Forum Member Biographies
Lewis R. Goldfrank, M.D. (Chair)
Lewis R. Goldfrank has worked at Bellevue Hospital Center and New York University (NYU) Medical Center for the last quarter century. He is currently the first chairman and professor of the newly established academic Department of Emergency Medicine at NYU, where his efforts have led to the development of the university’s emergency medicine and medical toxicology residencies. Dr. Goldfrank is also the medical director of the New York City Health Department’s Poison Center. His career has been spent working in the public hospitals of New York City, emphasizing the role of emergency medicine in improving access to care, public health, public policy, and medical humanism. He has assisted in numerous projects in South America, Asia, and Europe in the advancement of emergency medicine and medical toxicology, emphasizing his interests in the improvement of global health. Dr. Goldfrank recently has served on three committees (as chair for two of them) dealing with issues of terrorism: civilian medical response to chemical and biological terrorism; metropolitan medical response teams and preparedness for terrorism; and the psychological consequences of terrorism. Educated at Clark University, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and the University of Brussels, Belgium, he graduated from the University of Brussels Medical School in 1970. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center in 1973. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine.
Damon T. Arnold, M.D., M.P.H.
Damon T. Arnold was named the 16th Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health on October 1, 2007. Prior to his current position, Dr. Arnold was the medical director for bioterrorism and preparedness for the Chicago Department of Public Health. During his professional career, he also was medical director for St. Francis Hospital, Blue Island, Illinois; LTV Steel Company in Indiana; and Mercy Hospital and Medical Center, Chicago. He has served in the Army National Guard for 25 years, holds the rank of colonel and, currently, is the guard’s commander of the Joint Task Force Medical Command in Springfield and the Illinois State Surgeon. Over the years, he has had a distinguished military career and received many military awards, including Army Commendation, National Defense Service and Humanitarian Service medals. He has served missions to Iraq, Kuwait, Central America, South America, Africa and Europe, as well as participated in relief efforts for hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He was the American Red Cross Military Hero of the Year for 2007. Dr. Arnold received his M.D. and M.P.H. degrees from the University of Illinois, and has completed several law courses at DePaul University College of Law. Dr. Arnold chairs the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) Preparedness Policy Committee, sits on the Board of Directors for the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago, and serves as ASTHO Liaison Representative for Board of Scientific Counselors, Coordinating Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response (COTPER). Dr. Arnold also holds Associate Professorships at the University of Illinois School of Public Health, the University of Illinois Medical School, and the Southern Illinois Medical School.
Georges C. Benjamin, M.D.
Georges C. Benjamin became executive director of the American Public Health Association, the nation's oldest and largest organization of public health professionals, in 2002. Prior to that, he was secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, where he played a key role in developing Maryland's bioterrorism plan, following four years as the department’s deputy secretary for public health services. Dr. Benjamin started his medical career in 1981 in Tacoma, Washington, where he managed a 72,000-patient visit ambulatory care service as chief of the Acute Illness Clinic at the Madigan Army Medical Center. A few years later, he served as chief of emergency medicine at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. After leaving the Army, he chaired the Department of Community Health and Ambulatory Care at the District of Columbia General Hospital. He was promoted to acting commissioner for Public Health for the District of Columbia and later directed one of the busiest ambulance services in the nation as interim director of the Emergency Ambulatory Bureau of the District of Columbia Fire Department. Dr. Benjamin is a member of several committees, including CDC’s director's advisory committee. He is currently serving on IOM’s Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice, and has served on several other IOM and IOM/NRC committees: training physicians for public health careers; measures to enhance the effectiveness of CDC quarantine station expansion plan for U.S. ports of entry; evaluation of the metropolitan medical response systems program; and research and development needs for improved civilian medical response to chemical or biological terrorism incidents. He also serves on the boards of Partnership for Prevention and Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. Dr. Benjamin is a graduate of the Illinois Institute of Technology and the University of Illinois College of Medicine. He is board certified in internal medicine and is a fellow of the American College of Physicians. He is an IOM member.
Robert G. Darling, M.D., F.A.C.E.P., Capt., M.C., U.S.N. (Ret.)
Robert G. Darling is the Director of the Center for Disaster and Humanitarian and Assistance Medicine (CDHAM), at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland. As CDHAM Director he is responsible for the overall management of numerous programs including: healthcare sector reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, pandemic influenza preparation, mine victims assistance activities in Chad, HIV/AIDS educational initiatives in the Caribbean and South America, and other programs whose overall purpose is to advance the state of preparedness for and knowledge of humanitarian assistance and disasters worldwide. In addition, Dr. Darling has published, consulted, and lectured widely on the medical consequences of biological weapons. In 1996, Dr. Darling became the first board certified emergency medicine physician selected to serve the President of the United States as White House Physician. He served in the Clinton White House until October 1999. After completing his tour as White House Physician, Dr. Darling transferred to the Operational Medicine Division of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, where he served as emergency physician and flight surgeon for the Aeromedical isolation team. In 2004, he accepted a position as Director of the Navy Medicine Office of Homeland Security, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, where he was responsible for guiding Navy hospitals and clinics worldwide to prepare for the medical consequences of natural and man-made disasters. He held this position until his retirement from the Navy with the rank of Captain in October 2006. A member of the President’s Advisory Council, Dr. Darling was elected to the Adelphi University Board of Trustees in 2004. Dr. Darling holds a M.D. from Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and a B.S. in Biology from Adelphi University. He attended the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute where he completed basic flight training and was designated a Naval Flight Surgeon in 1987. He completed his residency in emergency medicine at the Naval Medical Center in 1994.
Victoria Davey
Victoria Davey is Deputy Chief Officer for Public Health and Environmental Hazards, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Ms. Davey led the team that wrote the VA Pandemic Influenza Plan and represents VA on several interagency committees on pandemic influenza.
