Liaisons to the Task Force

The Task Force and Community Guide began in 1996.The founders understood right away that it was impossible for the Task Force to represent all of the perspectives and experiences needed to inform their work. Therefore, they invited Liaison organizations and agencies to participate in the process of developing the Community Guide. Liaison representatives:

• Represent the views, concerns, and needs of their organization and constituents
• Provide input into review prioritization and Task Force recommendations findings
• Serve on, or recommend participants to serve on individual systematic review teams
• Disseminate Task Force recommendations among their members and constituents
• Help their members and constituents translate Task Force recommendations into action
• Provide feedback on how Task Force recommendations and findings were disseminated, implemented, and used, and how well the recommendations and findings met the needs of their constituents

 

Federal Agency Liaisons to the Task Force

Organization	Name
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Guide to Clinical Preventive Services	Liaison: Therese Miller, DrPH Lead, Prevention & Care Management Portfolio Center for Primary Care, Prevention & Clinical Partnerships Alternate Liaison: Mary B. Barton, MD, MPP Scientific Director of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Prevention Research Centers	Liaison: Barbara Gray, MIA, MLn Public Health Analyst (PRC Research Dissemination Team Lead) Alternate Liaison: Jo Anne Grunbaum, EdD Health Scientist (PRC Research and Evaluation Team Lead)
Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion	Liaison: Tatiana Zenzano, MD, MPH 12th Luther Terry Fellow and Senior Clinical Advisor
Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Office of Patient Care Services, National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention	Liaison: Leila C. Kahwati, MD, MPH Deputy Chief Consultant for Preventive Medicine Alternate Liaison: Linda S. Kinsinger, MD, MPH, Chief Consultant for Preventive Medicine
Health Resources and Services Administration	Liaison: Deborah Willis-Fillinger, MD Captain, U.S. Public Health Service, Acting Director, Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities Alternate Liaison: Theresa Watkins-Bryant, MD, FAAP Captain, U.S. Public Health Service, Senior Medical Advisor, Office of Health Equity
Indian Health Service	Liaison: Alberta Becenti, MPH Public Health Advisor
National Institutes of Health	Liaison: Barry Portnoy, PhD Senior Advisor for Disease Prevention, Office of Disease Prevention, Office of the Director
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration	Liaison: Kevin D. Hennessy, PhD Senior Public Health Analyst and Science to Service Coordinator
United States Air Force	Liaison: Patrick L. Keller, MD, MPH, MAJ, USAF, MC Deputy Chief Health Promotion Operations, Air Force Medical Operations Agency Alternate Liaison: Kevin A. Fajardo, MD, MPH, MTMH, Maj, USAF, MC
United States Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine	Liaison: Linda Spencer, PhD, MPH, RN, Col (ret) Director, Public Health Nursing Leadership Program, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University
United States Navy Medicine	Liaison: William (Bill) Calvert, MS, MPH, MBA Deputy Director for Public Health, Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center

