now also become a major site for HIV research (directed again by Dr. Kevin DeCock who was an EIS with Dr. McCormick in 1985-1987 and together they founded the program in Abidjan, Ivory Coast). Dr. DeCock is now the director of the WHO world AIDS program. In 1993, Dr. McCormick was recruited to take up the post of Chairman, Community Health Sciences Department, at the Aga Khan University Medical School (AKU) in Karachi, Pakistan. His brief was to reorganize and reorient this large department toward a stronger scientific public health base, particularly the application of epidemiology and biostatistics to a variety of health problems. With additional recruitment of a CDC trained epidemiologist, and a biostatistician he established an epidemiology program, resembling the CDC Field Epidemiology Training Programs, but built on an academic private university model, with a Masters’ degree in Epidemiology. The existing programs in urban and rural health and women and child health were broadened and brought under more rigorous scientific methodology. Several young Pakistanis have now completed studies on a variety of issues including infectious disease, maternal and child health care, vaccination studies, nutrition, urban health, occupational health, violence and women’s rights. He also established the first master’s program in epidemiology in Pakistan, and the first Family Medicine Department. These programs continue to flourish despite the difficult political situation in Karachi. In collaboration with his wife, Dr. Susan Fisher-Hoch, a molecular epidemiology laboratory was established to support field studies. Major funding was obtained (6 grants totaling 2.5 million dollars over 2 years). At least 45 peer reviewed scientific papers have now been published from this period. Dr. McCormick has also gained experience in teaching both undergraduate medical students and faculty at AKU. He also had extensive experience with public health research programs in rural areas as well as the large city of Karachi.
Dr. McCormick left Pakistan in early 1997 and moved to France where he was Professor at the Pasteur Institute in Paris and the Creator and Director of the Corporate Department of Epidemiology for Aventis Pasteur, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer. Together with his wife, who was its director, he designed and oversaw the construction of the first BSL4 laboratory in France (for which his wife received the Legion d’Honneur from President Chirac). He and his wife decided, after 8 years abroad, to return to the US in late 2000, and on January 1st. 2001, he took up the position of Regional Dean, University of Texas School of Public Health, with responsibility for the new Brownsville campus. The choice of this location was influenced by the opportunity to continue to work with disadvantaged communities in a multi-cultural, multilingual setting. In the first 2 years of his tenure there he worked with colleagues to establish the first Hispanic Health Research Center, funded by the NIH and focused on the health issues of Hispanic people. He built a faculty of 10 and over 50 staff supported the development of a strong research program focused on the health issues of the Lower Rio Grande Valley people. He has also been instrumental in developing a major focus of TB research with NIH funding in the LRGV. Over the past 2 1/2 years he has raised over $8 million in research funds from the NIH. Several papers are published or in preparation from this period of program development.
Dr. McCormick speaks and reads fluently in French, and also has some fluency in Spanish, Portuguese, German and Krio. His many awards include Exceptional Capability Promotion, Meritorious Service Medal, 3 PHS Citations, a unit commendation and the Foreign Service award of the USPHS, and the Friends of Public Health Award from the Texas Department of Health, and in 2005 University of Texas Chancellor’s Health Fellow in Public Health. He was awarded Humanitarian Awards from his undergraduate Alma Mater, Florida Southern College in 2000, and from his Medical School, Duke University, in 2001. Prior to his current academic position he held several university appointments including Visiting Professor at Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation, La Jolla, Adjunct Professor at Emory University and at University of North Carolina, and Member of the Group d'Etudes de Virologie de L'Institut Pasteur, and now full professor at the Aga Khan University. He has conducted more than 30 consultations with organizations such as the Pan American Health Organization, the US.-Japan Panel on Leprosy, and the Institut Pasteur Outre-Mer, and has been an invited speaker and chairman at many symposia and meetings, including the 2nd International Conference on AIDS, the Meetings of the Japanese NIH and the 7th. International Congress of Virology, Berlin. He has served as consultant to WHO in viral hemorrhagic fevers, smallpox eradication, antiviral agents and AIDS. In 1985 he organized and co-chaired the first WHO meeting on AIDS in Africa on the African Continent.