Prior to joining VA, Ms. Davey was an ICU nurse and HIV clinical researcher, and from 1991 to 1999 was Associate Clinical Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases,NIH. Ms. Davey received an A.B. from Smith College, a B.S. from Boston University, an MPH from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), was a Senior Executive Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, and is currently a PhD student at USUHS working on a dissertation in epidemic modeling. Washington University School of Medicine.
Jeffrey Duchin, M.D.
Jeffrey Duchin is chief of the Communicable Disease Control, Epidemiology & Immunization Section for Public Health – Seattle & King County, Washington, and associate professor of medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Washington. He holds appointments as adjunct associate professor in the schools of Public Health and Community Medicine and Health Services, and Faculty, Northwest Center for Public Health Practice. He is also the director of emergency response for the WAMI Regional Center of Excellence (RCE) in Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Disease Research. Dr. Duchin trained in internal medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital followed by a fellowship in general internal medicine and emergency medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He did his infectious disease subspecialty training at the University of Washington. He is a graduate of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Epidemic Intelligence Service, assigned to the National Center for Infectious Diseases during which time he received the Outstanding Unit Citation for exemplary performance of duty, the Secretary’s Recognition Award for exceptional performance in the investigation of unexplained deaths associated with an outbreak of acute illness of unknown etiology in the Four Corners area of the southwestern United States, and the Achievement Medal, Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Duchin subsequently worked for CDC as a medical epidemiologist in the Divisions of Tuberculosis Elimination and HIV/AIDS Special Studies Branch before assuming his current position. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and of the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA), where he chairs the IDSA’s Bioemergencies Task Force and is a member of the Pandemic Influenza Task Force. He is a liaison representative from National Association of City and County Health Officials to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Dr. Duchin was a member of the Department of Health and Human Services 2004 Tiger Team consulting with Government of Greece on health preparations for the 2004 Olympics, Athens, Greece. Since 1999, when the World Trade Organization Ministerial came to Seattle, he has been actively working to strengthen the ties between public health, clinicians and the health care delivery system and to improve the response of the health care system and clinicians to public health emergencies, including biological terrorism and pandemic influenza. He is active in local, regional and national preparedness planning activities for communicable disease emergencies, recently including pandemic influenza. Dr. Duchin’s peer review publications and research interests focus on communicable diseases of public health significance, and he has authored text book chapters on the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS, bioterrorism, and outbreak investigations.
Ellen P. Embrey
Ellen P. Embrey is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Health Protection and Readiness in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs. She oversees Department-wide efforts to develop and implement policies and programs relating to DoD deployment medicine, force health protection, national disaster support, and medical readiness for 2.3 million Service members. She directs her Health Affairs and TRICARE Management Activity staffs to proactively initiate policies and programs that address deployment-related health threats to the welfare of U.S. Service members and their families, as well as integrate medical lessons learned from previous conflicts into current policy, doctrine and practice. This dynamic process involves all components of the military health care system, emphasizing the relationship between military medicine and the fighting forces it supports. The health care policies and programs overseen or developed under Ms. Embrey’s direction have ensured the health care needs were met for the more than 1.4 million Service members who have deployed to Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom since 2001, as well as providing comprehensive deployment health information to their families. Before coming to Health Affairs, Ms. Embrey held a variety of senior and executive level positions in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs (OASD/RA) from 1987-2002, where she worked to ensure that the reserve components of the U.S. Armed Forces, which make up more than half of the U.S. military, were adequately trained, equipped and ready to serve when required. Prior to her OASD/RA assignments, Ms. Embrey held staff and management positions at the Defense Contract Audit Agency Headquarters (1981-1987) and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (1978-1981). She began her career as a management intern at the U.S. Civil Service Commission (1976-1978), following her graduation from Virginia Tech in 1976 with a Bachelor of Science degree.
Lynn Goldman, M.D., M.P.H.
Lynn Goldman is a professor at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences and the Department of Health Policy and Management. She is a pediatrician and an epidemiologist who focuses on environmental health policy, public health practice, and children's environmental health. In 1993, Dr. Goldman was appointed as assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances, and she served in that position for more than five years. Prior to joining EPA, Dr. Goldman served in several positions at the California Department of Health Services, most recently as head of the Division of Environmental and Occupational Disease Control. She has served on numerous boards and expert committees, including the Committee on Environmental Health of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Centers for Disease Control Lead Poisoning Prevention Advisory Committee, and numerous expert committees for the National Research Council. She currently is Vice Chair of the Institute of Medicine Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences and Chair of the IOM Gulf War and Health Study. Dr. Goldman has a B.S. in conservation of natural resources from the University of California, Berkeley, an M.P.H. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, and an M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco. She completed pediatric training at Children's Hospital, Oakland, California.
David G. Henry, M.P.A.
David G. Henry is a senior policy analyst at the National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices. Mr. Henry works with the 56 state and territorial state homeland security advisors on matters of homeland security and public health preparedness. Prior to joining NGA, Mr. Henry was a Capital City Fellow for the District of Columbia. He also served as the public health emergency and bioterrorism coordinator for the Monroe County (IN) government, and director of the Monroe County (IN) Medical Reserve Corps. Mr. Henry holds an M.P.A. in Local Government Management from Indiana University–Bloomington, and has completed coursework in Emergency Management from FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute. He currently serves on the Leadership Council of the Fairfax County (VA) Medical Reserve Corps.
Jack Herrmann, M.S.Ed., N.C.C., L.M.H.C.
