Katie M. Houk, MLIS, MPH

Kathryn Houk is Health Literacy & Community Engagement Librarian and assistant professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’s Health Sciences Library. She received her MLIS from Kent State University in 2009 and recently completed her MPH from San Jose State University in community health education. Katie has a keen interest in health communication, particularly in improving science and health literacy in the public and improving expert’s communication skills. She is also interested in community and university collaborations in the Las Vegas valley, including securing and running a recent grant that provides continuing education on consumer health information for the local community health workforce.

Melissa Wilkins

Melissa Wilkins is a Project Manager for the County of Santa Barbara, Department of Behavioral Wellness. With over 15 years of experience in the field, Melissa has managed a number of programs to address health disparities including substance use prevention and treatment programs. She is currently pursuing her MPH from San Jose State University and is passionate about addressing population level health through advocacy, collaboration, and relationship building. She currently facilitates county-wide trainings to promote the implementation of evidence-based practices and successfully managed the transition from in-person trainings to web-based platforms in response to COVID-19. 

Cheryl Merzel DrPH, MPH

Clinical Associate Professor

NYU School of Global Public Health

Dr. Cheryl Merzel has over 25 years of experience in public health research, evaluation, program development, advocacy, and education. Her work focuses on design and evaluation of community-based health promotion interventions and development of community capacity to engage in public health efforts. Her work also involves developing approaches to support communities in translating research to relevant, evidence-based public health practice. She has decades of involvement with Health Start, a federally-funded community-based program for improving the health of pregnant and parenting women and their infants. 

Dr. Merzel co-directs the School of Global Public Health’s Community Health Initiative with Dr. Andy Goodman. As the Director of Educational Advancement and Assessment for the College, Dr. Merzel is committed to improving public health pedagogy through scholarship and innovative teaching practice. She has served on the public health faculty at a number of institutions including Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, the City University of New York, and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She is a past president of the Public Health Association of New York City.

Jesus Ramirez-Valles, PhD, MPH

Professor & Director

Health Equity Institute, San Francisco State University

Jesus Ramirez-Valles is a public health leader, scholar, and filmmaker. He started his career as a community organizer on the US-Mexico border and over the last two decades has devoted his research to health equity here and abroad. His work is rooted on the social and behavioral sciences and in comumnity-engaged research, and is concerned with understanding and changing the negative health consequences of social exclusion such as stigmatization and racism. He has led academic programs in public health and worked on recruitment and retention of scholars of color. Professor Ramirez-Valles is the Editor-in-Chief of Health Education & Behavior.

Jeanine Robitaille, MS, CHES

Editorial & Project Manager

Society for Public Health Education

Jeanine is the managing editor of Health Promotion Practice, SOPHE’s practice based journal, as well as the founding editorial manager for SOPHE’s youngest journal, Pedagogy in Health Promotion. Since 2014, Jeanine has had the opportunity to collaborate with four EIC’s, as well as guest editors and editorial boards to deliver best practices and innovative approaches in over 70 issues for these health education publications that continue to grow in submissions, visibility, and contributions to the field. Jeanine enjoys gaining a broad perspective of public health initiatives by supporting editorial leadership, authors, and reviewers that help enhance her competencies as a Certified Health Education Specialist. In addition to her work with the journals, Jeanine has worked as a technical assistance coordinator for Partnering 4 Health and supports grant writing teams. 

Prior to earning her Masters in Health Promotion Management from the American University in 2013, Jeanine taught middle school English for students with language based learning differences and worked as a writing tutor at the US Coast Guard Academy. Jeanine shares her dedication to healthy living with her four children and maintains sanity with running, reading, and lots of coffee!

Kathleen Roe, MPH, DrPH

Editor-in-Chief

Health Promotion Practice Journal

Dr. Roe has been a professor of public health and community health education at San Jose State University for over 29 years, where she served as chair for the Health Science and Recreation Department from 2001-2013. She brings more than two decades of scholarship and editorial experience, including as founding associate editor for HPP’s “Circle of Research and Practice” Department; co-editor of HPP’s first supplement devoted to health disparities in 2002; and editorial board member of SOPHE’s Pedagogy in Health Promotion Journal.

