|
Newsletters
> TB Notes Newsletter > TB
Notes 1, 2005 > Personnel Notes
TB Notes 1, 2005
No. 1, 2005
Personnel Notes
Tina Albrecht, MPH, a public health advisor (PHA) with the
Field Services Branch, has left DTBE and accepted a position with
the California Department of Health Services Vector-Borne Disease
Section. Tina was assigned to Berkeley, CA, where she has been working
at the state TB Control Branch as the Outbreak Response Coordinator.
In addition to providing technical assistance for outbreaks and
extended contact investigations, her responsibilities also included
implementing an exposure control plan, helping to develop a formalized
mechanism for evaluation of the outbreak team, and tracking costs
associated with responding to outbreaks. Prior to her assignment
to California, Tina was a PHA trainee in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, where
she provided case management and DOT/DOPT services, conducted contact
investigations, and assisted with data collection and analysis for
the production of ARPEs. Before joining CDC, she was a biological
science technician with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in New
Orleans, Louisiana. She earned a bachelors degree in biology from
California State University, Chico, California, in 1994 and a masters
degree in public health in tropical medicine from Tulane University
in 1999. She also served with the Peace Corps in Ghana
from 1995 to 1997.
Idalia Gonzalez MD, MPH, left her position as a medical
epidemiologist with DTBE to pursue a career as a clinician in pediatrics.
Dr. Gonzalez joined CDC as an Epidemic Intelligence Services Officer
(EISO) in July 1999 in the National Immunization Program. As an
EISO, she conducted epidemiological and operational research in
determining better ways to control vaccine preventable diseases.
After completing her training as an EISO, she joined the preventive
medicine residency program at CDC. Dr. Gonzalez joined the Outbreak
Investigation Team in the Surveillance, Epidemiology and Outbreak
Investigations Branch in the Division of Tuberculosis Elimination
(DTBE) in July 2002. During her work in DTBE, she has been instrumental
in working on various TB outbreak investigations and providing training
and mentorship to EISOs in the branch. Dr. Gonzalez is board certified
in pediatrics and preventive medicine. She will be missed by everyone
in the division. We wish her well in her new career.
Chris Kissler joins SEOIB as the new project manager (replacing
Viva Combs) for the TBESC. Chris comes to us from the Florida
Department of Health where he was the Director of Field Services
for the Bureau of TB and Refugee Health. He has been working
in public health for 10 years with a focus on the prevention and
control of HIV/AIDS, STD, and TB at both the local and state levels.
Mark Lobato, MD, has left Atlanta and is now located in
Connecticut as a regional medical Officer. After finishing his pediatric
training at the University of California, Mark joined the Public
Health Service as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer. As
an EISO, Mark provided evidence that a new virus does not cause
idiopathic CD4 T-lymphocytopenia. He also studied the use of
universal precautions in the homes of persons with hemophilia. In
1994, he was a preventive medicine resident with the California
Department of Health Services where he characterized missed opportunities
to prevent TB. He left the Commissioned Corps to complete an
Infectious Diseases fellowship where he defined a new risk factor
for TB infection and demonstrated the usefulness of outpatient gastric
aspirates for diagnosis of TB in children. Upon his return
to CDC and the Commissioned Corps, Mark joined the Division of HIV/AIDS
as a medical epidemiologist assessing HIV-related opportunistic
illnesses and participating in the implementation of national HIV
surveillance. The following year, he joined DTBE as a medical officer,
and was innovative in several areas of TB prevention and control.
He served as the team leader for a 35-person Evaluation Work Group,
the representative to the CDC/ ICE-DHS/ DIHS policy work group,
the lead for a 51-person TB in Corrections Working Group, the CDC
representative to a team for the Surgeon General’s “Call to action
on correctional and community health care,” and a member of an advisory
group to overhaul quarantine stations. He evaluated TB control in
20 large urban jails and designed a study of missed opportunities
to prevent TB and LTBI in young children, conducted a multisite
study of treatment for latent TB, and produced recommendations to
improve TB control on the U.S.-Mexico border. Presently, Mark is
embarking on a new mission as New England region medical officer
where he is learning the best practices for the elimination of TB
in low-incidence areas. He is located in Hartford, Connecticut.
Mark started this position on December 13, 2004.