Jack Herrmann is the senior advisor for Public Health Preparedness at the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), an association that represents the approximately 3,000 local public health departments across the country. In this role, he oversees the organization’s preparedness portfolio that consists of 5 federally funded programs aimed at enhancing and strengthening the preparedness and response capacity of local health departments. He is responsible for establishing the priorities for public health preparedness within the organization and also serves as the organization’s liaison to local, state, and federal partner agencies. Prior to coming to NACCHO, Mr. Herrmann was assistant professor of psychiatry and director of the Program in Disaster Mental Health at the University of Rochester Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry. As the former founder and director of Strong EAP, he specialized in developing critical response teams for local police, fire, and healthcare organizations. Mr. Herrmann has also been a long time volunteer with the American Red Cross. Since 1993, he has responded to numerous disasters, including the York City attacks of September 11, 2001; Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in Louisisana; the Northridge California Earthquake, the explosion of TWA Flight 800; the crash of Comair Flight 5191 in Lexington, Kentucky. Prior to relocating to Washington, DC, he was the American Red Cross Disaster mental health consultant for the northeastern region of the United States (including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands) and a member of the Red Cross National Critical Response Team. He co-authored the Foundations of Disaster Mental Health and Psychological First Aid training curricula; nationally recognized and required training for all Red Cross disaster mental health volunteers. In 2006, he adapted the Psychological First Aid: A Field Guide, developed by the National Center for PTSD and National Child Traumatic Stress Network, for the National Medical Reserve Corps. Mr. Herrmann earned a master’s degree in education from the University of Rochester, is certified by the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC) and is a licensed mental health counselor in the State of New York.
Keith Holtermann, Dr.P.H., M.B.A., M.P.H., R.N.
Keith Holtermann has been in the Emergency Health Services field for over 35 years. He is currently working with the US Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Preparedness Directorate, National Integration Center as the Director of the National Exercise and Simulation Center. Dr. Holtermann recently served on a four year assignment with the US Department of Health and Human Services in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response in a variety of leadership charges. At HHS he worked as the Emergency Operations Branch Chief, opened and led an enterprise-wide emergency focused Training Exercises and Lesson team, and opened and led the Office of International Response Policy. Dr. Holtermann is the Associate Dean for Health Sciences at The George Washington University, School of Medicine and Health Sciences and his past positions over the last 11 years at GW include: The Principal Investigator at the Response to Emergencies and Disasters Institute, Assistant Dean, Chief of 9-1-1 Research and Policy Analysis at the Ronald Reagan Institute for Emergency Medicine, and Director of the Emergency Health Services Program. Prior to joining GW Dr. Holtermann served as: Director of EMS for Jersey City and Paramedic Coordinator for Hudson County, New Jersey; Forensic Investigator for the Hudson County, NJ State Medical Examiners Office; Director of EMS for the country of Costa Rica; a Health Officer at the U.S. Embassies in Costa Rica and Nicaragua for the U.S. Department of State; Inspector and Monitor for the START and INF treaties in Russia, and has been on faculty at multiple colleges and universities. His formal degrees include: a BS in Nursing from New Your University, a Master of Business Administration from National University, a Master of Public Health from San Diego State University, and a Doctor of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University with a concentration in Health Policy.
James J. James, M.D., Dr.P.H., M.H.A.
James J. James is the director of the American Medical Association’s (AMA’s) Center for Disaster Medicine and Emergency Response. He is responsible for managing and developing a comprehensive medical and public health program for AMA’s response to terrorism and other disasters. He works with the Department of Health & Human Services and state and local medical societies to share information, implement communications strategies, and coordinate medical and public health agencies’ response in the event of a terrorist attack or other sweeping disaster. Dr. James served as director of the Miami-Dade County Health Department from 2000 through 2002. In this role, he was responsible for overseeing public health programs throughout the county, and was instrumental in dealing with the anthrax-related incidents that occurred after the September 11th terrorist attacks. Under Dr. James’s leadership, Florida developed a comprehensive plan to respond to future bioterrorist events. He was appointed to Florida Governor Bush’s Domestic Security Task Force and as lead health agent for preparedness and response for Region 7, which encompasses the counties of Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, and Monroe. During his tenure, the Miami-Dade Health Department was awarded the Governor’s Sterling Award in 2002, which is conferred on businesses and organizations in Florida to acknowledge performance excellence in management and operations. Dr. James served for 26 years with the U.S. Army Medical Department in a variety of roles, including surgeon general (Eight Army, United States Forces Korea) and commanding general (William Beaumont Army Medical Center). He is an epidemiologist and is board-certified in preventive medicine. He holds a doctorate in medicine from the Cincinnati College of Medicine and a doctorate in public health from UCLA School of Public Health. He also holds a master’s degree in healthcare administration from Baylor University. He attended the Armed Forces Staff College and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.
Jerry Johnston, B.A., REMT-P
Jerry Johnston is the emergency services (EMS) director at Henry County Health Center (HCHC) in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, a countywide all-ALS system. In addition to his duties in Henry County, he also manages a BLS/ALS/Critical Care transport service located in Burlington, Iowa, which is partly owned by HCHC. In 1998, HCHC EMS was the recipient of NAEMT’s Paramedic Ambulance Service of the Year award. In 2001, he was the recipient of NAEMT's William Klingensmith EMS Administrator of the Year award. He has been employed by private as well as hospital based EMS systems. While his current role is that of administrator, he has held positions of EMT-B, EMT-I, staff paramedic, training officer, EMT-B training program and continuing education coordinator, and paramedic instructor. He has instructed all levels of EMS providers, as well as BLS, ACLS, and PALS. Mr. Johnston serves on a variety of local, state, and national organizations and associations. He has presented at numerous regional, state and national EMS conferences. He is currently president of the National Association of EMTs, an organization in which he has served on the Board of Governors, Executive Council, and Board of Directors, and as treasurer and president elect. He is a past president of the Iowa EMS Association, was the first chair of NAEMT’s Pediatric Prehospital Care Executive Council, and is a past BLS national faculty member for the American Hospital Association. Mr. Johnston holds a B.A. degree in business management and economics, and is a nationally registered paramedic.
