Newsmakers: August 2023

Minoli Ediriweera

Cox named director of health and community services

APHA member Andrew Cox, MPH, was appointed director of Michigan’s Macomb County Health and Community Services. Cox is a registered environmental health sanitarian and previously served as the director of the Macomb County Health Department.

Forker appointed health department executive director

APHA member Adam Forker, MPH, was named executive director of the DuPage County Health Department in Illinois in April. He was previously the health department’s deputy director of business operations, playing a key role in administering the county’s COVID-19 vaccination clinics.

Brown joins board of directors

Moe Ari Brown, LMFT, was named to the board of directors of the Treatment Action Group, a research and policy public health think tank. Brown is a licensed marriage and family therapist as well as the founder of Transcendent Therapy and Consulting LLC, where he provides support to members of the LGBTQ+ community and people with HIV.

Amosun named deputy health commissioner

Tobi Adeyeye Amosun, MD, FAAP, is the new deputy commissioner for population health for the Tennessee Department of Health, the agency announced in May. Amosun is a board-certified pediatrician and previously served as the assistant commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Health’s division of family health.

UC San Diego Health honored for environmental excellence

In May, the University of California-San Diego Health received six Environmental Excellence awards from Practice Greenhealth. San Diego Health recently launched a program focused on health care sustainability.

Sheingold named scholar-in-residence

Brenda Helen Sheingold, PhD, RN, FNAP, was named scholar-in-residence for the University of Oxford’s Summer Institute for Curriculum Development in Critical Contemporary Antisemitism Studies in May. Sheingold is an associate professor and director of the Master’s Program in Health Care Administration at George Mason University.

Ahmed selected as Fulbright scholar

Nasar Ahmed, PhD, MPS, an associate professor of epidemiology at Florida International University’s Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, was selected as a 2023-2024 Fulbright scholar in May. Ahmed will be working with universities in Bangladesh to expand the development of their public health and sustainability curricula.

Crouch receives award for rural health work

Elizabeth Crouch, PhD, won the 2023 Outstanding Researcher Award from the National Rural Health Association in May. Crouch is a health services policy and management associate professor at the University of South Carolina, where she also serves as the director of the university’s Rural and Minority Health Center.

Zhang elected board chair

In June, Jinsheng Zhang, PhD, was elected chair of the board of directors of the American Tinnitus Association. Zhang is a tinnitus researcher at Wayne State University, where he also serves as chair of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Graber appointed behavioral health director

Star Graber, PhD, LMFT, was appointed administrator of the Behavioral Health Department for San Luis Obispo County in California in June. Graber has served San Luis Obispo County for 35 years, most recently as division manager of the department’s drug and alcohol services.

McDonald named interim health and human services director

Eric McDonald, MD, will serve as interim health and human services director of San Diego County, officials announced in June. McDonald joined the county in 2010 as deputy public health officer. Most recently, he served as its chief medical officer. His interim position as director is expected to end in 2024.

Cahill appointed public health director

APHA member Kathy Cahill, MPH, was named director of the Nevada County Public Health Department in California in June. Cahill has worked for numerous state and local public health organizations, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Fagan named director of health

Amy Fagan, MPA, has was named health director for the Wichita Falls-Wichita County Public Health District in Texas in June. Fagan has worked for the district for over 20 years, and most recently as assistant health director.

Grinnell receives Outstanding Teacher Award

Gregory Grinnell, MS, was honored in May with an outstanding teacher award from the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Grinnell taught a course on human performance and nutrition and was nominated for the award by students in the class.

Bennett named acting director of DC Health

Ayanna Bennett, MD, MPH, was appointed acting director of Washington, D.C.’s Department of Health in June. Most recently, Bennett was chief health equity officer and director of the Office of Health Equity in the San Francisco Department of Public Health.