Newsmakers

Whitaker to serve on CDC injury prevention board

APHA member Daniel Whitaker, PhD, in March was named to the Board of Scientific Counselors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Whitaker, who serves as professor of health promotion and behavior at the School of Public Health at Georgia State University, will serve CDC through August 2020, advising on epidemiology, surveillance and intervention.

Ramirez-Valles named editor of Health Education and Behavior

APHA member Jesus Ramirez-Valles, PhD, MPH, will serve as the next editor-in-chief of the Society for Public Health Education’s journal Health Education and Behavior. Ramirez, the director of Community Health Sciences at the University of Illinois-Chicago School of Public Health, has also served as editor of SOPHE’s Health Promotion Practice for the past four years.

Sheehan named scholar

APHA member Diana Sheehan, PhD, MPH, in March was selected as a 2018 HIV Prevention Trials Network Scholar. The scholars program involves a research project, where Sheehan will investigate her proposal, “Perceived network sexual norms and HIV sexual risk behavior among drug users and their risk partners.” Sheehan works as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Epidemiology in Florida International University’s Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work.

Kresge Foundation supports emerging leaders in public health

APHA members Diana Gomez, MPH, of Yuma County, Arizona; Patrick Luedtke, MD, MPH, of Lane County, Oregon; Gretchen Musicant, MPH, of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Charlie Bryan, MPA, of Lawrence-Douglas County, Kansas; Adi Pour, PhD, of Douglas County, Nebraska; Jen Rombalski, MPH, RN, of La Crosse County, Wisconsin; Umair Shah, MD, MPH, of Harris County, Texas; and Timothy Soucy, MPH, of Manchester, New Hampshire, in April were selected by the Kresge Foundation to the Emerging Leaders in Public Health initiative. These members were part of 40 total public health leaders across the country chosen to transform their local public health departments.

Cilenti chosen as interim health director

Dorothy Cilenti, PhD, in March was named interim health director of Orange County, North Carolina. Cilenti served as associate professor of maternal and child health at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health from 2012 to 2015. Cilenti will serve as interim director while the department seeks to hire a permanent director.

Richardson receives Black Male Leader Award

Brian Richardson Jr., MS, in February was awarded the 2017 Black Male Leader Award by the mayor of Bloomington, Indiana. Richardson serves as assistant director of diversity and inclusion at the Indiana University Bloomington School of Public Health and started a leadership academy for underrepresented male students.

Huff promoted to CEO

The Laboratory Corporation of America, commonly known as LabCorp, in March promoted Gary Huff, MA, to CEO of LabCorp Diagnostics. Huff previously served as head of the company’s Hospitals and Health Systems group.

Moskowitz elected to Academy of Behavioral Medicine

Judy Moskowitz, PhD, MPH, director of research at the Northwestern University Osher Center for Integrative Medicine and professor of medical social sciences, was elected to the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research in March. The academy is an honorary society that recognizes scientists who have made significant contributions to behavioral medicine.

Pennsylvania nurse Medoff-Cooper wins research award

Barbara Medoff-Cooper, PhD, RN, FAAN, in April was awarded the 2017 Distinguished Contributions to Nursing Research Award by the Eastern Nursing Research Society. Medoff-Cooper, who serves at a professor of nursing at the University of Pennsylvania, received the award at the society’s annual conference in Philadelphia.

Mohammadian named head of engineering department

Abolfozl Mohammadian, PhD, in January was appointed head of the Department of Civil and Materials Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Mohammadian also directs the TransLab at the university, where he conducts research on transportation planning and travel behavior.

LaBaer to direct Arizona institute

Joshua LaBaer, PhD, MD, in April was named executive director of the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University. LaBaer is a researcher in cancer and personalized medicine, and recently received the Faculty Research Achievement Award at the university.

Genetics group named four new board members

The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics in March elected Anthony Gregg, MD, MBA; Laurie Demmer, MD; Elaine Lyon, PhD; and Catherine Rehder, PhD, to its board. The directors, elected at the college’s annual meeting in Phoenix, will serve six-year terms.

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