Robert Kadlec, M.D., M.T.M.& H., M.A
Robert Kadlec is currently Director of PRTM Management Consultants. He formerly served as special assistant to the President for homeland security and senior director for biological defense policy in the White House Homeland Security Council. Previously, he served as staff director for the Senate Subcommittee on Bioterrorism and Public Health, where he oversaw the drafting of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PL 109-417). The law, signed by President Bush on December 19, 2006, improves the functioning of Project BioShield of 2004 and reauthorizes the Bioterrorism Preparedness Act of 2002. Before that, he served as director for BioDefense Preparedness and Response at the White House Homeland Security Council from February 2002 until March 2005, where he was responsible for coordinating medical issues pertaining to the threat of bioterrorism with the National Security Council and the Federal Interagency. He conducted the BioDefense End-to-End Assessment and was instrumental in drafting Homeland Security Presidential Directive 10, The National BioDefense Policy for the 21st Century. In his military career, he was assigned to the Joint Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, NC and the 16th Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, Florida. He also served in senior advisory roles in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy and the Central Intelligence Agency. Dr. Kadlec holds an M.D. and an M.T.M.&H. (tropical medicine and hygiene) from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences; an M.A. in national security studies from Georgetown University; and a B.S. from the United States Air Force Academy. He is board certified in Aerospace and Preventive Medicine. He is a graduate of the Air War College.
Brian Kamoie, M.P.H., J.D.
Brian Kamoie is Senior Director for Preparedness Policy on the White House National Security Staff. In this role he leads the development of national policy related to all-hazards preparedness, individual and community resilience, domestic critical infrastructure protection and resilience, preparedness grants and national security professional development. Before joining the White House National Security Staff, Kamoie served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response and Director of the Office of Policy, Strategic Planning & Communications at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In this role, he led efforts in policy development, strategic planning and communications related to preparedness for and response to bioterrorism and other public health emergencies. While at HHS, he led in the development and implementation of key national policies, including the National Response Plan and National Incident Management System, the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza, the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act and a number of Homeland Security Presidential Directives, including Biodefense for the 21st Century (#10), Medical Countermeasures against Weapons of Mass Destruction (#18), and Public Health and Medical Preparedness (#21). Kamoie also played key leadership roles in the Department’s response to major incidents (e.g., hurricanes, floods and the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic) and national exercises (Top Officials (TOPOFF) 3 and 4). Prior to his work at HHS, Kamoie was Associate Professor of Health Policy and Health Services Management and Leadership at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, where he taught classes in public health law, health services law, and homeland security and public health policy. He has published many scholarly articles on these topics. He is a 2009 senior fellow of The George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute, and continues to serve on the adjunct faculty as Professorial Lecturer in the School of Public Health and Health Services.
Kamoie received his bachelor’s degree in policy studies and political science from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa. and his law degree and master’s degree in public health from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where he served as managing editor of The George Washington Law Review.
Lynne Kidder
Lynne Kidder is the senior vice president of Business Executives for National Security (BENS). She oversees
nation-wide implementation and operations of BENS’ Regional Partnership programs, including the facilitation of resilience-focused public-private partnerships, and the development of programs, policies and recommendations for enabling public-private collaboration at all levels of government. In addition to providing management support to BENS-affiliated partnerships in New Jersey, Georgia, Kansas City, Iowa, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles/Orange Counties, California, and Colorado, she also consults with developing partnership initiatives in a half-dozen other states. Ms. Kidder’s previous professional experience includes executive level management in state government and eight years as professional staff in the U.S. Senate. She also served as the congressional affairs manager for the global engineering and construction firm, Bechtel Corporation. Immediately prior to joining BENS, she was the executive director of the North Bay Council, a non-profit business leadership group in Northern California, where she led numerous collaborative initiatives between private employers, public officials and other civic leaders. She holds a B.A. from Indiana University, a Master’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin, and did additional postgraduate study in public administration at George Mason University.
Jon R. Krohmer, M.D., F.A.C.E.P.
Jon R. Krohmer is the deputy assistant secretary and deputy chief medical officer of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Prior to that, he was an attending physician and director of EMS, Emergency Medicine Residency, Department of Emergency Medicine at the Spectrum Health Butterworth Campus in Grand Rapids, and an associate professor, Section of Emergency Medicine, College of Human Medicine at the Michigan State University in East Lansing. Dr. Krohmer is the former EMS medical director of Kent County Emergency Medical Services and was the medical director for the West Michigan Metropolitan Medical Response System, the Kent County Medical Reserve Corps, and the Michigan Region 6 Bioterrorism Preparedness Consortium. He has been active in local, regional, state and national domestic preparedness activities for many years. Dr. Krohmer has been very active with both the American College of Emergency Physicians (Past Chair of the EMS Committee and the Trauma Care and Injury Control Committee) and the Michigan College of Emergency Physicians (Past President and past Chair of the EMS Committee). He has been associated with the National Association of EMS Physicians since 1986, and is Past-President of that organization. He is a founding member of Advocates for EMS and is a past president. He is active in numerous other professional association and organization affiliations. Dr. Krohmer has received many awards and honors including the 1998 ACEP Outstanding Contribution in EMS Award, the 2000 MCEP Meritorious Service Award and the 2003 NAEMSP Ronald Stewart Award for Outstanding Contribution to EMS. He studied as an undergraduate of Ferris State College, School of Pharmacy in Big Rapids, Michigan; is a graduate of the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor; completed his emergency medicine residency at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, where he was chief resident. Dr. Krohmer also completed a fellowship in EMS and Research at Wright State University. He currently is a fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians and a diplomate of the American Board of Emergency Medicine.
Michael G. Kurilla, M.D., Ph. D.