His activities in viral hemorrhagic fevers and major contributions to the science and epidemiology of emerging pathogens has been aired on television, including programs by CNN and BBC, newspapers and periodicals and in several books for the lay reader. He recently participated in a new TV documentary The Age of AIDS on the beginning of the AIDS epidemic that was first aired in 2006. Dr. McCormick is a member of several scientific organizations and has published over 200 scientific publications involving co-authors from over 20 different countries and include many seminal papers in AIDS and viral hemorrhagic fevers, and a number of review articles and textbook chapters. He has acted as reviewer for many journals.
McCormick and his wife Susan raised 3 children who are pursuing professional careers. They also published an account of their adventures as virus hunters in: Level 4, Virus Hunters of the CDC (Barnes and Noble). This book has now been published in 6 languages and has sold over 100,000 copies in the US alone. It has and continues to be very influential among young people entering careers in science, and Dr. McCormick and his wife are frequently invited to speak to groups, such as the student’s organization of the Duke MD/PhD program, and students from those programs visit Brownsville to gain work experience with science in the community. Joseph McCormick is an accomplished amateur pianist, and enjoys outdoor activities such as running, back packing, skiing and fly fishing.
BRIAN MENEGAZ, BS, Association of Public Health Laboratories & The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Biography: Brian Menegaz is an Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) training fellow at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a University of Texas at Austin microbiology graduate and former UT Public Health Intern. Brian currently works in the Division of Parasitic Disease’s Reference Laboratory designing serodiagnostics for Trypanosoma cruzi, the protozoan flagellate that causes Chagas disease
CAITLIN MEREDITH, MPH, DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS
Biography: Caitlin Meredith is an epidemiologist whose first assignment with Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) took her to the Darfur region of Sudan at the height of the crisis in 2004, where she used her expertise to track trends in diseases with epidemic potential. Responding to the needs of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the south and west of Darfur, MSF ran primary health care, nutrition, surgical and emergency preparedness programs in one of its largest emergency responses to date. Ms. Meredith helped to implement a mass measles vaccination campaign for tens of thousands of IDPs. In 2006, Ms. Meredith resumed her work with MSF, conducting an epidemiological survey of an area in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a region that has been host to ongoing and often intense conflict for a decade. Her work helped MSF to improve its programs for the local people who are frequently the targets of violence and have limited access to health care. Ms. Meredith has a master’s degree in public health from Tulane University, where her focus was on HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to her contributions to MSF, she has conducted HIV/AIDS research for various non-governmental organizations based in Kenya, where she also worked in refugee 230 camps for Somali refugees with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. She currently works as a health planner in the Immunization and Refugee Program for Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services based in Austin.
NATALIE MILLS, B.S., Southern Illinois University
- Presentation: CSI: Public Health-- Tackling Emerging Diseases and More in the Laboratory
Biography: Natalie Mills graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in May 2008 and is currently pursuing a Masters of Public Health Laboratory Science at Southern Illinois University. While at UT Austin she participated in a semester long study in affiliation with the Texas Department of State Health Services that studied the Prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus on Surfaces in a University Setting. Currently she is working as a graduate intern at the Illinois Department of Public Health where she is responsible for specimens in the Enteric department. Natalie plans on pursuing a laboratory career in a public health-related field when she graduates.
ERIC MILLER, Ph.D., MSPH, Texas Department of State Health Services
Biography: Eric A. Miller is a former Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). After EIS he worked as an epidemiologist for the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities for the CDC and recently moved back to Texas as the coordinator of the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) in the Texas Department of State Health Services. During EIS he conducted wide-ranging investigations, including racial/ethnic disparities in tobacco use and disparities in complications from diabetes along the Texas-Mexico border as well as non-chronic disease investigations such as foodborne outbreaks and post-hurricane surveillance.
He received his undergraduate degree in biology with emphasis on genetics and cell biology from the University of Minnesota. He then attended the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and received a masters degree and doctorate in epidemiology.