John Shean

Associate Director of Public Health

Alzheimer's Association

John Shean, MPH, serves as an expert on public health needs assessments and data related to Alzheimer?s, caregiving, and cognitive issues (including Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System). He works extensively to advance the Healthy Brain Initiative, especially to engage local public health departments on HBI Road Map implementation. He has worked with local health departments across the country - including rural and frontier communities - on Alzheimer?s and cognition, and suicide prevention and behavioral health issues.

Dianne Kerr, PhD, MS, MCHES®

Dr. Dianne Kerr is a recently retired Professor Emeritus of Health Education and Promotion at Kent State University. Her research expertise is HIV/AIDS, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) health, and health education and advocacy issues. Dr. Kerr serves as the Vice Chair of the Division Board of Certified Health Education Specialists (DBCHES) and on the Board of Commissioners for NCHEC. She was awarded the Society for Public Health Education’s Dorothy B. Nyswander Open Society Award in 2016. As an educator and activist for over 40 years, Dr. Kerr continues to support equity and social justice causes in her community, state, region and country.

Kathleen Allison, PhD, MPH, MCHES®

Dr. Kathleen Allison is Professor of Community & Public Health Education in the Department of Health Science at Lock Haven University. She serves as the Coordinator of the Division Board of Certified Health Education Specialists (DBCHES) and on the NCHEC’s Board of Commissioners. She served on the Technical Advisory Group for the Health Education Specialist Practice Analysis (HESPA) 2020. Dr. Allison is very interested in professional preparation and development, health literacy, and social justice. 

Kirsten Rodgers

EdD, MSPH, MCHES®

An Educational Consultant and Adjunct Faculty in Public Health for over 15 years who has conducted research and developed trainings in collaboration with National Networks of Public Health Institutes, de Beaumont Foundation, and Regional Public Health Training Centers to develop and improve leadership capacity in professional workforce in public health.  Currently contracts with the CDC to provide continuing education to employees in Leadership and other topics in Public Health.

Michele Bildner

MPH, MCHES®

Michele is a second-year Doctor of Public Health Leadership student at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health and has a dozen years’ experience in health education, with 9 years as an M/CHES. She has worked across industries in the health sector, and her organizational leadership experience ranges from the governmental sector, private industry (health insurance, healthcare), higher education, community, research and evaluation consulting, and non-profit philanthropy as an individual contributor, team member, and administrator. Michele has worked with the older adult population, youth, college students, and peer-to-peer as a mentor within organizations, often responsible for developing and implementing training for adult learners, leveraging the three academic years she has committed to as adjunct faculty in an undergraduate health education and promotion program. She has focused largely on non-infectious/chronic disease and obesity prevention at the policy, system, and environmental levels as well as issues of environmental justice (demolitions, lead poisoning, eviction prevention, food insecurity) with strategies that address racism across sectors in a health in all policies or whole government framework.

Davondra Brown, MEd, MCHES®

Master Certified Health Education Specialist

Davondra I. Brown Services, LLC

Davondra Brown is a Master Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES®) who specializes in sexual wellness. She serves on the Board of Commissioners and the Division Board of Professional Development for the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, in addition to many other volunteer efforts. Mrs. Brown has earned a Bachelor’s in Philosophy, a Master’s in Education, and an advanced certificate of Innovative Technologies in Health Science Education.

Victoria Williams, PhD, MPH, MEd, MCHES®

Behavioral Research Scientist and Instructional Designer

State Farm & Walden University

Victoria A. Williams, PhD, MPH, MEd, MCHES is a behavioral research scientist and instructional designer. She is a public health expert specializing in developing, implementing, and evaluating technology-based programs for diverse audiences. 

Robert LaChausse, PhD

Professor

California Baptist University

Dr. Robert LaChausse is a Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at California Baptist University (CBU). After 14 years on the faculty of California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB), he served a 4-year term as Department Chairman at CBU. Now on “parole” from department chair duties, he returned to teaching, research, and service full-time where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in health education and promotion, health behavior, research methods, statistics, and program evaluation. His research interest is in alcohol, tobacco, and drug prevention, STD/teen pregnancy prevention, obesity prevention, adolescent delinquency, and parent-child relationships. His research has been funded by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. His research has been published in such journals as the Journal of Adolescent Health, American Journal of Health Education, Health Promotion Practice, and the Journal of Immigrant Health. He is the Chair of the Health Evaluation Section for the American Evaluation Association, is a member of SOPHE's Professional Preparation Committee, and a Governing Councilor for the American Public Health Association. He completed the American Council on Education’s Leadership Academy for Department Chairs. He earned his PhD from Claremont Graduate University.