Mark Miner was selected for the Senior Public Health Advisor
(PHA) position for the Maryland State Department of Health and Mental
Hygiene (DHMH) TB Program. Since August 2002, Mark has been working
as the Public Health Advisor with the Baltimore City TB Program
in the role of Program Manager. His duties included managing the
local TB budget, writing the co-operative agreements and contracts,
developing local TB policy, directing personnel activities, overseeing
surveillance issues and monitoring the TB clinic patient care and
contact investigation issues. Mark previously worked as a Public
Health Representative with the New York State Department of Health
TB Bureau from January 1993 to August 2002. His duties included
monitoring TB cases and suspects for a 14-county region in Central
New York. This involved field visits to various county health departments
and state correctional facilities where he reviewed completion of
morbidity reports, consulted with prison and county clinical and
administrative staff, conducted contact investigations and monitored
targeted testing activities. Prior to working with the New York
State Department of Health, Mark worked as a Public Health Sanitarian
for the health departments in Oneida and Madison counties in Central
New York. Mark also taught health classes to middle school and high
school students at the Canastota Central School District in New
York. Mark began his DHMH assignment on February 7, 2005.
Carol J. Pozsik, RN, MPH, former TB Controller of South
Carolina, has accepted the position of Executive Director of the
National TB Controllers Association, effective January 3, 2005.
She has been the TB Controller for South Carolina for the past 23
years and was the former Secretary, then President, of the Association.
She also was appointed to serve on the first Advisory Council for
the Elimination of TB (ACET) and several times subsequently as a
consultant to the Council. She is well known to CDC TB staff as
being an advocate for TB programs and has worked closely over the
years on many CDC committees and projects.
Carol J. Pozsik, RN, MPH
Executive Director
National Tuberculosis Controllers Association
2452 Spring Road, SE
Smyrna, GA 30080-3828
678-503-0503 (local calls)
877-503-0806 (toll free calls)
678-503-0805 (FAX)
877-503-0805 (toll free FAX) |
Valerie Robison, DDS, MPH, PhD, has been selected as the
new Chief of the Surveillance Team at DTBE, and will join DTBE on
April 18. She received a DDS degree from Johns Hopkins University
in 1983, a PhD from the University of North Carolina in 1979, and
an MPH in Health Services Administration from the University of
North Carolina in 1995. Since moving to Atlanta and joining CDC
in 1999, Valerie has been working at NCCDPHP; with the Division
of Reproductive Health in HIV/AIDS research and most recently
with Division of Oral Health in oral health surveillance. Valerie
brings to her new job a wide range of national and international
experiences in TB, surveillance, and public health. From 1996
to 1999, she directed field activities in northern Thailand
for the HIV/AIDS collaboration between Chiang Mai University and
Johns Hopkins University. At that time she was on the
faculty at the Department of Epidemiology, Division of
Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public
Health. From 1995 to 1996, she worked in TB epidemiology at
the University of Texas Health Center in Tyler, Texas. She
met her future husband, Dr. Peter Cegielski (DTBE, International
Research and Programs Branch), in 1989 in Tanzania
when she sold him a leaky windsurfer -- he, and their relationship,
survived. She lived in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania,
from 1983 to 1990 and worked at the Ministry of Health. She
worked as a dentist in North Carolina and then went to Kathmandu,
Nepal (1980-1982) to work
in public health dentistry. She and Peter Cegielski have
two children, ages 12 and 8, and they enjoy travel, water sports, music, and
their Golden Retrievers.
Harry A. Stern is retiring on April 2, 2005, after 35 years
of service to the U.S.
government. Harry served in the U.S. Army from 1967 to 1969, including
a tour of duty in Southeast Asia. In 1972, he received a bachelor
of arts degree from Long Island University, Brooklyn, New York.
In 1972 Harry joined CDC in Atlanta, Georgia,
as a Public Health Advisor (PHA) for the Venereal Disease Control
Program and was assigned to the New York City Department of Health.
He had additional state and city assignments with that program (now
the Division of STD Prevention) in Miami, Florida; San Francisco,
California; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Ft. Lauderdale, Florida;
and Baltimore, Maryland. His career in TB control began in 1987
when he transferred from his STD assignment in Baltimore, Maryland,
to an assignment with DTBE as the Baltimore City TB Program Coordinator.