SUSAN NEILL, Ph.D., M.B.A., TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES
Biography: Susan Neill received her BA in Microbiology from the University of Texas at Austin, her MS and PhD from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, and her MBA from St. Edwards University in Austin. She has spent the past twenty-one years in public health as the Section Chief of the Rabies-Arbovirus Section, Branch Supervisor of the Medical Virology Branch, Division Director of the Biochemistry and Genetics Branch, and for the past seven years as the Director of the Laboratory Services Section
SHARYN PARKS, Ph.D., MPH, Epidemic Intelligence Service
Biography: Dr. Parks is currently an EIS Officer assigned to the Texas Department of State Health Services where her work is focused primarily on Maternal and Child Health. Some of her projects during EIS have included an investigation of a cluster of 169 unexplained infant deaths in Texas, development of a survey of infant feeding practices among Texas mothers in the WIC program, and most recently, an investigation into an outbreak of pneumonia among inmates at a Federal prison.
Prior to EIS, Dr. Parks obtained a PhD in psychiatric epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and an MPH in Epidemiology at the Saint Louis University School of Public Health. In addition to maternal and child health, her research interests include risk and protective factors for suicide, child maltreatment, and violence against women.
SUSAN PENFIELD, M.D., Texas Department of State Health Services
Biography: Dr. Penfield is currently manager of the Infectious Disease Control Unit in the Community Preparedness Section of the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and serves as the Texas TB Controller. She has the privilege of working with amazing colleagues in zoonosis control, tuberculosis control and prevention, infectious disease epidemiology and surveillance, pandemic influenza planning, all hazards preparedness, and the odd hurricane. Previously she served as director of the Children with Special Health Care Needs Division at the Texas Department of Health (now DSHS); as faculty member in the Austin Pediatric Education Program; and as a pediatrician in Austin-Travis County Health and Human Services Department community clinics. She earned a B.A. in Biochemistry from Rice University and an M.D. degree from Baylor College of Medicine; and completed a pediatrics residency in Austin with the Central Texas Medical Foundation.
“New challenges, old diseases, constant change, great partners, and more good information than one could ever learn -- public health is never boring!”
EVA PERLMAN, M.P.H., Association of Public Health Laboratories
Biography: Ms. Perlman has over 20 years of experience in public health and non-profit association management, with a concentration on training and continuing education. Currently she serves as Senior Director of Professional Development for the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL). She provides leadership, guidance and oversight in the operations, administration and coordination of APHL sponsored workforce development, training and continuing education initiatives, including the National Center for Public Health Laboratory Leadership (NCPHLL), the National Laboratory Training Network (NLTN); and, the Emerging Infectious Diseases Fellowship and Traineeship Programs. Ms. Perlman serves on the Exhibitors Advisory Council for the American Public Health Association. She received her MPH at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, and her BA at Case Western Reserve University.
DENNIS PERROTTA, Ph.D., National Center for Emergency Medical Preparedness and Response at Texas A&M Health Science Center in Houston
- Presentation: Public Health Jeopardy!
Biography: Dennis M. Perrotta, PhD is Associate Director for Emerging Infectious Diseases of the National Center for Emergency Medical Preparedness and Response at the Texas A&M Health Science Center in Houston, Texas. Prior to this, he was Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Biosecurity at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston from 2004-2007. Until his retirement in late 2004, he was the Texas State Epidemiologist, and Scientific Director of the Center for Public Health Preparedness and Response, Texas Department of Health where he worked for nearly 20 years.
He received his undergraduate degree in biology/chemistry from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas in 1973. Dennis attended the University of Texas at San Antonio where he received his Master’s of Science in biological sciences in 1977. From 1979 through 1982, he was completing his doctoral degree in epidemiology with minors in environmental science and biometry at the University of Texas, School of Public Health in Houston. Since that time, he has been successfully board certified in infection control (4 times, each 5 years).
Dr. Perrotta worked as the assistant state epidemiologist for the State of Utah (1982-1986) until he returned to Texas to be the environmental epidemiologist at the Texas Department of Health. Over the next 20 years, he served as the bureau chief of epidemiology, the scientific director of the Center for Public Health Preparedness and Response, and the State Epidemiologist, all at the Texas Department of Health.