Organization Liaisons to the Task Force

Organization	Name
American Academy of Family Physicians	Liaison: Patrick B. McGarry, PhD Assistant Division Director, Scientific Activities Section
American Academy of Nurse Practitioners	Liaison: Mary Jo Goolsby, EdD, MSN, NP-C, FAANP Director of Education and Research Alternate Liaison: JoEllen Wynne, RN, MSN, CFNP Education and Research Specialist
American Academy of Pediatrics	Liaison: Joseph F. Hagan, Jr., MD, FAAP Member, Bright Futures Education Center Steering Committee and Editor, Bright Futures:Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children and Adolescents, 3rd Edition Alternate Liaison: Darcy Steinberg-Hastings, MPH Director, Division of Developmental Pediatrics and Preventive Services, AAP
American Academy of Physician Assistants	Liaison: Robert J. McNellis, MPH, PA-C Vice President, Science and Public Health Alternate Liaison: Marie-Michèle Léger, MPH, PA-C Director, International and Clinical Affairs
American Public Health Association	Liaison: Richard Proctor Chief of Staff
America’s Health Insurance Plans	Liaison: Casey Korba, MS Senior Manager, Public Health and Prevention Alternate Liaison: Bob Rehm, MBA Vice President, Public Health and Clinical Strategies
Association for Prevention Teaching and Research	Liaison: Michael P. Eriksen, ScD Professor and MPH Program Director, Georgia State University
Association of Schools of Public Health	Liaison: Harrison C. Spencer, MD, MPH, CPH President and CEO
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials	Liaison: Sharon Moffatt, RN, BSN, MSN Chief of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Alternate Liaison: Albert J. Terrillion, DrPH, CPH, CHES Senior Director, Family and Community Health
Center for Advancing Health	Liaison: Jessie Gruman, PhD Executive Director Alternate Liaison: Dorothy Jeffress, MBA, MSW, MA Executive Director
Directors of Health Promotion and Education	Liaison: Donald B. Bishop, Ph Chief, Center for Health Promotion, Minnesota Department of Health Alternate Liaison: Heidi L. Keller Health Promotion & Social Marketing Consultant, Olympia, Washington
Institute of Medicine	Liaison: Rose Marie Martinez, ScD Senior Director, Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice Alternate Liaison: Kathleen Stratton, PhD Scholar
National Association of County and City Health Officials	Liaison: Kim E. Barnhill, MS Administrator, Jefferson and Madison County Health Departments Alternate Liaison: Julie Nelson Ingoglia, MPH Program Manager, Community Health
National Association of Local Boards of Health	Liaison: Marie M. Fallon, MHSA Executive Director Alternate Liaison: Ginger Fenton, PhD, MS, CP-FS Project Director–Research & Evaluation
Public Health Foundation	Liaison: Ron Bialek, MPP President
Quad Council of Public Health Nursing Organizations	Liaison: Susan Zahner, DrPH, MPH, RN Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison Alternate Liaison: Elizabeth Daniels, MN, RN Assistant Professor, Medical College of Georgia School of Nursing
Society for Public Health Education	Liaison: Bojana Beric, MD, PhD Assistant Professor of Health Studies, The Marjorie K. Unterberg School of Nursing & Health Studies, Monmouth University

Federal Agency Liaisons to the Task Force Biosketches

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Guide to Clinical Preventive Services

Liaison: Therese Miller, DrPH

Therese Miller is the lead of the Prevention and Care Management Portfolio for the Center for Primary Care, Prevention and Clinical Partnerships at AHRQ. Dr. Miller has more than 10 years experience managing public health projects including the Hospital-Based Rural Health Care Program, Pathways to Adulthood: A Three Generation Urban Study, and the National Evaluation of The Healthy Steps for Young Children Program. She holds a doctoral degree in public health and a certificate in health communications. Her interests include social marketing and public health.

Alternate Liaison: Mary B. Barton, MD, MPP

Mary B. Barton is the scientific director of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, AHRQ. Dr. Barton is an internist, and she also holds a master’s in public policy. Prior to coming to AHRQ, Dr. Barton’s federally funded research projects included: analysis of access to cancer screening for vulnerable populations within managed care systems, benefits and harms of prophylactic mastectomy in women at elevated risk for breast cancer, and the impact of false positive mammography readings. Her most recent research focuses on decision-making around stopping mammography screening in old age, and overuse of pap smears in the elderly. Dr. Barton has a clinical interest in and has presented widely about the performance of the clinical breast examination.

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Prevention Research Centers

Liaison: Barbara Gray, MIA, MLn

As the public health analyst and PRC research dissemination team lead, Barbara Gray manages policy, communications, and dissemination for the PRC Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She holds graduate degrees in information management and international affairs, including a concentration in international media and communication. She has been formally associated with the PRC Program since 1999. Ms. Gray has worked at CDC since 1988 in areas of infectious and chronic disease. Her achievements include serving as the senior technical editor for the Surgeon General’s 1992 report on smoking and health (in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization) and working with the Task Force on Genetics and Public Health, which defined the current Office of Genomics and Disease Prevention at CDC. Before joining CDC, Ms. Gray worked in technical communications and consumer marketing in the computer industry.

Alternate Liaison: Jo Anne Grunbaum, EdD

Jo Anne Grunbaum is the team leader of the Research and Evaluation Team for the PRC Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Her office funds academic health centers to conduct prevention research using a community-based participatory approach. Her team developed and implemented a national evaluation of the PRC Program. Dr. Grunbaum’s research activities focus on the health of youth with specific interest in determinants of risk behaviors and health outcomes. She has 21 years experience in design and implementation of research related to the health of children and adolescents.