Michael G. Kurilla is the director of the Office of Biodefense Research Affairs and associate director for Biodefense Product Development for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). His primary role is to provide overall institute coordination for product development of medical countermeasures against bioterror threats. At the University of Virginia, he was an assistant professor of pathology as well as co-director of the Laboratory of Molecular Diagnostics and associate director for clinical microbiology. Dr. Kurilla moved to the private sector working in anti-infective drug development at Dupont Pharmaceuticals, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Wyeth. He subsequently joined NIAID as a medical officer. In 2005, he was named to his current positions within NIAID. He received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology. He earned his M.D.-Ph.D. from Duke University. Dr. Kurilla took his postgraduate medical training in pathology at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Elliott Kieff at Harvard Medical School as a Life Sciences Research Foundation fellow, followed by a Markey Scholar Award.
Jayne Lux
Jayne Lux is the Director of the Global Health Benefits Institute of the National Business Group on Health. Previously, she was the Director of Board Operations at the American Psychological Association where she oversaw the activities of the Board of Professional Affairs. She also served as the liaison to the World Health Organization for a collaborative project between the two organizations. Prior to joining the American Psychological Association, Ms. Lux served as a Senior Technical Officer at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland where she coordinated field trials in 18 countries for the development of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, a system used worldwide to describe human functioning in the context of health conditions. Additionally, she oversaw field activities in 19 countries for the development of a cross-culturally applicable measure of disability. Ms. Lux's earlier experience included four years at Washington University School of Medicine where she directed the Professional Development Office in the Program in Occupational Therapy. For the first ten years of her career, Ms. Lux was on staff at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, DC where she practiced as a supervisory speech-language pathologist in the Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Programs. Ms. Lux is a member of the Global Health Council and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. She earned Master and Bachelor of Science degrees in Communication Disorders from the Pennsylvania State University.
Anthony Macintyre, M.D.
Anthony Macintyre is a Board Certified Emergency Physician and Associate Professor with The Department of Emergency Medicine at The George Washington University. His academic career has focused on medical emergency planning and response at various levels. Dr. Macintyre has served as the medical director for Fairfax County’s Urban Search and Rescue team since 1995. His work with the team has involved deployments to the bombing of the Murrah building in Oklahoma City (1995), the bombing of the US Embassy in Nairobi (1998), the Pentagon terrorist attack (2001), and to several international earthquakes. His most recent deployment involved response to the devastating earthquake in Bam, Iran (2004) as part of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) team. Dr. Macintyre has assisted the Federal Emergency Management Agency (now part of the Department of Homeland Security) in the restructuring of the medical components of the Urban Search and Rescue System. Dr. Macintyre’s work has also included assisting other U.S. federal agencies with medical emergency planning and response. He served as a medical advisor and a controller for the bio-terrorism component of the federally sponsored exercise, TOPOFF 2000 held in Denver, Colorado. More recently, he served as an official observer of the Chicago, Illinois component of TOPOFF 2003. In 2002, Dr. Macintyre served as an assistant investigator in the Sloan Foundation funded project to develop the Medical and Health Incident Management system (MaHIMs). This project provides a comprehensive, functionally-based model for the response to and management of complex, large-scale medical emergencies. Dr. Macintyre was the co-developer of a mass decontamination capability for the old George Washington University Hospital (key concepts published in JAMA). In his capacity as an emergency physician, he was instrumental in structuring the hospital response to the 2001 anthrax dissemination event. Dr. Macintyre has served for 6 years on the District of Columbia Hospital Association (DCHA) Emergency Preparedness Committee assisting with the development of a hospital community response for Washington, D.C.
Angela K. McGowan, J.D., M.P.H.
Angela K. McGowan, senior program officer, joined the Robert Wood Foundation in 2007 to focus on public health issues. Ms. McGowan’s projects include building a broad national understanding of and constituency for public health law and policy and facilitating and nurturing new partnerships between public health practitioners and business, not-for-profit and governmental leaders. She focuses on issues ranging from public health preparedness to healthy eating and active living for RWJF’s efforts in public health and childhood obesity. Previously, McGowan was a health scientist/public health law analyst at the Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Legislation at the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. Her focus at the CDC was to use law to improve health, with a concentration on the prevention of chronic disease. Previously, she served in CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service, as a “disease detective,” where she worked primarily with the Community Guide (the Guide to Community Preventive Services) on violence issues. She received her law degree from Vanderbilt University, a master’s in public health from the Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH) of Emory University, and her bachelor’s in international relations from the College of William and Mary. Currently, Ms. McGowan serves as the past president of the RSPH Alumni Board of Governors.
Margaret M. McMahon, R.N., M.N., C.E.N., F.A.E.N.
Margaret M. McMahon is the emergency clinical nurse specialist at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center - Mainland campus, in Pomona, New Jersey, former editor of Disaster Management & Response journal, and currently a Senior Clinical Editor for the Journal of Emergency Nursing. Ms. McMahon served on active duty and the reserves in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. During her military career she served in a variety of positions, including Chief Nurse of a Neuro KE Team, Training Officer, Nuclear, Biological, & Chemical Defense Officer, and Assistant Nurse Manager – Receiving & Emergency, Da Nang, South Vietnam. Ms. McMahon is a long time member of the Emergency Nurses Association, and served as National ENA President in 1987. She has over 40 years of professional nursing experience in clinical, administrative, and educational roles and has lectured and published extensively on disaster and emergency care topics. Ms. McMahon received her nursing diploma from Philadelphia General Hospital School of Nursing, her B.S. in Nursing from the University of Pennsylvania, and her Master of Nursing from the University of Washington. She is board certified in Emergency Nursing, a member of Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honorary, and a fellow of the Academy of Emergency Nursing.
Erin Mullen, R.Ph., Ph.D.