Having worked in public health for more than 25 years, his career interests span a wide range of subject areas from bioterrorism, asthma, influenza, environmental health to infectious disease epidemiology. He has served as President of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists and as President of the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board. He served on the 1997-99 Institute of Medicine Committee to Improve Civilian Medical Response to Chemical and Biological Terrorism and led state health department efforts regarding bioterrorism preparedness. He is Adjunct Associate Professor of Community Health Nursing at the University of Texas, School of Nursing where he teaches graduate level epidemiology as well as the Texas A&M School of Rural Public Health and the University of North Texas School of Public Health. Dr Perrotta recently served on the CDC Healthcare Infections Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) and was the principal investigator on two major bioterrorism grants as well as a CDC Emerging Infections Program grant. He is a Fellow of the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America and member of numerous professional organizations.
In his current role as Associate Research Scientist, Dr. Perrotta works to improve the competency of the current public health workforce, to encourage students to investigate public health as a career, and providing varied advice and counsel to local, state and federal public health agencies.
He was the 2005 recipient of the National Epidemiology Award, also known as “The Pump Handle Award” for outstanding achievement in the field of applied epidemiology.
ARACELI REY, MPH, United States Public Health Service
- Presentation: “Beating Back the Devil”: The CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service
Biography: LCDR Araceli Rey is a Commissioned Officer in the United States Public Health Service. During 2005–2007, she was an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). During that time she was stationed at the Maine State Health Department, where she worked on a broad range of projects to include injury prevention research, outbreak investigations, coordination of vaccination clinics and evaluation of surveillance and disease control programs. She also spent time overseas assisting with a clinical trial in Madagascar. Following EIS, Araceli worked at CDC’s National Center for Public Health Informatics in the Division of Integrated Surveillance Systems and Services. In this role, she served as the subject matter expert on nationally notifiable diseases and program manager of the outbreak management program. Here, she developed implementation plans for the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) and collaborated with internal and external partners on informatics projects concentrating on integrated surveillance and GIS. LCDR Rey is currently working for CDC’s Office of Public Health Preparedness and Emergency Response as a Career Epidemiology Field Officer. She is assigned to the Texas Department of Health Services in the Community Preparedness Section, where she has been working on pandemic influenza preparedness and disaster preparedness.
She received her Bachelor of Science degrees in Biology and Nursing from the University of Texas at El Paso, and her MPH from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Her clinical experience includes working as an ER/Trauma Nurse and a pediatric Critical Care nurse.
ABBY RINCON, MPH, University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health
- Presentation: Ready to Take the Next Step? Graduate Education in Public Health
Biography: Abby M. Rincón, MPH is the Director of Diversity for the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley. She has been in the field of public health for over 25 years working in a variety of settings, with a variety of populations and addressing many public health issues. Some of her past work has included working with migrant farmworkers to develop a broad based health education program that served as a model for the State of California, Department of Rural Health Services. Additionally, she has been a director of health promotion leading primary prevention efforts with the college population at UC Berkeley. She has also worked as a consultant and most recently worked with the CDC helping to develop and evaluate a primary care counselor program on HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe. Ms. Rincon is also a part time faculty member at City College of San Francisco and Berkeley City College, teaching course work in the community health worker program. With her current work as Director of Diversity, Ms. Rincon is committed to reaching out to underrepresented students to encourage them in seeking graduate studies in public health at UC Berkeley.
EMILY ROWLINSON, BSFS, MPH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Presentation: Investigate Disease Outbreaks: Interactive Case Studies!
Ms. Rowlinson is currently a CDC Fellow within the Public Health Apprenticeship Program. She works in HIV/STD and TB Control Programs for Austin/Travis County.
