Tomás Aragón, MD, DrPH

Dr. Aragón is Principal Investigator and Executive Director at the Center for Infectious Disease & Emergency Readiness. Before coming to the UC Berkeley School of Public Health Dr. Aragón worked for eight years as director of Community Health Epidemiology and Disease Control at the San Francisco Department of Public Health, and as Deputy County Health Officer for the City and County of San Francisco. At SFDPH he directed communicable disease control and prevention, bioterrorism preparedness and response planning, and the epidemiologic and effectiveness research unit. Dr. Aragón's education and training include UC Berkeley (BA Molecular Biology, DrPH Epidemiology), Harvard Medical School (MD, MPH), and UC San Francisco (Internal Medicine, Clinical Infectious Diseases, and AIDS epidemiology fellowship). His curriculum vitae is available at http://www.medepi.net/aragon, and he is developer and maintainer of EpiTools.Net (http://www.epitools.net).

Courses/Trainings:

• Applied Epidemiology Using R
• Essential Field Epidemiology: Outbreak Investigations
• Essential Field Epidemiology: Train-The-Trainer Course
• Core Infectious Disease Emergency Readiness (CIDER) Lecture Series

Adele R. Amodeo, MPH

Adele completed her undergraduate work at NYU and her master’s degree at UC Berkeley School of Public Health.  She spent almost twenty years in health policy and legislation for the University of California system, including creating, staffing and leading many diverse committees and working groups in the Office of the Vice President for Health Affairs, where she coordinated responses to health legislative proposals on behalf of the University’s health sciences and services enterprises.  She spent four years working with the Partnership for the Public’s Health, at the Public Health Institute (PHI), focusing on collaborations between community-based organizations and local health departments to improve community health in the broadest sense.  In that capacity, and as a member of the Advisory Committee to the Pacific Public Health Training Center, she focused attention on public health workforce issues, including “pipeline” problems and career ladders for community health workers.  She was the interviewer and editor of a published conversation with Dr. Lester Breslow, “Reflections on Leadership in Public Health” and a compilation of public health policy and practice briefs, entitled “Building Public Health Systems.”  She has facilitated strategic planning meetings for various units within the State Department of Health Services, including a Strategic Plan for Public Health Preparedness, and with other organizations. For PHI, she has coordinated two Policymakers’ Symposia on Newborn Genetic Screening Issues. Adele completed two terms as the president of the California Public Health Association-North, and currently serves as Interim Executive Director.  She has been the principal planner and organizer for several professional meetings.  She is a founding board member and current treasurer of the California Center for Public Health Advocacy.  She is a technical editor for professional journal articles and other publications. She is also a certified mediator and collaborative negotiator, certified by National Center Associates.

Jeannie Balido, BA

Jeannie Balido is the Education and Training Program Manager for the UC Berkley Center for Infectious Disease & Emergency Readiness. Ms. Balido has over 15 years experience in the areas of conference/special events planning, project coordination, fundraising and strategic development, social marketing and public relations. She has worked on public health issues such as tobacco control, breast cancer, nutrition and obesity, access to health care for underserved communities, and domestic violence. Prior to coming to CIDER, she has worked at the Association of Bay Area Governments, The San Francisco Foundation, Asian American Health Forum, and Economic Opportunity Council of San Francisco. Ms. Balido received a BA in Psychology from UC Berkeley, and a Certificate of Completion in Sports & Special Event Marketing from UC Berkeley Extension.

Julia Dysart, BBA

Julia Dysart is the Administrator of Operations at the UC Berkeley Center for Infectious Disease & Emergency Readiness. She is a graduate of University of Hawaii, Manoa, where she majored in Marketing and Management.

Wayne Enanoria, PhD, MPH

Dr. Enanoria is Director, Epidemiology Preparedness and Informatics (EPI) Program at the Center for Infectious Disease & Emergency Readiness. He received his PhD in Epidemiology and his MPH in Epidemiology/Biostatistics from the University of California at Berkeley. He has worked as an epidemiologist and research analyst in local and state agencies including the San Francisco Department of Public Health (Tuberculosis Control; Community Health Epidemiology and Disease Control) and the California Department of Public Health (Office of AIDS; Reproductive Epidemiology Section). He provides technical assistance to local and state partners in epidemiology, public health surveillance, and infectious disease emergency preparedness.