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Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Liaison: Tatiana Zenzano, MD, MPH

Tatiana Zenzano is the 12th Luther Terry Fellow and senior clinical advisor at the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Her responsibilities include development of prevention policy, and prevention education for residents, medical, nursing and public health students and scholars who rotate through ODPHP. Her professional areas of interest include health policy, adolescent health, prevention of sexually transmitted infections, and women’s health. Dr. Zenzano is a board-certified pediatrician and has worked as a general pediatrician for seven years.

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Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Office of Patient Care Services, National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

Liaison: Leila C. Kahwati, MD, MPH

Leila Kahwati is the deputy chief consultant for preventive medicine within the Veterans Health Administration. She works within the National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, a field-based national Program Office within the VHA. She serves as medical officer for many of the center’s clinical activities and oversees the center’s collaborative research and evaluation activities. Dr. Kahwati’s experience and professional interests include obesity/weight management, clinical preventive services, and quality improvement within healthcare systems. She is board-certified in family medicine and general preventive medicine/public health.

Alternate Liaison: Linda S. Kinsinger, MD, MPH

Linda Kinsinger is the chief consultant for preventive medicine within the Veterans Health Administration. She directs the National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, a field-based national Program Office within the VHA. Dr. Kinsinger’s experience and professional interests include screening, immunizations, and quality improvement within healthcare systems. She is board certified in internal medicine and general preventive medicine/public health.

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Health Resources and Services Administration

Liaison: Deborah Willis-Fillinger, MD

Deborah Willis-Fillinger is acting director of the HRSA Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities. She has been with the U.S. Public Health Service and HRSA programs on and off since 1983 in various roles including as a PHS/National Health Service Corps physician, community health center medical director and executive director. She rejoined the PHS in 1990 as a HRSA regional director for the National Health Service Corps in Chicago, and later served as the state activities director for the Bureau of Primary Health Care, director of HRSA Regional/Field Offices in Chicago and Kansas City, and director of the HIV AIDS Bureau AIDS Education Training Center Program. More recently, she lead the development of HRSA's clinical core measures quality performance/improvement and alignment initiative. CAPT Deborah Willis-Fillinger is an internal medicine physician trained at the Chicago Medical School and Henry Ford Hospital. Her current work focuses on closing the gap in health outcomes to attain health equity for health care safety net populations.

Alternate Liaison: Theresa Watkins-Bryant, MD, FAAP

Theresa Watkins-Bryant is a board certified pediatrician and a medical officer with HRSA. In this capacity she serves as a national expert and spokesperson on national and international health care trends, quality improvement models and health care service delivery systems for the development, analysis and implementation of policies regarding health disparities in minority populations. A Captain in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, Dr. Watkins-Bryant is senior medical advisor in HRSA’s Office of Health Equity and the HRSA representative on the Secretary’s Advisory Council for the Elimination of Tuberculosis (ACET) and CDC’s Federal TB Task Force. Prior to her current assignments, Dr. Watkins-Bryant served as a special consultant to the Office of the Surgeon General and as Chief Medical Officer of the Division of Health Center Management in HRSA’S Bureau of Primary Health Care. She currently has a faculty appointment at Howard University’s College of Medicine as an assistant professor of pediatrics and child health. Dr. Watkins-Bryant is a diplomate of the American Board of Pediatrics and a Fellow in the American Academy of Pediatrics.

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Indian Health Service

Liaison: Alberta Becenti, MPH

Alberta Becenti is a public health advisor for Health Promotion/Disease Prevention (HP/DP) with the IHS Division of Clinical & Community Health Services. Ms. Becenti has worked for IHS 6 years as a director of Community & Clinical Health services and 6 years as the national consultant in HP/DP. Major areas of focus include physical activity, tobacco prevention, and nutrition.

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National Institutes of Health

Liaison: Barry Portnoy, PhD

Barry Portnoy serves as senior advisor for disease prevention for the Office of Disease Prevention (ODP), Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health (NIH). His current responsibilities include coordinating and stimulating collaborative prevention research projects across the NIH. Prior to joining ODP, Dr. Portnoy was with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Division of Cancer Prevention. He also served as the NCI coordinator for the Department of Health and Human Services Healthy People 2000 and 2010 Objectives. He serves on a number of trans-NIH committees such as the OppNet Steering Committee for Basic Behavioral and Social Sciences, the NIH's Prevention Coordinators Committee and the NIH Nutrition Coordinating Committee. He has held academic appointments at the University of Virginia and the University of Maryland. He also served as an evaluation consultant to the National High Blood Pressure Education Program, the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Disease, the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and the Department of Education. He holds a doctoral degree in public health education. His research interests include the design and evaluation of chronic disease prevention and control interventions.