In this position, Harry was instrumental in initiating TB and HIV
prevention activities in drug treatment centers, jails, and health
care centers. In 1988, he transferred to DTBE headquarters in Atlanta.
From 1988 to 1994, Harry served as the Associate Director for TB/HIV
Activities for the division. During this time, he played a key role
in the development of a plan to incorporate TB, HIV, and STD screening
activities in methadone maintenance clinics and correctional facilities.
He was also the lead consultant for many of the Division’s TB/HIV
cooperative agreements with state and local health departments.
In addition, he participated on several workgroups addressing the
issues of multidrug-resistant TB and nosocomial transmission of
TB. In June 1991 Harry received a CDC Unit Commendation for his
contributions in addressing the nosocomial transmission of TB from
HIV/AIDS patients. In June 1993 he received the PHS Special Recognition
Award for his part in an outstanding CDC team effort in addressing
the threat of MDR TB. From 1994 to 2000, Harry served as the Deputy
Associate Director for International Activities in the division.
In this position, he provided management and programmatic oversight
for DTBE’s international activities, including coordination with
CDC’s Office of Global Health, the International Union Against TB
and Lung Disease, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the U.S.
Agency for International Development (USAID). He played a principal
role in establishing BOTUSA, the research site in Botswana,
Africa. Harry also administered international agreements between
CDC, USAID, WHO, and the Ministries of Health of Russia, Latvia,
Estonia, the Philippines,
and Mexico. While in this
assignment he developed the first TB component of the International
Experience and Technical Assistance Program (IETA). Through his
involvement with IETA, the division selected and assigned several
PHAs for international assignments to Botswana,
South Africa, Zimbabwe,
and Russia. Since
2000, Harry has served as the TB Program Operations Manager in Miami-Dade
County, Florida. He has been involved in all aspects of TB control
and prevention, including policy, surveillance, program evaluation,
strategic planning, personnel, and fiscal activities. In November
2004, Harry received a Special Recognition Award from the Bureau
of Tuberculosis and Refugee Health, Florida Department of Health,
for his contributions to improving TB control efforts in Miami (Dade
County). Harry plans to temporarily retire to Melbourne Beach, Florida,
where he enjoys traveling, kayaking, fishing, and riding his bike.
Todd Wilson, MS, CHES, is leaving DTBE to work for
CDC/NCID/Division of Global Migration and Quarantine (DGMQ). His
last day with DTBE is March 25. Todd came to DTBE’s Surveillance,
Epidemiology, and Outbreak Investigations Branch (SEOIB) in late
2002 and assumed most of the duties of Glory Kelly, who retired
at the end of 2002. He oversaw the entire process of cleaning and
closing the surveillance system data set, formatting the annual
surveillance report, proofreading the complex tables, and printing
and distributing the report. The annual report Todd produced in
2003, the 50-year anniversary edition, is a remarkable tribute to
his hard work. Todd also coordinated all responses to requests for
surveillance data. To improve how we provide surveillance data summaries,
he conceived of and instituted an on-line surveillance data request
system this year. This new system allows us to track these requests
and evaluate how quickly and accurately we respond. The success
of the new system is already evident by the substantial increase
in requests that have been submitted. Todd has also been the surveillance
team’s expert in our effort to make an important transition from
our current surveillance software system to the new CDC-wide NEDSS
platform. This required him to master a new technical field and
work with others with very different backgrounds; he did both with
great skill. In his new position as the Officer in Charge of the
El Paso, Texas, Quarantine Station, Todd will manage the day-to-day
affairs of the station and supervise two PHAs and an administrative
staff person. He will receive reports of ill passengers arriving
via the international terminal at El Paso Airport and conduct case
finding and contact investigations with other passengers if needed. He
will perform the same functions with the major bus terminals in
El Paso. As the agency with statutory authority for preventing persons
with certain illnesses from entering the Unites States, his group
will work with local hospitals to provide isolation and quarantine
facilities for those persons (infectious TB patients, for example).
The quarantine station will have a Medical Officer on staff to diagnose
and direct these activities. He will also work closely with DGMQ
to help identify established epidemiologic and geographic disease
links for persons who immigrate to the United States through
El Paso (i.e., where do these persons end up in the United States,
what kinds of illnesses do the immigrants have.) Eventually, the
El Paso Quarantine Station will be the headquarters for these imonitoring
and epi activities for a large section of the U.S.-Mexico border.
|
