The Task Force........

Task Force Member Bio Sketches

Jonathan E. Fielding, MD, MPH, MBA is the Chair of the Task Force on community Preventive Services. He is currently Director, Public Health and Health Officer, Los Angeles County Department of Health Services; Professor, Drew University School of Medicine, Los Angeles, Department of Pediatrics; Professor of Health Services and Pediatrics, Schools of Public Health and Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles; Co-Director, Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities, University of California, Los Angeles; and an Alternate Member, Los Angeles County Children and Families First-Proposition 10 Commission. He has certification from the American Board of Pediatrics and the American Board of Preventive Medicine. He has received the Distinguished Service Award, for Outstanding Service to the American College of Preventive Medicine (2000); the Investing in Information Award by the Massachusetts Health Data Consortium, Inc. (1997); and the Porter Prize, for National Impact on Improving the Health of Americans (1994). He has been a Member of the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, since 1995. Dr. Fielding graduated cum laude with his MD from Harvard University, School of Medicine in 1969; in 1971 he received his MPH in Health Services Administration and Health Economics from the Harvard University School of Public Health; and in 1977 he received his MBA in Finance from the Wharton School of Business Administration.

John M. Clymer, AB is the President of Partnership for Prevention, a nonprofit organization that analyzes public policy and develops evidence-based policy recommendations related to disease and injury prevention and health promotion. He has previously served as the Vice President of External Affairs, Albert B. Sabin Vaccine Institute; was the Founder and Principal of Strategic Communications; and served as the Vice President and Corporate Secretary, Americans for Progress Educational Foundation and as Vice President, The Leadership Institute and International Policy Forum. Mr. Clymer is a member of several advisory committees and councils, including the Advisory Committee, Vaccine Education Center at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; the National Immunization Council; the Advisory Committee, Prevention Research Initiative; the Advocacy Strategy Committee, American Journal of Health Promotion; and the CEO Advisory Council, Greater Washington Society of Association Executives. He received his A.B., Economics and Religion in 1982 from Wabash College.

Kay Dickersin, PhD is Professor at Brown University Medical School, where she directs the Center for Clinical Trials and Evidence-based Healthcare. She also holds adjunct appointments at The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine, and Tufts School of Medicine.

Kay’s research interests are related to randomized clinical trials. She oversees the coordinating center for two federally funded, multicenter trials of surgical interventions. Kay also has longstanding research interests in meta-analysis, publication bias, trials registers, and evidence-based healthcare. She has coordinated a register of US-based trials registers since the 1980s, currently accessible as www.TrialsCentral.org. This register currently includes over 350 trials registers (as of August 1, 2004).
Kay currently serves as Director of the United States Cochrane Center (USCC), one of 12 regional centers in the international Cochrane Collaboration. The USCC coordinates development of the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, which includes over 415,000 controlled trials, most of them published.

As a breast cancer survivor, Kay has had longstanding involvement with the breast cancer advocacy movement and developed the original curriculum for and has served as core faculty in Project LEAD (Leadership, Education, and Advocacy Development). She has also been a member of the Committee on Reimbursement of Routine Patient Care Costs for Medicare Patients Enrolled in Clinical Trials, the Committee on Defense Women's Health Research, and the Committee to Review the Department of Defense's Breast Cancer Research Program.

Kay Dickersin received her BA and MA in Zoology (area of specialization was cell biology) from the University of California at Berkeley and her PhD in epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health in 1989.

Alan R. Hinman, MD, MPH is Senior Consultant for Public Health Programs at The Task Force for Child Survival and Development, a program affiliated with the Carter Center and Emory University. At the Task Force Dr. Hinman is involved in international immunization work (particularly polio eradication), coordinating a Collaboration on Immunization between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Bank. In addition, he is working to increase the use of immunization registries in the private sector in the US, particularly in managed care organizations. Since 1965 he has been involved in public health programs at the state, national, and international level, primarily working with CDC. At CDC he held positions including EIS Officer (1965-1967), Director of the Immunization Division (1977-1988), Director of the National Center for Prevention Services (1988-1995), and Senior Advisor to the Director (1995-1996). In addition, he has worked for the State Health Departments of New York (1970-1975) and Tennessee (1975-1977). He retired from the U.S. Public Health Service in July 1996, having attained the rank of Assistant Surgeon General. He is the author or co-author of more than 250 scientific publications and holds an appointment as Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University.