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Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Liaison: Kevin D. Hennessy, PhD

Kevin D. Hennessy is a senior public health analyst and the science to service coordinator for SAMHSA, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Hennessy provides leadership to SAMHSA’s Science to Service Initiative -- a systematic interagency effort to promote greater use of effective, evidence-based mental health and substance abuse interventions within routine clinical and community-based settings, and to strengthen feedback from the field to influence and frame services research programs. Prior to joining SAMHSA in 2004, Dr. Hennessy served for 10 years as a senior health policy analyst in HHS’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, providing analysis and leadership on issues of mental health and substance abuse research, programs, and policy. While on detail to SAMHSA in 2002, Dr. Hennessy served as a senior policy advisor to the President’s New Freedom Mental Health Commission. He has published more than two dozen articles on mental health and substance abuse financing and service delivery issues. Dr. Hennessy has a Doctorate in clinical psychology and a Master’s in public policy. He is a licensed psychologist in the State of Maryland, currently providing psychiatric triage services part-time at Howard County General Hospital, a component of the John Hopkins Hospital system.

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United States Air Force

Liaison: Patrick L. Keller, MD, MPH, MAJ, USAF, MC

Patrick L. Keller, MAJ, USAF, MC, is a preventive medicine and family physician with the Air Force. He is currently serving as the deputy chief of Health Promotion Operations. He provides direct support to Health Promotion teams at Air Force bases around the world. He also supports and assists in development of Air Force policy and programs in tobacco, nutrition, and physical activity including the Air Force Fitness Program. His professional interests include developing and deploying consistent qualitative and quantitative data monitoring methods at every AF installation. He hopes to see health promoters responding quickly to specific health and wellness outcomes in discrete populations and tailoring their programs to directly improve those outcomes.

Alternate Liaison: Kevin A. Fajardo, MD, MPH, MTMH

Kevin A. Fajardo, Maj, USAF, MC, is a preventive medicine physician with the Air Force. Dr. Fajardo manages the CRAM tool (Cardiovascular Risk Assessment and Management) used by the Air Force for cardiovascular risk stratification, coordinates the HOPE initiative aimed at improving dietary habits and level of physical activity by decreasing common barriers in the workplace, and serves as a member of an investigative panel looking at the harms of dietary supplement use on the active duty Air Force population. His professional interests include physical activity and its impact on long-term cardiovascular health, dietary habits and supplement use in weight management, and the importance of vaccine administration and understanding of true risks and benefits.

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United States Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine

Liaison: Linda Spencer, PhD, MPH, RN, Col (ret)

Linda Spencer, Col. (ret) has 25 years active and reserve duty in the U.S. Army, over 20 years of university level teaching experience and is currently director of the Public Health Nursing Leadership Program at Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. She administers the Public Health Nursing Masters program, including budget planning, curriculum development, student supervision, and teaching. She also teaches emergency preparedness classes to healthcare professionals and is certified in Advanced Disaster Life Support. Dr. Spencer’s expertise and key interests include military health issues, health education distance learning, adult education principles, and emergency preparedness.

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United States Navy Medicine

Liaison: William (Bill) Calvert, MS, MPH, MBA

Bill Calvert is the deputy director for public health providing strategic leadership and facilitation for the Command’s Public Health Directorate, advice and technical assistance to the Director, administering policies, and management control to ensure core product line execution of its three Departments: Preventive Medicine, Health Promotion and Wellness, and the Epi-Data Center. He is the primary technical advisor for health promotion and community health education issues and is the Navy’s professionally recognized expert with responsibility to direct the planning, implementation, evaluation and interpretation of complex public health programs and projects. His key areas of interest and expertise are worksite health promotion and dissemination of Community Guide information, translated from scientific reviews and Task Force recommendations, to health promotion practitioners for programmatic use.