Courses/Trainings:

• Essential Field Epidemiology: Outbreak Investigations
• Essential Field Epidemiology: Train-The-Trainer Course
• Disaster Epidemiology: Research Methods and Applications (PH 257A)
• Relational Database Management Systems for Epidemiology

Lisa Goldberg, MPP, MPH

Lisa Goldberg is a research specialist for the UC Berkeley Center for Infectious Disease & Emergency Readiness. She is currently, the project coordinator for the Pandemic Influenza Vaccine Prioritization Project that is being undertaken by CIDER and the California Department of Health Services (CDHS). Ms. Goldberg received two Masters degrees in public health and in public policy at UC Berkeley. She worked as a graduate student researcher at CIDER for two and a half years and completed her Master's thesis on prioritization for pandemic influenza vaccine. Prior to attending graduate school, she worked at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in the HIV/AIDS Bureau's Office of Research and Evaluation. Lisa's areas on interest include: infectious disease planning and preparedness, survey design, health policy analysis, statistics, applied epidemiology, and homeland security policy.

Kay Gordon, RN, CEN, SEM, CHS-IV 

Kay has an Associate’s Degree in Nursing and began her nursing career in 1984.  She has been a registered nurse at Doctors Medical Center in Modesto, Calif. since 1986, and is currently the hospital Safety Officer/Security Manager and Emergency Management Coordinator.  Kay has an extensive background in Emergency Nursing, Flight Nursing and several years as a paramedic.  Kay is certified as a Specialist in Emergency Management, and has completed the certification in Homeland Security (CHS-IV). Kay is also a Resource Specialist for Emergency Nurses Association and served for two years on the ENA disaster preparedness committee.  Kay has also served as an instructor for the Hospital Emergency Response Team and Healthcare Leadership courses at Noble Training Center for DHS/FEMA’s Center for Domestic Preparedness. She is also an active participant in community disaster planning and has participated in state disaster planning.

Jennifer C. Hunter, MPH

Jennifer Hunter is a Research Analyst at CIDER.  She is currently the project coordinator for the UC Berkeley arm of the Public Health Systems Indicators Project (PHSIP), a collaborative investigation with the University of Pittsburgh and the Health Officers Association of California (HOAC).  Jennifer also an analyst for the Pandemic Influenza Vaccine and Antiviral (PIVA) project.  Jennifer received her MPH in Epidemiology and Environmental Health at Boston University School of Public Health. Before joining CIDER in June 2007, Jennifer worked with the San Francisco Department of Public Health in the Bioterrorism and Infectious Disease Emergencies Unit of the Communicable Disease Control and Prevention Section.  She has also worked as a Clinical Research Coordinator at Boston University and a research fellow at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.  Jennifer is interested in the factors that contribute to infectious disease emergence, determinants of communities’ capacity to detect and respond to infectious disease threats, and how transdisciplinary approaches can improve communities’ preparedness.

Âna-Marie Jones

Ana-Marie Jones is the Executive Director of CARD - Collaborating Agencies Responding to Disasters, a nonprofit located in Alameda County, California. Created by local community agencies after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, CARD trains and supports nonprofits and special needs communities in disaster preparedness, response and recovery activities. In her tenure, she has re-written and redefined CARD’s services and curriculum to be based on community capacity building, economic empowerment and leadership development.

Before joining CARD in April 2000, for three years Ms. Jones worked for the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services Coastal Region on projects supporting community organizations and people with special needs. She was also the acting Executive Director of the Northern California Disaster Preparedness Network, a 5-year funding initiative dedicated to creating emergency preparedness and response resources for vulnerable and underserved communities.

Ms. Jones works with numerous preparedness stakeholders to address preparedness, response, recovery, evacuation, funding, and the full sustainable inclusion of people with special needs. She is Chair of the Nonprofit Roundtable for the Oakland Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the Working Group on Citizen Engagement in Health Emergency Planning, an initiative of the UPMC Center for Biosecurity. She has been a panel member, guest lecturer and keynote presenter for many diverse entities including: Harvard School of Public Health, RAND Corporation, Yale University School of Public Health, Department of Homeland Security, Public Health – Seattle & King County Advanced Practice Center, Office of Minority Health and the CDC.

