Newsmakers: March 2014

Kim Krisberg

APHA executive director elected to Academy of Medicine of Washington, D.C.

APHA Executive Director Georges Benjamin, MD, in December was elected to the Academy of Medicine of Washington, D.C. The academy works toward the advancement of science and medicine and promotes the exchange of knowledge between medical and other scientific groups.

Bassett appointed as NYC commissioner of health

APHA member Mary Bassett, MD, MPH, in January was named commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Bassett previously served as the department’s deputy commissioner of health promotion and disease prevention and program director of the African Health Initiative and the Child Abuse Prevention Program at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Fleming joins SAMHSA

APHA member Mary Fleming, MD, MPH, in November joined the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration as director of the Office of Policy, Planning and Innovation. She previously served as chief executive officer of Allegheny HealthChoices Inc. in Pittsburgh.

APHA member honored for public health work

The Campaign for Public Health Foundation in December announced the winners of its fourth annual Unsung Heroes of Public Health Awards. APHA member Jim Krieger, MD, MPH, chief of the Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention Section at Public Health-Seattle and King County, received the foundation’s Rock in the Pond Award, which honors an individual for outstanding work on a community-based or statewide public health effort that resulted in positive health outcomes. The Wavemaker Award, which honors an individual whose work on a large public health program has successfully affected a public health challenge, went to Julie Wallace, MPH, MN, malaria division chief in the U.S. Agency for International Development and team lead of President Barack Obama’s Malaria Initiative. The Excellence in Media Award went to Anne Saker, a contributing writer for WCPO Digital in Cincinnati, for her three-part series on a syphilis epidemic in Cincinnati.

Ayala to direct health in DuPage County

Karen Ayala, MPH, in December was named executive director of the DuPage County Health Department in Illinois. Ayala previously served in the DuPage’s Community Health and Public Services departments.

Compton receives HHS award, fills new role at NIDA

Wilson Compton, MD, MPE, in November was appointed deputy director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse. Compton in October was also one of 10 people to receive the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary’s Award for Meritorious Service for his previous work as director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Division of Epidemiology. Compton was honored for his outstanding cross-agency collaborations to reduce tobacco use and prescription drug abuse and to improve treatment systems.

Gulick, Hirsch appointed to national HIV panel

Roy Gulick, MD, MPH, and Martin Hirsch, MD, in November were named co-chairs of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Panel on Antiretroviral Guidelines for Adults and Adolescents. Gulick is a professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University. Hirsch is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and of immunology and infectious diseases at the Harvard School of Public Health. The panel serves as the standard of medical care for treating HIV patients in the U.S.

Trent-Adams leads Public Health Service nurses

Sylvia Trent-Adams, DPhil, MN, in November was promoted to flag officer in the U.S. Public Health Service and selected as new chief professional officer for the Nurse Category. In her new role, Trent-Adams will lead the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service Nurse Professional Affairs.

New leaders named in HIV/AIDS clinical trials

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in December named principal investigators to lead the research of five HIV/AIDS clinical trials networks through 2021. Daniel Kuritzkes, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, will lead the AIDS Clinical Trials Group; Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, MPH, and Myron Cohen, MD, both of Family Health International in Durham, N.C., will lead the HIV Prevention Trials Network; Lawrence Corey, MD, Glenda Gray, MBBCh, and Scott Hammer, MD, all of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, will lead the HIV Vaccine Trials Network; Jay Brooks Jackson, MD, of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, will lead the International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials; and Sharon Hillier, PhD, and Ian Michael McGowan, MD, PhD, both of Magee-Womens Research Institute and Foundation in Pittsburgh, will lead the Microbicide Trials Network.

Venkatesh takes new behavioral health role

Mohini Venkatesh, MPH, in November was named the new vice president for practice improvement at the National Council for Behavioral Health. She has been with the council for six years.