WILLIAM SAGE, J.D., M.D., University of Texas at Austin School of Law
- Presentation: Dual Degrees in the Practice of Public Health
EDUARDO SANCHEZ, M.D., M.P.H, University of Texas School of Public Health
- Presentations:
- Rethinking Health
- Global Health Equals Global Prosperity
Biography:
"One of the challenges facing anyone in the field of public health is trying to overcome the misperception that public health is medical care for poor people. It’s not. Public health is a population-based approach to health that invests resources strategically to have a broad impact on the people of a community, a state, or a nation. Life expectancy in the United States increased from 47 years in 1900 to 77 years in 2000, yet few people recognize that 25 of the 30 years of longer life are attributable to public health measures such as clean water, improved sanitation, spraying for mosquitoes, and childhood vaccination programs. Public health programs, which receive only 3 percent of all health-care spending, have proven a wise investment.” - Dr. Eduardo Sanchez
Eduardo J. Sanchez, M.D., M.P.H is the Director of the Institute for Health Policy and Professor in the Division of Management, Policy and Community Health at The University of Texas School of Public Health (UTSPH). Dr. Sanchez is currently serving as Chair of the Advisory Committee to the Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Chair of the National Commission on Prevention Priorities (NCPP), and a Food & Society Fellow. He also serves on the Travis County Healthcare District Board of Managers.
Prior to joining UTSPH in 2006, Dr. Sanchez served as the Texas Commissioner of Health from 2001 to 2006 as Commissioner of the Texas Department of Health from 2001 to 2004 and as Commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) from 2004 to 2006. He led the consolidation of Texas’ public health, mental, health and substance abuse agencies into one single agency, DSHS, and in 2005, Dr. Sanchez directed the Texas health and medical response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He served on the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee on Progress in Preventing Childhood Obesity and on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID) Board of Scientific Counselors during his state health officer tenure.
From 1992 to 2001, Dr. Sanchez practiced family medicine in Austin, Texas. In addition, he served as public health officer and chief medical officer for the Austin-Travis County Health and Human Services Department from 1994 to 1998. He played a key leadership role in helping to create the Texas Association of Local Health Officials (TALHO) in 1997. He served as TALHO’s first President. He received his medical degree in 1988 from The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and holds master’s degrees in public health from the UT School of Public Health and in biomedical engineering from Duke University. He also has bachelor's degrees from Boston University in biomedical engineering and chemistry.
SHANNON SHELTON, M.A., Emory University Rollins School of Public Health
- Presentation: Ready to Take the Next Step? Graduate Education in Public Health
SHANNON SUGAREK, MBA, Peace Corps
Biography: Sharon Sugarek is the manager of Dallas Recruitment Office. She served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in The Gambia (West Africa) from 1971 to 1973, after earning her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Rice University in Houston Texas.
During her service as a Peace Corp Volunteer, Sharon taught science, agriculture, nutrition and health to children in her village. In addition, she coached a Girls’ Basketball team and ran an informal lending library for her students on the back porch of her house.
After she completed her Peace Corps service, she embarked on a career in international business working for several Fortune 500 companies, including AT&T, Lucent Technologies and Bell-Helicopter Textron. Throughout her corporate career, she assisted companies in developing businesses in countries around the globe. She also earned an MBA in International Business from George Washington University in Washington DC.
After 25 years in the corporate arena, she returned to the Peace Corps, to serve as the Country Director of the Peace Corps program in Turkmenistan (Central Asia), from 2002 to 2004. She moved to Dallas from Turkmenistan in August of 2004 to manage the Dallas Regional Recruitment Office for Peace Corps. The team in this office recruits about 1,000 prospective Volunteers each year from the ten-state region which includes Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Kansas and Nebraska.
MICHAEL WARD, M.Ed., Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health
- Presentation: Ready to Take the Next Step? Graduate Education in Public Health
Biography: Michael Ward currently serves as the Associate Dean for Student Affairs at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. At Hopkins he has oversight responsibilities for Admissions, Financial Aid, Records and Registration, Career services, Disability Support, Student Diversity, and the Student Outreach Center. Mike has served as a student affairs administrator for over seventeen years working in public and private colleges and university with very diverse missions.
RACHEL WISEMAN, MPH, Texas Department of State Health Services
- Presentation: Epidemiologists: Outbreaks Are Our Business!
Sponsors:
College of Natural Sciences: School of Biological Sciences, Career Services and Health Professions Office;University of Texas Libraries; The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Scientific Education and Professional Development Program Office; The Association of Schools of Public Health; The Association of Public Health Laboratories; The National Library of Medicine; Texas Department of State Health Services; Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department; The University of Texas School of Public Health.
This conference is generously supported under a cooperative agreement from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH).