SOPHE-DNPAO Writing Workshop 2023: Session 1

Mrs. Hackett is the Project Director for the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) Program federal cooperative agreement, a nationwide community-based program to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities in cooperation with the CDC Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity (DNPAO). She has over 40 years of experience of public experience with 27 years in Chronic Disease and Health Promotion program development and implementation including nutrition, cardiovascular disease prevention, gerontology, injury prevention, women’s health, HIV/AIDS awareness, health education, physical activity and program integration. Ten (10) years in maternal and child health. Work has included over 30 years’ experience working in State and local health departments and  10 years’ experience working in non-profit sector three of which was as an Executive Director. Her experience is extensive in the areas of Policy, Environment, and Systems (PES) Change; providing technical assistance and capacity building; planning, organizing and directing programs; development, implementation and monitoring of federal categorical grants and community-based grants; and, fiscal management including budget preparations, and resource allocation. 

Mrs. Hackett has a Master of Science Degree (SM) in Public Health Nutrition from the Harvard School of Public Health (Boston, MA) and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Pre-Medicine from Bennett College (Greensboro, NC). She is a Certified Public Manager (CPM) (Rutgers, The State University in New Brunswick, NJ), and a Certified Master Trainer in Chronic Disease Self-Management (As instructed by Stanford University Patient Education Research Center. She is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Ministry Degree from Payne Theological Seminary. 

Ms. Hackley began with SOPHE May, 2022, she holds dual degrees in Community Health with a specialization in Health Risk Behaviors and French language and literature from the University of Maryland College Park where she graduated in 2018. Ms. Hackley has completed several projects such as an internship with the Department of Commerce. She also obtained her CHES certification in October 2022.

LaNita S. Wright is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Promotion and Physical Education, Public Health Education program at Kennesaw State University. She teaches undergraduate courses pertaining to public health theory, planning, implementation and evaluation.

Her current research focuses on how interconnected systems influence health-promoting behaviors, especially among adolescents, with a recent research project focusing on the Black Church’s role in preventing teen pregnancy. She also recently facilitated a community engagement project (alongside a nonprofit) pertaining to the local community’s perceptions of sexual health related topics and implementation. Her recent work has been published in Health Promotion Practice and Journal of Adolescence.

LaNita offers professional service in various ways, including peer-reviewing manuscripts for multiple journals and book publishers, and serving on the Health Promotion Practice Editorial Board.

She received a Doctor of Philosophy in Health Promotion and a Master of Public Health in Health Promotion Sciences from the University of Oklahoma. She received a Bachelor of Science in Health Services Administration from Auburn University.

LaNita is a passionate, dedicated public health professional. She finds joy in playing an active role in the development of young people through research, teaching, training, and mentoring.  

Cole Youngner is a Technical Editor & Writer supporting the Program Development & Evaluation Branch at DNPAO and its grant recipients. Tapping into his academic days as a peer writing tutor, he works with DNPAO recipients on writing success stories and publications to disseminate public health practice wisdom to different audiences. His public health interests include socio-contextual determinants of health, global health, qualitative methods, mental health promotion, and injury and violence prevention. After a decade at Emory University as a student and employee, he continued his public health journey in different capacities with CDC from injury and violence prevention, health communications & writing, global health, to antibiotic resistance, and now, nutrition and physical activity promotion. In another life, he was also an award-winning bartender and spirits expert with a passion for sustainability in the food and beverage industries.

Dr. Laura Kettel Khan is currently the Senior Scientist in the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.  Dr. Kettel Khan is internationally known in the field of obesity prevention evaluation methodology and research design of multi-sectoral interventions and serves on numerous national advisory committees related to evaluation which build the evidence for policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) strategies for healthy communities.  She represents the CDC on numerous national partnerships with public and private funders which focus on healthy eating and active living.  Dr. Kettel Khan graduated with a doctoral degree in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Arizona in 1992, finished her post-doctoral training at Cornell University in 1994, after which she joined the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Department of International Nutrition, followed by her current position at the CDC since 1996. She has authored more than 150 peer reviewed articles and book chapters. 

Founding editor Health Promotion Practice and President, Public Health Systems Consultants 

Randy is a nationally recognized public health professional with over thirty-five years’ experience in implementing health promotion/disease prevention initiatives in state health departments and voluntary health organizations with an emphasis on chronic disease prevention and control, cancer control, tobacco control, community-based health promotion, and healthy public policy. He is currently President of Public Health Systems Consultants and serves as the Sr. Public Health Consultant for Cancer Control with the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD). He is an Adjunct Faculty member for several leading academic public health programs. Randy has written and presented on the importance of engaging public health practitioners along with researchers and engaged communities as a key factor in advancing implementation science. 

He has authored or co-authored numerous articles on health promotion and chronic disease prevention. Randy is the Founding Editor of the journal, Health Promotion Practice, a journal of the Society for Public Health Education. He has been awarded the Society for Public Health Education’s Distinguished Fellow Award, the Society’s highest honor. 

René Lavinghouze has over 32 years in designing, conducting, and managing evaluations focusing on prevention programs and is currently the Translation Team Lead in the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity at CDC.  Her focus is on the study of program infrastructure as the foundation that supports program capacity, implementation, and sustainability.  She is lead author of the Component Model of Infrastructure (CMI), a practical, systems-approach model that supports program implementation and enables outcome measurement, links infrastructure to capacity, and facilitates the likelihood of sustainable public health achievements.  She was the evaluation lead in the Office on Smoking and Health at CDC for 6 years and has worked in the Division of Oral Health and in HIV/AIDS prevention at CDC.  Prior to coming to CDC, she worked at a private evaluation and organizational service firm for over 7 years and has worked in academic and local health department settings.  She received her Master’s in Community Psychology from Georgia State University and a Master’s in Interactive Technology from The University of Alabama.

Danielle (Dani) R. Brittain, PhD, is a Professor and Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs in the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Her research concerns the: (a) identification of social-psychological factors impacting adherence to physical activity among marginalized populations of women (i.e., adult lesbians; women with non-cancer chronic pain) and (b) development of theoretically-driven interventions targeting social and behavior change processes that aid in the self-management and maintenance of physical activity. Dr. Brittain is actively involved in the Society for Public Health Education and is an Associate Editor for Practice Notes in Health Promotion Practice. In her spare time, she enjoys being outside, being active, and playing with her dog Harper.

Kerry Gabbert is a visiting instructor at West Virginia University Extension Service, and program coordinator for Extension’s CDC High Obesity Program project, ‘Be Wild, Be Wonderful, Be Healthy’. Prior roles include program coordinator for WV’s SNAP-Ed program, and development and implementation of worksite wellness and stress management programs across the state.

Kerry earned her MPH in 2013 and is currently a PhD student at WVU’s School of Public Health.