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Organization Liaisons to the Task Force Biosketches

American Academy of Family Physicians

Liaison: Patrick B. McGarry, PhD

Patrick B. McGarry, PhD, is the assistant division director for the Scientific Activities Section at the AAFP. His primary responsibilities include serving as team leader for the AAFP staff assigned to the Commission Health of the Public. He received his Ph.D. in Education, specializing in community health education. Dr. McGarry was extremely fortunate to be able to study under Dr. Elena Sliepcevich, author of the landmark School Health Education Study (1961-1969). Prior to coming to AAFP, Dr. McGarry worked at the Illinois Department of Public Health (1993-2009), in multiple functions, including as the Illinois Tobacco Free Communities program manager. Part of his duties included the administration of the Smoke-Free Illinois Act and was active in the effort to overturn pre-emption in Illinois. He also served as the Illinois Project for Local Assessment of Needs (IPLAN) administrator. IPLAN is a community health needs assessment and planning process modified from NACCHO's APEX-PH that local health departments are required to complete to be certified. IPLAN was recognized in 1999 by ASTHO by receiving the second place Vision Award. Dr. McGarry’s area of expertise is in community health planning, tobacco control, and school health education.

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American Academy of Nurse Practitioners

Liaison: Mary Jo Goolsby, EdD, MSN, NP-C, FAANP

Mary Jo Goolsby is director of education and research at AANP. She oversees AANP’s continuing education program and all AANP research initiatives. The education component of her position includes development of educational activities, coordination of expert panels, creation of clinical tools, and accreditation of formal nurse practitioner continuing education programs. The research aspect involves oversight of the only U.S. national NP database, annual census surveys, periodic member surveys, large-scale sample surveys, and direction of the only national NP Practice Based Research Network (PBRN). Dr. Goolsby has a doctorate in education, master’s and bachelor’s degrees in nursing, and has been an adult nurse practitioner for over 25 years. She was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners in 2003. Her nurse practitioner practice has included general adult health, endocrinology, and pulmonology. Additional roles have included those of educator, administrator, and researcher. Dr. Goolsby has authored three books, several chapters and articles. She is a frequent speaker on issues related to nurse practitioners and healthcare.

Alternate Liaison: JoEllen Wynne, RN, MSN, FNP-BC

JoEllen Wynne is the education and research specialist for AANP and maintains part-time practice in a multi-disciplinary family practice clinic. In her AANP position, she participates in development of educational activities, coordination of expert panels, creation of clinical tools, and accreditation of formal nurse practitioner continuing education programs. Her research responsibilities include participation in coordination of projects for the only national Nurse Practitioner Practice Based Research Network. Ms. Wynne has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing and has been a Certified Family Nurse Practitioner for 10 years. Her practice has included family practice, internal medicine, emergency department and retail healthcare settings. She has also owned and operated an independent nurse practitioner family practice and functioned as administrator/practitioner for an internal medicine faculty practice clinic.

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American Academy of Pediatrics

Liaison: Joseph F. Hagan, Jr., MD, FAAP

Joseph F. Hagan, Jr. is a clinical professor in pediatrics at the University of Vermont College of Medicine and the Vermont Children's Hospital. He is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Bright Futures Education Center Steering Committee with responsibility for developing and implementing the third edition of Bright Futures: Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children and Adolescents. Dr. Hagan chairs the Vermont Citizen's Advisory Board for the Vermont Agency of Human Services Department of Children and Families, and he also practices primary care pediatrics in Burlington, Vermont. Dr. Hagan's professional interests include teaching primary care pediatrics and developmental and behavioral pediatrics.

Alternate Liaison: Darcy Steinberg-Hastings, MPH

Darcy Steinberg-Hastings is the director of the AAP Division of Developmental Pediatrics and Preventive Services. Her responsibilities include working with AAP members and key partners to develop national child and adolescent health policy, overseeing several national initiatives and grants including the National Bright Futures education center and working with external partners on national programs focused on improving the health of children and adolescents. She has more than 20 years of experience in public health and primary care. Prior to coming to the AAP, Ms. Steinberg–Hastings was the director of Adolescent and School Health Policy at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. As a research assistant professor at Georgetown University School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, she taught classes for medical and nursing students on incorporating health promotion and prevention for diverse populations into practice and community settings. She has also worked as a health educator in rural health clinics and at a California county health department directing public health education projects in the community.

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American Academy of Physician Assistants

Liaison: Robert J. McNellis, MPH, PA-C

Robert J. McNellis is the vice president of science and public health for AAPA. Mr. McNellis works to increase the visibility and importance of physician assistants (PAs) to the healthcare community at large by representing the profession. His responsibilities include monitoring medical and public health topics of interest to PAs, participating in public policy discussions, and presenting data about PAs to medical professionals, government agencies, professional associations and other interested parties. He also directs and coordinates the activities of staff to support several leadership groups within AAPA. His areas of expertise and professional interest include health professions education, delivery of clinical preventive services, patient safety and quality care initiatives, and evidence-based medicine.