In November 2003 and in January 2005, at the request of the Japanese Central Government and Japanese research institutes, Ms. Jones toured Tokyo and Kobe sharing an alternative approach to disaster preparedness (use no fear – Prepare to Prosper!) with government, emergency management, university and nonprofit leaders. In March 2005, she joined the faculty of UC Berkeley Center for Infectious Disease Preparedness as a guest lecturer.

Ana-Marie Jones is committed to ending the use of fear, as a way to “motivate” preparedness actions. She a passionate advocate for ending America’s disaster victim cycle and for building disaster resilient communities, where even the most vulnerable members will survive, thrive and prosper!

Harvey Kayman, MD, MPH

Harvey Kayman received his early education in Bogalusa and New Orleans, Louisiana. He graduated Cum Laude in Chemistry from Cornell University in 1964, the University of Chicago School of Medicine in 1968, the University of California – Berkeley in 1999 with an MPH, completed Pediatric Internship and Residency at Babies Hospital, Columbia University, in New York City in 1971, received certificates of achievement for two year-long courses at the Management Academy of Public Health in 2002 and the South East Public Health Leadership Institute in 2004 from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and the Center of Disease Control and Prevention.

Currently, he is a Public Health Medical Officer III in the Emergency Planning and Preparedness Section of the Immunization Branch of the California Department of Health Services. Until November 2006, he was the Director of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau in the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC), a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, and an Adjunct Associate Professor of Epidemiology in the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina. His experience in public health positions include 14 years as Chief of Health Education in Kaiser Permanente, Fremont, California and six years as a Public Health Officer in South Carolina (SC DHEC).  He has been honored to be the public health representative to the South Carolina Medical Association Ethics Committee for six years.  In addition, he has had many years experience as a front line practicing pediatrician, first in the United States Army (Chief of Pediatrics at the US Army Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand) and then as a staff pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente for 25 years.

Jennifer Lachance, MSE

Jennifer Lachance, MSE, is a Graduate Student Researcher currently working on the REDI-US study. Previously, Jennifer focused on the identification of public health preparedness strategies for vulnerable populations in disaster situations. Jennifer is currently pursuing a DrPH at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health. Prior to her enrollment at Berkeley, Jennifer worked as a strategy and technology consultant for various public health agencies, focusing primarily on disaster preparedness and electronic disease surveillance systems. Jennifer earned her Master of Science in Engineering and Bachelor of Science in May 2000 from the Johns Hopkins University, Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, with a concentration in Public Health.

Lara Misegades, MS, PhD student

Lara Misegades is a Graduate Student Researcher working on the REDI-US study and is currently pursuing her PhD in Epidemiology at UC Berkeley. Prior to returning to graduate school, Lara was Director of Infectious Disease Policy at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials(ASTHO) in Washington D.C., where she helped coordinate the organization's policy responses to emerging infectious disease issues such as pandemic influenza and SARS. Lara received her MS in Epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health, and has worked at the Minnesota and Massachusetts Departments of Health, and as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the West Indies.

Donata Nilsen, MPH, DrPH Student

Donata Nilsen is a Graduate Student Researcher currently working on a Public Health Module for Community Emergency Response Teams.  Prior to this, Donata worked on several tuberculosis projects in conjunction with San Diego State University and as a community educator on bioterrorism and other emergencies for the Council of Community Clinics in San Diego, California. 

Prior to her public health track, she worked as a Quality Assurance manager for a biotechnology company in Tustin, CA producing radioisotope labeled monoclonal antibodies for non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and other cancers in various stages of clinical trials.  Donata received a BS in Biology from the University of California at Irvine, a BS in Microbiology with an emphasis in Medical Technology from California Polytechnic University, Pomona, and a MPH with an emphasis in Epidemiology from San Diego State University. 

Michael Petrie, EMT-P, MBA, MA

Michael Petrie is the Director of the Readiness, Operations, Planning and Exercise (ROPE) Program at the Center for Infectious Disease and Emergency Readiness. Before coming to CIDER, Mr. Petrie worked for eight years as the Administrator of the San Francisco EMS Agency. Michael was responsible for EMS System development, planning, regulation, and quality improvement, and disaster and homeland security preparedness. Michael was active in State Medical Disaster Preparedness, and was a leader in the development of the California Disaster-Medical Operations Manual. Michael has also served on Facility at the Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security, and continues at NPS as Thesis Advisor and a member of the Editorial Review Board of Homeland Security Affairs, the premier peer-reviewed homeland security academic journal. Mr. Petrie regularly advises local, state, and federal government agencies and departments in capability assessment and methodology, strategic planning, emergency response preparedness, and domestic information sharing. Michael has been a licensed paramedic for over 26 years, graduated cum laude with a Bachelors Degree in Management from Saint Mary’s College of California, and holds Masters Degrees in Business Administration and Homeland Security and Defense.

