Newsmakers: October 2012

Donya Currie

Colfax director of Office of National AIDS Policy

President Barack Obama in March appointed Grant Colfax, MD, as the director of the Office of National AIDS Policy. Colfax was assistant clinical professor in medicine at the University of California San Francisco Division of HIV/AIDS and director of the HIV Prevention and Research Section in the San Francisco Department of Public Health AIDS Office.

Honore named to professorship at LSU School of Public Health

APHA member Peggy Honore, DHA, MHA, was appointed to the first AmeriHealth Mercy-General Russel Honore Endowed Professorship at the Louisiana State University Health Science Center School of Public Health. The professorship was established in August.

Jackson among new landscape architect honorees

APHA member Richard Jackson, MD, MPH, was named in August as a new honorary member of the American Society of Landscape Architects for his work in improving public health through better community design. Other new honorary members recognized for their work in education, activism and dedication to the landscape architecture profession included U.S. Rep. Donna Edwards, D-Md.

Waldron among those elected for National Academy for State Health Policy

APHA member Debra Waldron, MD, MPH, was one of many leading state health officials elected in February to serve a three-year term on steering committees for the National Academy for State Health Policy. Waldron was elected to the Long Term & Chronic Care Steering Committee along with Gail Propsom, MA; Flo Stein, MPH; and Lana Stohl, MBA, LCSW. New Health Care Access and Financing Steering Committee members are Len Finocchio, DrPH; Norman Thurston, PhD; and Julie Weinberg. The newly elected System Performance & Public Health Steering Committee members are Chris Collins; Mary McIntyre, MD, MPH; and Thomas Tsang, MD, MPH.

Lindstrom named president and CEO of Mental Health America

Wayne Lindstrom, PhD, MSW, a behavioral health expert with more than 40 years of experience, was named president and CEO of Mental Health America in August by the organization’s board of directors.

Hamm new communications director for Tobacco-Free Kids

Peter Hamm joined the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids in August as director of national communications. He previously served as communications director of the Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence and in the Clinton administration.

Atrash new director of Healthy Start Association

Hani Atrash, MD, MPH, in August became director of the National Healthy Start Association for the Health Resources and Services Administration. He formerly was director of the Division of Blood Disorders at the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities.

New members appointed to National Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in July appointed leaders in the emergency medical services field to serve on the National Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council, which advises the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Among the new board members are Raphael Barishansky, MPH, chief of public health emergency preparedness and response for Prince George’s County, Maryland; Joseph Wright, MD, MPH, a pediatric emergency physician at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.; Daniel Patterson, PhD, MPH, assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine and director of research for the Center for Emergency Medicine of Western Pennsylvania; Thomas Esposito, MD, MPH, FACS, professor of surgery and chief of the Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care and Burns at Loyola University Chicago; and Katrina Altenhofen, MPH, a volunteer paramedic and founding member of the West Chester First Responders in Washington, Iowa.

Five new members to National Advisory Council for Nursing Research

The National Institute of Nursing Research announced in May five new members of the National Advisory Council for Nursing Research: Julie Anderson, PhD, RN; Susan Gennaro, DSN, RN; William Holzemer, PhD, RN; Anne Rosenfeld, PhD, RN; and Bruce Schoenboom, PhD.

EPA names Glenn Paulson as science advisor

Glenn Paulson, PhD, was named in April by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson as the agency’s science advisor. He previously served as the Natural Resources Defense Council’s first director of the scientific support program.

Kalousek dean of School of Osteopathic Medicine

Kay Kalousek, DO, MS, in March was named the new dean of the School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona at A.T. Still University of Health Sciences. She has a special interest in the care of people with HIV/AIDS.