Alternate Liaison: Marie-Michèle Léger, MPH, PA-C

Marie-Michèle Léger is the director of international and clinical affairs for AAPA. In addition to representing AAPA at clinical and scientific meetings, she disseminates findings to members, and works to promote the physician assistant profession to professional organizations and governmental agencies, both domestically and internationally. Ms. Léger has professional experience in the areas of vaccine-preventable diseases, adolescent sexual health, and access to health care. She also maintains interests in infection control, health care-associated infection, and emergency preparedness.

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American Public Health Association

Liaison: Richard Proctor

Richard Proctor serves as Chief of Staff for APHA.  His professional experience includes almost 30 years with the Maryland State Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.  His positions included chief of staff to four secretaries, secretary liaison to the deputy secretary for public health services, special assistant to the deputy for operations, director of governmental affairs, department executive officer, and executive director of the Office of Public Relations and Governmental Affairs.  Mr. Proctor also served as the interim director, on two separate occasions each, of the Board of Physician Quality Assurance and the Board of Dental Examiners.  His education includes a Bachelor of Science in Health Education and graduate coursework in public administration. He is particularly interested in health promotion and wellness initiatives.

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America’s Health Insurance Plans

Liaison: Casey Korba, MS

Casey Korba is senior manager for public health and prevention at AHIP. She works with AHIP member health plans and stakeholder partners on projects that support and advance health insurance plans’ initiatives in clinical and community preventive services and partnerships, and health plan, employer, and community wellness activities. Her key areas of interest include obesity, worksite health, physical activity, nutrition, tobacco, and recommended preventive screening and interventions.

Alternate Liaison: Bob Rehm, MBA

Bob Rehm is vice president of public health and clinical strategies at AHIP and directs the organization’s public health, prevention, chronic care, health care equity, and quality improvement initiatives. The clinical affairs team works with health insurers, physicians, and key stakeholders in collaborative efforts that improve the delivery of evidence-based care. Professional interests include emergency preparedness including pandemic disease and bio terrorism, vaccine and immunization policy, tobacco control, return on investment analysis, incentive design, and disease surveillance.

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Association for Prevention Teaching and Research

Liaison: Michael P. Eriksen, ScD

Michael P. Eriksen is a professor at Georgia State University where he is also director of a CEPH-accredited master of public health degree program with 12 faculty and more than 100 students. He has written publications and had administrative experience with tobacco control, and he has published research on the topics of health promotion and obesity.

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Association of Schools of Public Health

Liaison: Harrison C. Spencer, MD, MPH, CPH

Harrison C. Spencer is the first fulltime President and CEO of the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH). His prior positions include Dean of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Dean of the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans.

During a career with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr Spencer served as an EIS Officer and at the field station in El Salvador. He founded and directed the CDC research station in Nairobi, Kenya for 5 years and then served as Senior Medical Officer at the Malaria Action Program of the World Health Organization in Geneva. He has also served as Chief of the Parasitic Diseases Branch at CDC.

Dr. Spencer is board certified in both internal and preventive medicine, and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American College of Preventive Medicine. He was elected a Founding Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences in 1998 and to the US Institute of Medicine in 2003. His areas of expertise include public health, global health, preparedness and epidemiology.

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Association of State and Territorial Health Officials

Liaison: Sharon Moffatt, RN, BSN, MSN H

Sharon Moffatt is chief of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention for ASTHO. Prior to this, Ms. Moffatt held several positions at the Vermont Department of Health: state commissioner, state director of public health nursing, and assistant director of the Division of Community Public Health. She is a past president of the Association of State and Territorial Directors of Nursing and an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Vermont College of Nursing and Allied Health. Throughout her public health career Ms. Moffatt has worked in chronic disease prevention, environmental health, refugee health, maternal child health, school health, and children's mental health, as well as with a wide variety of professionals and key community partners to systematically improve the public’s health. She has worked closely with the Vermont Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics to create a model of care coordination in the pediatric care provider setting for at-risk families. Most recently Moffatt has been an active contributor in leading the Vermont state Blueprint for Health a nationally recognized health reform initiative which has focused beyond health insurance reform to include support for health promotion and disease prevention opportunities.