Robert L. Johnson, MD began his appointment to the Task Force on Community Preventive Services in February 2003. He is Professor and Interim Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the New Jersey Medical School of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. His active interest in the health and well-being of youth is evidenced by his chairmanship of the Board of the Adolescent Health Center and of the Medical Board of The Door, New York, NY; he is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Newark (NJ) Boys' Clubs, Inc. Dr. Johnson is a member of National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine Health Care Services Board; the National Academy of Sciences National Research Council Committee on Improving Research Information and Data on Firearms; the DHHS Council on Graduate Medical Education; and is the DHHS Region II Chair of the Male Involvement Advisory Committee. He also serves as the Chair of the NIH Consensus Panel on Antisocial Behaviors in Youth, and the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Health Professions Education Summit. Dr. Johnson received his M.D. from the College of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, NJ in 1972. He is the recipient of many awards, including the New Jersey Governor's Award (1997) and the Johnson & Johnson Community Health Care Crystal Award (2001).

Patricia A. Nolan, MD, MPH is the Director of the Rhode Island Department of Health. Her past experience includes local public health administration in New York City and in Tucson, Arizona; medical administration with the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, a managed care Medicaid program; and state public health administration in Illinois and Colorado. Dr. Nolan received her medical degree from McGill University in Montreal (1969), and her Masters in Public Health from Columbia University in New York City (1973). She is board certified in public health by the American Board of Preventive Medicine, and is currently an adjunct faculty member in community health at Brown University Medical School. Dr. Nolan is the past president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. She is actively involved in the American Public Health Association and serves on the board of the Alliance to End Childhood Lead Poisoning.

Alonzo L. Plough, PhD, MPH is Director and Health Officer of Public Health—Seattle & King County, one of the nation’s leading local health departments. Programs and services range from core prevention activity to environmental health, community-oriented primary care, jail health, and addiction services. Dr. Plough is also Professor of Health Services at the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine. Prior to his current appointment, he served 8 years as the Director of Public Health for the City of Boston. Dr. Plough received his MA and PhD from Cornell University and his MPH from Yale University School of Medicine. He was a tenured Professor of Community Health at Tufts University and was on the faculty at Harvard University’s School of Public Health for 10 years. In 1981, he was named a Kellogg National Fellow. He is the author of 3 books and over 100 published scholarly articles and abstracts on topics including chronic disease epidemiology, environmental risk assessment, urban health policy, and public health practice. During his career, Dr. Plough founded the New England Health and Poverty Action Center and co-chaired with the Mayor of Boston and community leaders an effort that reduced African-American infant mortality by 50% in three years. In Seattle/King County, he chaired a task force on better prevention and treatment of heroin addiction, chairs the King County Health Action Plan working with public and private health care providers to improve population health, and developed a new community partnership to reduce diabetes health disparities in communities of color. Dr. Plough’s many awards and honors most recently include the Excellence in Public Service Award, American Association of Public Administrators, 2000; NOVA Award for Innovative Community Partnerships, American Hospital Association, 1998; and the Col. William Hill Award, Outstanding Achievement in Health Care, African-American Community Health Network, 1996.

