2022 Digital Institute for Higher Education Academy - Tuesday

Rachael Dombrowski, PhD, MPH, designs, implements and evaluates multilevel interventions to advance social justice and improve community health. Dr. Dombrowski is a faculty member of California State University San Marcos where she conducts community-based participatory research, including program development and evaluation within the Midwest and nation-wide. Dr. Dombrowski serves as an evaluator for the Best Food Forward school-based nutrition supports intervention, and recently conducted an assessment of over 300 grocery stores for the Great Grocer Project. Prior to working in academia, Dr. Dombrowski spent over 10 years directing and evaluating several multilevel interventions focused on policy, systems and environmental change within schools, communities, hospitals and corner stores in suburban Cook County and Chicago, Illinois. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago (PhD) and the University of Michigan (MPH). She has worked in the public health field for over 15 years.

Melissa Fahrenbruch, MEd is the Program and Professional Development Team Lead in the Division of Population Health’s School Health Branch, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Melissa earned a BS in Education from the University of Nebraska, and a master’s in educational leadership from Doane College. She has over 25 years of experience in the education field as a teacher, coach and as a high school principal. Her school health expertise led her to Kansas and was the Director of CDC’s Coordinated School Health Program in the early 2000s. She then moved to Atlanta to serve as a Project Officer of that program which led her to her current position as team lead. Melissa currently oversees two school health cooperative agreements for states and national organizations and is the lead for internal and external professional development events for CDC staff and funded partners.

Sarah Lee is team lead for the Research Application and Evaluation Team, with the Healthy Schools Branch, Division of Population Health at the CDC. Her team focuses on chronic disease prevention and management in schools, providing scientific expertise and leadership on pertinent documents, surveillance systems, and CDC school health programs. Sarah earned her M.S. in Community Health Promotion from the University of Montana, and her PhD in Exercise and Wellness Education from Arizona State University. Sarah has authored over 40 manuscripts, reports, book chapters, and commentaries. Throughout the pandemic, Sarah served in numerous deployments to CDC’s COVID-19 emergency response as the team lead for the Community Guidance team and the Deputy for the Community Interventions and Critical Populations Task Force. She has been at CDC for 18 years, all of which have been dedicated to improving school and student health.

Leigh Szucs, Ph.D., CHES is a Health Scientist in the Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) at the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Her research focuses on implementation and evaluation of school-based health education programs, specifically sexuality education to prevent STIs, including HIV, and unintended pregnancy. Through this work, Leigh also provides technical and capability building assistance to school districts and NGOs, using evidence-informed strategies that address adolescent sexual health outcomes, and protective factors to support the social, emotional, and learning needs of youth. Leigh earned a Master of Education in Health Education at Texas State University and PhD in Health Education at Texas A&M University.

LCDR Mpofu was commissioned as a Scientist officer in the U.S. Public Health Service and joined CDC as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer in 2012. She completed her PhD in Health Behavior and Health Education with a focus in Epidemiology at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and has an MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. While at CDC, she has worked as an Epidemiologist in the Division of Reproductive Health and Office of Minority Health and Health Equity. She currently serves as Team Lead for Scientific Support and Innovation in the Division of Adolescent and School Health in the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention at CDC.