Alternate Liaison: Albert J. Terrillion, DrPH, CPH, CHES

Albert Terrillion is the senior director for family and community at ASTHO, where his responsibilities include directing policy initiatives and state level support in health equity, maternal and child health, access to quality care, and genomics. Prior to joining ASTHO, he worked at The Center for Applied Environmental Public Health and Tulane University for ten years, managing programs such as public health training and education initiatives, environmental health communications and health education, social marketing initiatives, program evaluation, and various research projects. His research has included health policy tracking in Louisiana, service learning in undergraduate public health education, and environmental perception and experience as determinants of subjective ratings of health. In addition, he has been an active leader in reestablishing neighborhood and community services following Hurricane Katrina. His key areas of interest are public health integration, social justice in health, genomics, primary care and public health workforce initiatives, and cultural competencies.

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Center for Advancing Health

Liaison: Jessie Gruman, PhD

Jessie Gruman is the founder and president of CFAH. She also is a professorial lecturer in the School of Public Health at The George Washington University and a Fellow of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. Dr. Gruman has published numerous articles and essays as well as a book for the general public, After Shock: What to Do When the Doctor Gives You – or Someone You Love – a Devastating Diagnosis (2007), which is about how people use scientific information to make decisions about their health care. She has a doctorate in social psychology and has worked in the private, public, and voluntary health sectors. Her areas of interest include advocacy for health research and decision making around health care.

Alternate Liaison: Dorothy Jeffress, MBA, MSW, MA

Dorothy Jeffress, executive director, joined CFAH in March 2008. Prior positions include vice president of the Center for Information Therapy from 2005 to 2008 and assistant vice president of Value Based Purchasing for the National Business Coalition on Health (NBCH) from 2003 to 2005. She also worked in health care quality improvement and performance measurement with NCQA and with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health as the director of a CDC/state-funded women's health promotion and chronic disease prevention program. She has managed a TPA for self-funded employee benefit programs and also been a benefit manager for a mid-sized employer.

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Directors of Health Promotion and Education

Liaison: Donald B. Bishop, PhD

Don Bishop is immediate Past-President of DHPE and a current board member. He has been chief of the Minnesota Center for Health Promotion at the Minnesota Department of Health since 1986. The center includes programs for chronic disease risk reduction/healthy communities, heart disease and stroke, diabetes, alcohol abuse prevention, health behavior research, oral health, and injury and violence prevention. He is also an adjunct associate professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. Dr. Bishop has served as project director on numerous CDC grants and principal investigator on many NIH studies for improved nutrition and physical activity in children, including the American Indian Children Walking for Health Program and 5-A-Day LANA Preschool Program. He holds his doctorate in community psychology and completed a post-doctoral program in health psychology before moving to Minnesota.

Alternate Liaison: Heidi L. Keller

A member of DPHE, Heidi L. Keller is director of the Office of Health Promotion, Washington State Department of Health. In this role, she oversees health promotion and health education projects, campaigns, and community grants. She also administers the Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant, disseminates health promotion resources through an online clearinghouse, and serves as a consultant and advisor on health promotion practice and evidence-based strategies. Ms. Keller serves as an advisor to two Prevention Research Centers and her areas of expertise include social marketing and health communications, coalition development and community organizing, and health message design.

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Institute of Medicine

Liaison: Rose Marie Martinez, ScD

Rose Marie Martinez is the senior director for the Institute of Medicine’s Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice. In this role, Dr. Martinez directs a portfolio of projects that address prevention strategies and interventions that focus on the general population or subgroups of the population. Topics have included HIV prevention strategies, tobacco use prevention, childhood immunizations issues, public health system preparedness, and injury prevention and poison control, among others. Her areas of expertise include policy analysis and program evaluation.

Alternate Liaison: Kathleen Stratton, PhD

Kathleen Stratton is a scholar at the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. She has had primary editorial responsibility for reports in the areas of immunization safety, tobacco use prevention, and public health preparedness. In October 2002 she was awarded the IOM’s Cecil Research Award for her sustained contributions to vaccine safety. She has a doctorate in pharmacology and toxicology and joined the IOM after completing post-doctoral fellowships in neuroscience.