Travis Porco, PhD, MPH

Dr. Travis Porco is a mathematical epidemiologist with the San Francisco Department of Public Health's Epidemiology and Effectiveness Research Unit. His research interests have included the infectivity of HIV in the era of HAART, evolution of virulence, HIV superinfection, transmission dynamics of tuberculosis, drug resistance in HSV-2, eradication of trachoma, and the enzootiology of Lyme disease. Dr. Porco's education and training include the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida (BS Physics), UC Berkeley (PhD Biophysics, MPH Biostatistics), and UC San Francisco (postdoctoral fellowship). He maintains a mathematical epidemiology web site at http://www.mathepi.com.

Courses:

• Mathematical Modeling of Infectious Diseases (PH 252B)

Arthur Reingold, MD

Dr. Reingold is Professor of Epidemiology and Head of the Division of Epidemiology at the School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley (UCB). He holds concurrent appointments in the Departments of Medicine and Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He has devoted the past 20-plus years to the study and prevention of infectious diseases in the United States and in various countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, initially at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for eight years and at UCB since 1987. Current activities include directing the National Institutes of Health-funded UCB/UCSF Fogarty International AIDS Training Program, now in its fourteenth year, and co-directing the CDC-funded California Emerging Infections Program, now in its eighth year. Dr. Reingold's current research interests include prevention of transmission of HIV in developing countries; the intersection of the HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis epidemics; malaria in Uganda; emerging and re-emerging infections in the U.S. and globally; sexual transmission of hepatitis C virus; vaccine-preventable diseases; and respiratory infections in childhood.

Courses:

• Epidemiology and Control of Infectious Diseases (PH 253B)
• Outbreak Investigations (PH 257)

Christine Siador, MPH

Christine Siador is the Acting Associate Director for the UC Berkeley Center for Infectious Disease & Emergency Readiness. She received her M.P.H. in biomedical sciences/infectious disease from U.C. Berkeley. Christine has over 15 years of experience managing national, statewide and local public health programs. In addition to her administrative experience, Christine also brings extensive experience to the Center in the areas of social marketing, health education, coalition/partnerhsip developmnet, conference and special events planning and coordination.

Michael Samuel, DrPH

Dr. Samuel is the Chief of the Epidemiology and Surveillance Section of the Sexually Transmitted Diseases Control Branch, California Department of Health Services. He is responsible for oversight of the systems for collection, analysis, and dissemination of data on STDs in California. Previously he worked as a Medical Epidemiologist for the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) component of the California Emerging Infections Program where he directed foodborne disease outbreak investigations and collaborated on national case-control studies and surveillance projects. Prior to that, Dr. Samuel was in charge of HIV/AIDS Epidemiology for the State of New Mexico In New Mexico, he was also part of the infectious disease epidemiology team, and worked on zoonotic diseases, including hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, plague, and rabies. He has assisted with international HIV/AIDS, biostatics, and related computer application trainings in Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Nicaragua and El Salvador and was in charge of the Swiss Federal AIDS Epidemiology Unit in Switzerland. Dr. Samuel's education includes B.S., M.P.H. and Dr.P.H. degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, with emphasis on biostatistics and epidemiologic methods. His doctoral work was with Professor Warren Winkelstein on sexual transmission of HIV in the San Francisco Men's Health Study.

Courses/Trainings:

• Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Surveillance

 Chuck Whitmarsh, BA, MBA, MS

Chuck Whitmarsh is a Principal Consultant at The Succurro Group, LLC. A consulting firm whose service offerings revolve around homeland security, emergency services, and globalization related matters. Chuck started working as a management consultant in 2005 on a part time basis, and then launched The Succurro Group in 2008 after growing his client base. Chuck has also spent 12+ years in the fire service to date, in protection, prevention, and anti/counter-terrorism positions. His experience in operations is a unique blend from around the world, having worked in England, Spain, Greece, and Saudi Arabia, with the local-nationals of each country, in addition to the United States. Chuck holds a BA in International Relations, MBA in International Business, and a MS in Emergency Services Administration.