Erin Mullen is the Assistant Vice President, Rx Response for the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). She is responsible for overseeing and managing the Rx Response program, which is an information-sharing forum comprised of pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors, pharmacies, hospitals, disaster relief agencies and state/federal government agencies to help support the continuing provision of medicines to patients whose health is threatened by a severe public health emergency. Rx Response engages during a severe natural disaster, large-scale terrorist attack or a pandemic that disrupts the normal supply of medicines. Prior to leading Rx Response, Ms. Mullen has practiced pharmacy in a variety of settings: as a community pharmacist, clinical adjunct faculty with the Colleges of Pharmacy at the University of Florida and Florida A& M University, and disaster responder. Ms. Mullen graduated from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy with a B.S. in Pharmacy. She earned her Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Miami.
Gerald Parker, D.V.M., Ph.D., M.S.
Gerald Parker is the principal deputy assistant secretary to the assistant secretary for preparedness and response. Since March 2003, he has been detailed to the Department of Homeland Security. During his career, he has held a variety of positions, including assistant deputy for research and development and research director for the Medical Chemical and Biological Defense Research Program at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command. In this role, he led joint service and interagency programs responsible for developing research investment strategies and sustaining unique capabilities to develop a broad range of medical countermeasures. He is a former commander and deputy commander of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, the lead DoD medical research laboratory for medical biological defense. In these positions, he directed the technology based research and development of vaccines, diagnostics, and drugs, along with the development of medical defense strategies and the training of health care providers against biological warfare agents and highly infectious organisms requiring special containment. Dr. Parker graduated from Texas A&M University with a B.S in veterinary medicine and a degree of doctor of veterinary medicine. He holds a doctorate in physiology from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and an M.S. degree in resourcing the national strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.
Cheryl A. Peterson, M.S.N., R.N.
Cheryl A. Peterson is the Director of Nursing Practice and Policy at the American Nurses Association (ANA). Prior to that, she was a senior policy fellow for the ANA, responsible for researching and developing association policy related to preparing for and responding to a disaster, whether man-made or natural. Since 1998, Ms. Peterson has been actively involved in disaster planning at the federal level. In addition, she coordinated ANA’s response to the Tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia and to hurricanes during the 2005 U.S. hurricane season. Ms. Peterson spent 13 years in the Reserve Army Nurse Corps and in 1990, was deployed during Desert Storm. She also spent 7 years as an active volunteer in the Kensington Volunteer Fire Department (Montgomery County, Maryland). Ms. Peterson received her B.S.N. from the University of Cincinnati and her M.S.N. from Georgetown University.
Sally Phillips, R.N., Ph.D.
Sally Phillips joined the staff of CP3 in September 2001 as a Senior Nurse Scholar. She managed a portfolio that ranged from her primary area of bioterrorism to multidisciplinary education for safety and related health care workforce initiatives. Prior to joining the AHRQ staff, Dr. Phillips was a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow and Health Policy Analyst for Senator Tom Harkin for two years. She brought a wealth of expertise in the area of multidisciplinary education, patient safety legislative initiatives, and curriculum with health professions education to her role at AHRQ. Dr. Phillips joined the AHRQ staff in September 2002 as the Director of the Bioterrorism Preparedness Research Program, now the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program. She is an accomplished author, consultant, and speaker on public health and medical preparedness and response research initiatives. Dr. Phillips holds a Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH.
Steven J. Phillips, M.D.
Steven J. Phillips has served as deputy director for research and education at NLM/NIH since 1999. He is also the principal advisor to the chairman for medical affairs at Global Security Institute. In 2002, he became a founder and the chief medical officer of Cardiovascular Hospitals of America, LLC. He retired from that position in 2001, but remains an NIH contractor. He has been the principal investigator for numerous research projects. Dr. Phillips has enjoyed a highly successful career as a board certified general and thoracic surgeon, and is a business entrepreneur who has established several important programs and laboratories, and has been granted six patents. He established a cardiac surgery program at the University of Oregon to Des Moines, Iowa, which today is the Iowa Heart Center, a private medical group with a highly profitable business that has grown to more than 55 physicians and 300 employees specializing in cardiovascular disease. He developed a funded cardiovascular research laboratory at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University. During the past 30 years, his team has implanted the first artificial heart in Iowa, performed the first heart transplant in central Iowa, and invented the technology for percutaneous cardiopulmonary bypass. Dr. Phillips received the Governor of Iowa Science Medal for his scientific efforts and he served as the national science advisor to the Iowa Department of Health. He retired from active medical practice in 2005, but he has active medical licenses in Iowa and Colorado. He is a graduate of Hobart College and Tufts University School of Medicine.
Edith A. Rosato, R.Ph.
Edith A. Rosato is President of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) Foundation. Ms. Ms. Rosato oversees and executes staff responsibilities for NACDS Foundation initiatives, including pharmacy student scholarships and research related to pharmacy and patient care in the public interest. Ms. Rosato also serves on the staff of NACDS as senior vice president of pharmacy affairs. Ms. Rosato succeeds Philip L. Schneider, who retired from the NACDS Foundation and from NACDS earlier this year. Ms. Rosato’s is a graduate from the prestigious Institute for Organization Management, a nonprofit leadership training program at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, affiliated with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Ms. Rosato brings over 25 years of leadership and experience in the pharmacy profession and in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining NACDS in 2000, Ms. Rosato held senior positions at what was then Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceuticals. She was responsible for the development of corporate sales and product distribution strategies as well as customer marketing programs for the managed markets division. Ms. Rosato also served as a corporate pharmaceutical buyer for CVS Pharmacy, which is now CVS Caremark. Ms. Rosato graduated in 1982 from Temple University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy and worked as a pharmacist manager for both Thrift Drug and CVS Pharmacy. Ms. Rosato remains active with many pharmacy schools and sits on the Campbell University School of Pharmacy Board of Advisors, the National Advisory Council at Virginia Commonwealth University, and the Gregory Leadership Council of Palm Beach Atlantic University School of Pharmacy.