Gabraelle Lane

MS

Georgia State University and Boston University

Gabraelle Lane is a public affairs strategist with experience in creating opportunities for influencing public policy. Her work combines government relations, coalition building, media relations, and issue management to move ideas from concept to completion. Tactically, she employs community outreach, strategic communications, crisis and emergency risk management, audience-tested communications, fundraising, targeted meetings and events, grassroots and grasstop campaigns to produce mission-focused solutions.

She currently works with non-profits, state and federal public health agencies in creating, implementing, and evaluating evidence-based public health programming. And she is also a part-time lecturer at Georgia State University and Boston University.

Gabraelle is a proud graduate of Howard University and received her Master of Health Communication from Boston University. When she is not juggling her many roles, Gabraelle loves a great podcast, a great hike, and a great trip with excellent food.

Dr. Nicolette Powe

DrPH, MS, MCHES®

Youngstown State University

Dr. Nicolette Warren Powe, DrPH, MS, MCHES is Assistant Professor of Public Health in the Department of Health Professions at Youngstown State University. She received a DrPH in Health Education from the Loma Linda University, an MS in Health Promotion/Human Sciences from North Carolina Central University, and a BS in Community Health Education/Healthcare Ethics from Kent State University. Dr. Powe is a public health scientist whose primary interest is behavioral risk factors for chronic disease prevention. Dr. Powe’s research investigates racial/ethnic and sex differences in adherence to cardiometabolic self-management practices, specifically in young adults. Dr. Powe also studies applied health education theories to implementation of health promotion programs and dissemination of chronic disease program outcomes. Dr. Powe’s work has resulted in the publication of the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) Minority National Organizations (MNO) Success Stories showcasing the health equity projects that worked towards closing the health disparity gap in at least one of the racial and ethnic minority groups. Dr. Powe serves on the Youngstown American Heart Association Board and the Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio Board. She was elected to the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) Board of Trustees for Professional Development.

​Julie Leis, PhD

Senior Research Associate

Julie Leis, Ph.D., is a social scientist with over 16 years of experience in applied research and program evaluation. Her research focuses on mental health, child development, and home visiting. Dr. Leis has technical expertise in evaluation, research design and measurement, data collection and analysis, and continuous quality improvement. At JBA, she leads and contributes to evaluations and technical assistance centers. She recently led the Literature Review and Program Scan on the Arts and Pain Management and Substance Use Disorder project. Dr. Leis earned a Ph.D. in public health with a concentration in mental health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Andres Pumariega, MD

Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist

Dr. Pumariega is a board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist. He received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Miami. Dr. Pumariega did his psychiatry residency at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. His child and adolescent fellowship was a combined program of Duke University Medical Center and Children’s Psychiatric Institute at John Umstead Hospital in Butner, North Carolina.

Jill Sonke, MA

Director and Associate Professor

University of Florida

Jill Sonke, MA is director of the Center for the Arts in Medicine at the University of Florida (UF) and Assistant Director of UF Health Shands Arts in Medicine. She serves on the faculty of the UF Center for Arts in Medicine, and is an affiliated faculty member in the School of Theatre & Dance, the Center for African Studies, the STEM Translational Communication Center, the One Health Center, and the Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases.  Jill serves on the editorial board for Arts & Health journal and is director of the national initiative, Creating Health Communities: Arts + Public Health in America, in partnership with ArtPlace America. 

Colleen Morrison, PhD

Research Associate

Colleen Morrison, Research Associate, James Bell Associates (JBA), has more than 11 years of experience in program evaluation and applied developmental research. Her areas of expertise include early childhood education and maternal and child health. At JBA, Dr. Morrison supports evaluations and provides technical assistance across several projects, with an emphasis on child and family development. Recently, Dr. Morrison led a literature review to examine the evidence about the arts’ use in pain management and in the treatment of substance abuse disorders, including opioid use disorder. Prior to joining JBA, Dr. Morrison was a research associate at the Center for Early Childhood Education and Intervention at the University of Maryland, College Park. She received a Ph.D. in human development and quantitative methodology from the University of Maryland.