Newsmakers
==========

* Ayan Warfa

## Escoffery appointed SOPHE president

APHA member Cam Escoffery, PhD, in February was appointed president-elect of the Society of Public Health Education. Escoffery is an associate professor at Emory University Rollins School of Public Health. She previously served as associate editor of *Health Promotion Practice* and on the editorial board of *Health Education & Behavior.*

## Bailey, Mattes appointed to dietary guidelines committee

APHA members Regan Bailey, PhD, MPH, RD; and APHA members Richard Mattes, PhD, MPH, RD, in February were appointed to the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service and U.S. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Other public health professionals appointed to the committee include Carol Boushey, PhD, MPH, RD; and Elsie Taveras, MD, MPH.

## Nezami receives award

APHA member Elahe Nezami, PhD, in February received the Riegelman Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Public Health Education from the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health. Nezami is an associate professor of clinical preventative medicine and medical education and associate dean of the Office of Undergraduate, Masters and Professional Degree Programs at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine.

## Lumpkin named president

APHA member John Lumpkin, MD, MPH, in April was named president of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation. Lumpkin previously served as senior vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and director of the Illinois Department of Public Health.

## Slavova receives award

APHA member Svetlana Slavova, PhD, in March was named by the editorial board of *Injury Epidemiology* as the recipient of the Jess Kraus Award for 2018. The award is given for the journal’s best paper of the year. Her article focused on medical coding and injury hospitalizations. Slavova is an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Kentucky’s College of Public Health and a faculty researcher at the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center.

## Mays named chair

APHA member Glen Mays, PhD, MPH, in February was named chair of the Department of Health Systems, Management and Policy at the Colorado School of Public Health. He is slated to begin his new role June 1. Mays is the endowed professor of health management and policy at the University of Kentucky’s College of Public Health and director of the Centers of Public Health Systems and Services Research.

## Levitzky made director

APHA member Elizabeth Levitzky, PhD, MBA, in February was named director of the new bachelor of science in public health program at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Public Health. Levitzky is an assistant professor of epidemiology and previously was assistant dean for clinical affairs at the university’s School of Allied Health Professions.

## Grimm receives award

APHA member Brandon Grimm, PhD, in February received the Academic Public Health Practice Excellence Award from the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health. Grim is the associate dean for public health practice at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health.

## Agénor, Battaglia, Harris, appointed to editorial board

APHA member Madina Agénor ScD, MPH; Tracy Battaglia, MD; and Lisa Harris, MD, PhD, in February were appointed to the editorial board of Women’s Health Issues at the George Washington University Milken Institute of Public Health. Agénor is an assistant professor of race, culture and society at Tufts University. Battaglia is an associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health. Harris is an associate professor at the University of Michigan Medical School.

## Gottlieb receives award

Scott Gottlieb, MD, in February received the Dr. Nathan Davis Award for Outstanding Government Service from the American Medical Association. Gottlieb was the commissioner of Food and Drug Administration until his resignation in March. Previously, he was a clinical assistant professor at New York University School of Medicine and resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

## Geller appointed president-elect

Jeffrey Geller, MD, MPH, in February was appointed president-elect of the American Psychiatric Association. Geller is a professor of psychiatry and director of the Public Sector Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School

## Emerick appointed county director

Dawn Emerick, EhD, MPP, in January was appointed director of Oregon’s Benton County Health Department. Emerick was director of Clackamas County Public Health Department in Oregon. She previously served as president and CEO of the Health Planning Council of northeast Florida and administrator of the St. Johns River Rural Health Care Network.

## Rosenstock receives award

Linda Rosenstock, MD, MPH, in March received the Welch-Rose Award for Distinguished Service to the Academic Public Health from the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health. Rosenstock is the former dean of the University of California Fielding School of Public Health. She is currently a professor of medicine, health policy and management, and environmental health at UCLA.

## Whitworth awarded grant

Kristina Whitworth, PhD, MSPH, in February was awarded a grant from the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences under the Outstanding New Environmental Specialist award. Whitworth is an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health.

## Byrnes made director

Noni Byrnes, PhD, in February was named director of the National Institutes of Health Center for Scientific Review. Byrnes has been serving as acting director since May 2018. Previously, she served as scientific review officer in the Enabling Bioanalytical Technologies, chief of the Cell Biology Integrated Review Group, and director of the Division of Basic and Integrative Biological Sciences.

## Journal wins aging award

In January, *JAMDA* won the 2018 Gold Mather LifeWays Innovative Research on Aging Award for a study in its February 2018 issue. The study examined the differences between women in men in the causes of falls. *JAMDA* is the journal of AMDA-the Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. The award is given by the Mather LifeWays Institute on Aging.

## Friedman appointed interim chair

Adam Friedman, MD, FAAD, in February was appointed interim chair of the Department of Dermatology at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Friedman is a professor and founding director of the department’s dermatology residency program.

## Echols appointed director

Frederick Echols, MD, in February was appointed director of the St. Louis City Department of Health. Echols currently serves as director of Communicable Diseases, Vector and Veterinary Programs at the St. Louis County Department of Public Health. He previously served as chief of communicable diseases for the Illinois Department of Public Health and as a physician in the U.S. Navy.

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