Nicolaas P. Pronk, Ph.D., FACSM, FAWHP, is Vice President of the HealthPartners Center for Health Promotion where he is responsible for health promotion, disease prevention, and disease self-management programs for the health plan membership. He is also a Research Investigator in the HealthPartners Research Foundation, where he conducts studies in the areas of behavior change, population health improvement, and the impact of systems-level change on health-related outcomes. Dr. Pronk has a broad background in exercise science and behavioral medicine. He has published extensively in the areas of exercise and physical activity, behavior change, and the integration of health risk management strategies in population health initiatives. He currently serves on the Editorial Boardsfor the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Health and Fitness Journal, the Disease Management & Health Outcomes, and the CDC e-journal Preventing Chronic Disease. Dr. Pronk is a member of the National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Disease’s Clinical Obesity Research Panel (CORP) at the National Institutes of Health and provides services to various committees and task forces from the ACSM, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences and Institute of Medicine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other institutions. He is a past member of the Translation Advisory Committee for Diabetes Prevention and Control Programs at CDC in Atlanta. He is a Fellow of the ACSM. Dr. Pronk received his Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology in 1992 from Texas A&M University, and completed a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Behavioral Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Dennis Richling, MD is the President of the Midwest Business Group on Health.. Previously, Dr. Richling served as the Assistant Vice President - Health Services and Chief Medical Officer of Union Pacific Railroad. In this capacity he is responsible for the medical and health-related services that are provided to approximately 50,000 employees throughout the 23 state operating territory of Union Pacific. The Health Services Department manages over 450 company sponsored fitness facilities, a multi-site health risk intervention program, vocational rehabilitation services for injured and ill employees, a medical consumer education program, an alertness management program, and the medical surveillance programs for the railroad. In 1994, 1997, and 2001, the Union Pacific's Health Track Program was awarded the C. Everett Koop National Health Award. In 2001, the Wellness Councils of America awarded Union Pacific the Platinum Award, the only large employer in the United States to receive this recognition. Union Pacific Railroad also received the Corporate Health and Productivity Management Award in 2001. Dr. Richling is a graduate of Creighton University School of Medicine. He practiced Emergency Medicine in Omaha for 6 years, before joining Union Pacific as Assistant Medical Director in 1986. He graduated from Harvard Business School after completing the Program for Management Development in 1997. He also served as a 2002 fellow on the Secretary's Primary Health Care Policy Fellowship. He actively participates in several health-related organizations including the Washington Business Group on Health and the Partnership for Prevention. In the past, he has been on the board of the American Heart Association, Wellness Councils of America and the American Red Cross.

Barbara Rimer, DrPH Alumni Distinguished Professor of Health Behavior and Health Education in the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, became dean of the School of Public Health on June 1, 2005. Dr. Rimer received an MPH (1973) from the University of Michigan, with joint majors in Health Education and Medical Care Organization, and a DrPH (1981) in Health Education from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. Previously, she served as Deputy Director for Population Sciences at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at UNC-Chapel Hill (2003-2005), as Director of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, one of four extramural divisions at the National Cancer Institute (part of the National Institutes of Health), from 1997-2002; as Professor of Community and Family Medicine at Duke University (1991-97); and as Director of Behavioral Research and a full member at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia (1987-91). Dr. Rimer has conducted research in a number of areas, including informed decision-making, long-term maintenance of behavior changes (such as diet, cancer screening and tobacco use), interventions to increase adherence to cancer prevention and early detection, dissemination of evidence-based interventions and use of new technologies for information, support and behavior change. She currently leads an NIH-funded study to increase regular use of mammography and a project funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to assess the impact of cancer-related listservs on cancer patients/survivors and caregivers.

Dr. Rimer is the author of over 250 publications and serves on several journal editorial boards. Her numerous awards and honors include the Healthtrac Foundation Award for Health Education (2004), the Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2000), the Director’s Award from the National Institutes of Health (2000) and the American Cancer Society Distinguished Service Award (2000). Dr. Rimer was the first woman and behavioral scientist to lead the National Cancer Institute’s National Cancer Advisory Board, a Presidential appointment. She currently is Vice-Chair for the Task Force on Community Preventive Services at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
 

Steven M. Teutsch, MD, MPH is the Senior Director for Outcomes Research and Management, US Human Health, at Merck & Co., Inc., where he is responsible for scientific leadership in developing evidence-based clinical management programs, conducting outcomes research studies, and improving outcomes measurement to enhance quality of care. Prior to joining Merck he was Director of the Division of Prevention Research and Analytic Methods (DPRAM) at CDC where he was responsible for assessing the effectiveness, safety, and the cost-effectiveness of disease and injury prevention strategies. Dr. Teutsch came to CDC in 1977. He developed the framework for CDC's diabetes control program. He joined the Epidemiology Program Office and became the Director of the Division of Surveillance and Epidemiology where he was responsible for CDC's disease monitoring activities. He became Chief of the Prevention Effectiveness Activity in 1992. Dr. Teutsch received his undergraduate degree in biochemical sciences at Harvard University in 1970, an MPH in epidemiology from the University of North Carolina School of Public Health in 1973, and his MD from Duke University School of Medicine in 1974. He was certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in 1977, the American Board of Preventive Medicine in 1995, and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. Dr. Teutsch is an Adjunct Professor at the Emory University School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management. Dr. Teutsch has published over 70 articles and 4 books in a broad range of fields in epidemiology, including parasitic diseases, diabetes, technology assessment, health services research, and surveillance.