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National Association of County and City Health Officials

Liaison: Kim E. Barnhill, MS

Kim E. Barnhill is the administrator of the Jefferson and Madison County Health Departments. In this role, she has focused on increasing access to dental care; linking Smart Growth principles to public health initiatives; enhancing health care career opportunities for local high school students; and increasing the availability of indoor and outdoor physical activity facilities. Ms. Barnhill serves on the Board of Directors for NACCHO and chairs the NACCHO Injury Prevention workgroup. She has a master’s degree in adult education and gerontology and she is currently pursuing a master of public health.

Alternate Liaison: Julie Nelson Ingoglia, MPH

Julie Nelson Ingoglia is a program manager for the Tobacco Control and Prevention Projects within NACCHO’s Community Health Team. On the Tobacco Control and Prevention Project, Ms. Ingoglia is responsible for program planning, management and development of local trainings to accompany the Program and Funding Guidelines for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs. She is also engaged in capacity building meetings with local health departments and tobacco control coalitions, ensuring evidence-based and sustainable local tobacco control programming. Ms. Ingoglia works with partners such as American’s for Non-Smoker Rights, Legacy, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials and the National Association of Local Boards of Health to promote tobacco prevention and cessation activities. Since joining NACCHO, Ms. Ingoglia has also worked with the Primary Care, Rural Health, Capacities and Infrastructure and Chronic Disease Prevention projects. Some of these activities focused on changing roles of local health departments (LHDs), LHDs and community health center collaborations and access to and integration of care, examining the links between daily and emergency preparedness activity, and nutrition and physical activity programming at local health departments. Prior to coming to NACCHO, Julie was a program manager at the National Mental Health Association, where she developed and managed a pilot program educating college-aged women about depression and other mental illnesses.

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National Association of Local Boards of Health

Liaison: Marie M. Fallon, M.H.S.A.

Marie M. Fallon is the executive director for NALBOH. In this role, she provides leadership and day-to-day management for the association. Her professional experience and interests include citizen engagement, volunteer leadership, governance, and leadership.

Alternate Liaison: Ginger Fenton, PhD, MS, CP-FS

Ginger Fenton is the project director for research and evaluation at NALBOH. Her primary responsibilities include conducting surveys of local and state boards of health and their stakeholders. She also assists with the evaluation of programs that are conducted by NALBOH. Dr. Fenton previously worked as cooperative extension educator and for a county health department. Her research interests include public health surveys, food safety, and occupational health issues of women in agriculture.

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Public Health Foundation

Ron Bialek, M.P.P.

Ron Bialek is president and CEO of the Public Health Foundation. Under his leadership over the past 10 years, PHF has focused its efforts on developing and implementing innovative strategies for improving performance of public health agencies and systems.

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Quad Council of Public Health Nursing Organizations

Liaison: Susan Zahner, DrPH, MPH, RN

Susan J. Zahner, is an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with appointments in the School of Nursing and School of Medicine and Public Health. Dr. Zahner conducts research in local public health system performance and public health nursing practice. She teaches health program planning, evaluation, and quality improvement at the graduate level. Her professional experience includes working at staff and management levels in local public health. Dr. Zahner's doctoral degree is in health policy and management, and she currently serves as the chair of the local Board of Health.

Alternate Liaison: Elizabeth Daniels, MN, RN

Betty B. Daniels is an assistant professor at the Medical College of Georgia School of Nursing. She has been involved in public health nursing practice and teaching for more than 30 years and has worked closely with practicing public health nurses in the state of Georgia. Ms. Daniels has been an active member of the public health nursing practice and education workgroup for more than 10 years. She holds a master's degree in Family and Community Health Nursing, and she is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in education with a research focus in online learning.

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Society for Public Health Education

Bojana Beric, MD, PhD

Bojana Beric is an Assistant Professor of Health Studies at Monmouth University in New Jersey. She is a co-director of the Center for Human and Community Wellness: Community Campus Partnerships for Health, and a co-chair of the Global Understanding Convention at Monmouth University in New Jersey. In addition, Dr. Beric is a Visiting Professor University of Novi Sad, Serbia, Europe, where she practiced medicine before moving to United States, in former Yugoslavia.

As an MD with a PhD in Health Education, Dr. Beric’s professional interests have been focused on teaching, preparation of the public health workforce, community-campus partnerships for health and wellness and global and international health issues. Her research interests include methods of health information communication, the organization of a community of learners to promote health and prevent disease, and advancing health literacy.

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