Roslyne Schulman, M.H.A., M.B.A.
Roslyne Schulman has been a senior associate director for policy development at AHA since January 1999. In this capacity, she is responsible for policy development related to hospital preparedness for disasters. She is the co-lead of the AHA’s staff team for hospital readiness and helps to lead AHA’s efforts in this area. Ms. Schulman is AHA’s liaison to CDC’s Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee. In addition, she has primary policy development responsibility in a number of other areas, including the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act; Medicare hospital outpatient, physician, and ambulatory surgical center payment policy, and other Medicare Part B issues; Medicare contracting reform; rural health clinic issues; FDA policy issues regarding drugs, blood and devices; and other areas. Recently, she was principal investigator for AHA’s federal contract with the Health Resources and Services Administration on hospital implementation issues and solutions on Emergency Systems for Advanced Registration for Volunteer Healthcare Professionals, and served as an ex-officio member of the Hospital Incident Command System National Working Group. From 1992-1999, she worked for the American College of Emergency Physicians as regulatory representative, and from 1990-1992, she was a legislative assistant with the American Group Practice Association. Ms. Schulman received her M.H.A. and M.B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1989, and her B.S. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1984.
Daniel M. Sosin, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.P.
Daniel M. Sosin serves as the acting Director of the Coordinating Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response (COTPER), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at the main headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. He is responsible for all of CDC’s public health emergency preparedness and emergency response activities. In this role, Dr. Sosin coordinates, manages, and directs five divisions: (1) Division of Strategic National Stockpile; (2) Division of Select Agents and Toxins; (3) Division of State and Local Readiness; (4) Division of Emergency Operations (5) Division of Business Services; and six offices: (1) Enterprise Communications; (2) Science; (3) Strategy and Innovation Office; (4) Workforce and Career Development Office; (5) Learning Office for Preparedness and Response; and (6) Department of Defense Liaison. COTPER is the primary CDC/ATSDR organization tasked with oversight of terrorism preparedness, response and protection for the nation from biological, chemical, radiological, and naturally occurring emergencies. Dr. Sosin began his CDC career in 1986 as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officer assigned to Kentucky. He later supervised state-based EIS officers as a section chief in the Epidemiology Program Office (EPO), and was associate director for science at the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, coordinating national injury surveillance and extramural research activities. Dr. Sosin also served as director of EPO’s Division of Public Health Surveillance and Informatics, where he was senior advisor for surveillance policy, research, and directed programs. Since joining COTPER in 2004, Dr. Sosin has been the lead scientist for terrorism preparedness and emergency response at CDC, developing and implementing the agency’s science priorities and serving as a medical and science advisor to the COTPER director. In January of 2008, Dr. Sosin initiated the Biosurveillance Coordination Unit on request of the CDC and COTPER Directors. In this role he served as the Federal lead for the development and integration of nationwide biosurveillance capability for human health security. Dr. Sosin is board certified in preventive medicine and internal medicine. He received his bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Michigan; his medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine; and his master’s degree in epidemiology from the University of Washington School of Public Health. Dr. Sosin currently serves as a Captain in the U.S. Public Health Service.
Sharon A. R. Stanley, Ph.D., R.N., R.S., COL (ret) USAR
Sharon A. R. Stanley is the Chief Nurse of the American Red Cross and Director of Disaster Health and Mental Health. Her immediate past employment was as the Program Director for the Ohio Center for Public Health Preparedness, College of Public Health, Ohio State University. She was the first Chief of Disaster Planning at the Ohio Department of Health (2000 – 2005). Dr. Stanley has worked in the public health field for 30 years, with experience as a county Health Commissioner and faculty member in community health at various institutions, to include Capital University (Associate Professor), Cedarville College, Wright State University, and Ohio State University. Colonel (Retired) Stanley is retired from the US Army Reserves with 34 years of service, 12 of them active duty. Her last assignment was as Commander of the 307th Medical Group in Blacklick, Ohio, a command that covered a three-state region. She directed the Army Reserve Leadership Campaign for the Chief of the US Army Reserves while assigned to the Pentagon 2003 – 2004. Dr. Stanley’s educational degrees include: Naval Postgraduate School-Center for Homeland Defense & Security: Master of Arts in Homeland Security Studies, 2008; U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania: Master of Strategic Studies, 2003; The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio: PhD in Health Education, 1989; Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio: MS in Community Health Nursing, 1983; and University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland (Walter Reed Army Institute of Nursing [WRAIN]): BSN, 1977.
Eric Toner, M.D.
Eric Toner is a Senior Associate with the Center for Biosecurity of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). He is a physician trained in Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine. Dr. Toner is a widely cited author on a range of biosecurity issues, including hospital preparedness, pandemic influenza response, and clinical issues related to bioterrorism response. He is a Managing Editor of the Clinicians’ Biosecurity Network, an online network for clinicians that regularly sends clinical biosecurity reports to thousands of clinicians across the country and around the world. He is an Associate Editor of the journal Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strategy, Practice, and Science, the leading peer-reviewed journal in this field. Dr. Toner has authored numerous articles on hospital and pandemic preparedness, and has organized several meetings of national leaders on the topic of hospital preparedness for pandemic influenza and mass casualty disasters. He has spoken at numerous national and international conferences on a range of biosecurity topics and appeared on a number of high profile national television news features on pandemic flu and bioterrorism preparedness. Currently, he is leading a high profile project, under contract with HHS, to evaluate the achievements of the HHS Hospital Preparedness Program to date and to propose a vision and strategy for healthcare preparedness for the future. Dr. Toner has been involved in hospital disaster planning since the mid-1980s. Prior to joining the Center, Dr. Toner was the Medical Director of Disaster Preparedness at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson, Maryland, and practiced emergency medicine for 23 years. During this time he also served as the CEO and CFO of a large group practice and as the Associate Head of the Department of Emergency Medicine. He founded and directed one of the first Chest Pain Centers in Maryland. Dr. Toner also co-founded and managed a large primary care group practice and an independent urgent care center. After September 2001, he was appointed to the newly created position of Medical Director of Disaster Preparedness. He developed policies and procedures for decontamination, defense against respiratory pathogens, and surge capacity, and he had responsibility for biological, chemical, radiological, and nuclear preparedness issues, including preparedness and response for smallpox, SARS, and pandemic flu. He helped create a coalition of disaster preparedness personnel from the five Baltimore County hospitals, Health Department, and Office of Emergency Management. Dr. Toner received his BA and MD from the University of Virginia. He trained in Internal Medicine at the Medical College of Virginia.
Reed V. Tuckson, M.D., F.A.C.P. (IOM)
Reed V. Tuckson is a graduate of Howard University, Georgetown University School of Medicine, and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania’s General Internal Medicine Residency and Fellowship Programs. Dr. Tuckson is currently Executive Vice President and Chief of Medical Affairs at UnitedHealth Group, a Fortune 25 diversified health and well-being company. He is responsible for working with all of the Company’s business units to improve the quality and efficiency of health services. Formerly, Dr. Tuckson served as Senior Vice President, Professional Standards, for the American Medical Association (AMA). He is former President of the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles; has served as Senior Vice President for Programs of the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation; and is a former Commissioner of Public Health for the District of Columbia. Dr. Tuckson is an active member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and served as the Chairperson of its Quality Chasm Summit Committee and a member on their Committee on the Consequences of the Uninsured. He is immediate past Chair of the Secretary of Health and Human Services’ Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health and Society. Additionally, he recently served as a Commissioner, Certification Commission on Health Information Technology (CCHIT); and is currently a member of the Performance Measurement Workgroup, Ambulatory Care Quality Alliance (AQA); and the Quality Workgroup, American Health Information Community (AHIC). Dr. Tuckson has also held other federal appointments, including cabinet level advisory committees on health reform, infant mortality, children’s health, violence, and radiation testing. Dr. Tuckson was featured on the cover of the February 2009 issue of Black Enterprise magazine and named one of the “100 Most Powerful Executives in Corporate America.” He was also selected as one of the 2009 Modern Healthcare/Modern Physician 50 Most Powerful Physician Executives in Healthcare. Last year, Dr. Tuckson was named one of Modern Healthcare’s “Top 25 Minority Executives” in Healthcare for 2008 and to Ebony magazine’s “2008 Power 150: The Most Influential Blacks in America” list.
Margaret VanAmringe, M.H.S.
Margaret VanAmringe is vice president for Public Policy and Government Relations at the Joint Commission, and heads the Joint Commission’s Washington, D.C. office. She is responsible for developing strategic opportunities for The Joint Commission in both the public and private sectors. To accomplish this, Ms. VanAmringe works with health care professional organizations, government agencies, the Congress, consumer organizations and large purchasers of health care. The Washington office is office is the Joint Commission’s interface with the federal government and with public policy issues, such as patient safety, building a national health information infrastructure, emergency preparedness, and quality of care. It is also the office concerned with Medicare and Medicaid oversight of quality and its relationship to private sector accreditation; relationships with the Department of Defense; the Veterans’ Administration; and the Public Health Service agencies. Prior to taking a position with the Joint Commission, Ms. VanAmringe was director for research and dissemination and liaison at the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (now the Agency for Health Research and Quality) in the U.S. Public Health Service. There she established programs to communicate health services research findings to a wide array of professional and public audiences. She established the agency’s first health information dissemination program to bring practical information gleaned from health services research into the hands of consumers and their families, and to have more health services research information indexed into the National Library of Medicine. She also established an external grants program to explore effective methods for disseminating new medical information to physicians, and for changing medical treatment behavior to reflect evidence-based medicine. Between 1989 and 1990, Ms. VanAmringe was a legislative fellow in the office of the majority leader, Senator George Mitchell. From early 1987 through 1989, she held various positions in the Immediate Office of the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services, including senior advisor, and acting deputy chief of staff. While there, she provided advice on the full range of social and health policy issues. Before joining the secretary’s staff, she spent ten years working in the Health Care Financing Administration (now CMS), DHHS, where she was Director of the Office of Survey and Certification, the component which was then responsible for developing health and safety standards for health care organizations reimbursed by Medicare/Medicaid, and for assuring that such federally funded entities met the government’s expectations for delivering quality care. She also worked in the contractor oversight division that dealt with payment operations. Ms. VanAmringe holds a Master of Health Sciences degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health.
Gamunu “Gam” Wijetunge, MPM, NREMT-P
Gamunu “Gam” Wijetunge currently serves as the lead staff member for preparedness and workforce issues in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA’s) Office of Emergency Medical Services (OEMS). Mr. Wijetunge came to NHTSA in November 2001 after working as a paramedic in Bethesda, Maryland. Mr. Wijetunge’s responsibilities at NHTSA involve a broad range of preparedness issues including pandemic influenza and integration of preparedness into the day-to-day EMS system. His work involves close coordination with a number of federal agency partners through the Federal Interagency Committee on EMS (FICEMS). Mr. Wijetunge holds a master’s degree in public management from the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy and is a member of the public administration academic honor society, Pi Alpha Alpha. He also holds a bachelor’s of science in emergency health services from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. He has volunteered with the Wheaton Volunteer Rescue Squad since 1995, where he holds the rank of lieutenant and practices as a paramedic/firefighter.
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