Biographies of Plenary PanelistsWEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2012
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Jack Herrmann
, MSEd., NCC, LMHC
Senior Advisor & Chief, Public Health Preparedness, National Association of County and City Health Officials
Jack Herrmann is the senior advisor and chief for public health preparedness at the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). In this role, he serves as the organization's chief public health preparedness liaison to local, state, and federal partner agencies and oversees the organization's portfolio aimed at enhancing and strengthening the preparedness and response capabilities of local health departments.
Jack currently serves on a variety of workgroups and committees addressing preparedness policy issues at the national level. He is also the planning committee chairperson of the annual Public Health Preparedness Summit, a national conference bringing together preparedness and response personnel across the public health enterprise. Jack has extensive experience in disaster management and response and has been deployed to numerous disaster relief operations with the American Red Cross since 1994.
Elisabeth H. Lyman, MPH
Deputy Director, Public Health Emergency Preparedness
California Department of Public Health
Elisabeth (Betsey) H. Lyman is Deputy Director, Public Health Emergency Preparedness for the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). In this capacity, she is responsible for coordinating CDPH's emergency preparedness and response to all hazards, working with programs throughout CDPH. Ms. Lyman is the program manager for the federal Public Health Emergency Preparedness and the Hospital Preparedness Program grants.
Ms. Lyman has over 30 years experience in CDPH, working in several program areas, including family health, Children's Medical Services, Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Nutrition program; Medi-Cal, and vital records. Prior to assuming her current duties, she was the Assistant Deputy Director of Primary Care and Family Health.
Prior to coming to California, Ms. Lyman worked for the New York State Medicaid program and conducted managerial studies in community health centers in Boston, Massachusetts.
Ron Norby
Deputy Agency Director, Orange County Health Care Agency
Ron Norby was appointed Deputy Agency Director for the Orange County Health Care Agency in September, 2010. In this senior leadership position, he holds responsibility for the County's Medical Services Initiative (the safety net healthcare program for low income citizens), the Health Disaster Management Program (assuring County-wide planning for all disasters as well as coordinating the County's Emergency Medical Services), the California Children's Services Program (providing care for the County's most seriously ill children) and the County-wide Employee Health Program.
Each of these programs in itself is highly complex, requiring ongoing oversight and decision making as well as coordination with similar programs provided by the State and federal government. Ron spends most of his Tuesday's attending Orange County Board of Supervisors meetings where he presents changes to his programs and addresses questions from the Board.
Prior to joining Orange County, Ron served for 31 years as a member of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. The position he held prior to his retirement with VA was Director for the VA Desert Pacific Healthcare Network, responsible for providing integrated healthcare services for approximately 260 thousand veterans residing in Southern California and Nevada. His Network was comprised of five large, tertiary care healthcare and medical center systems, 29 community-based outpatient clinics, six long-term care facilities, two Spinal Cord Injury Centers and many other specialty healthcare delivery programs. Ron was the senior leader of a staff of approximately 13,000 and managed a budget of over $2 billion dollars annually.
Ron was highly involved at a national level within the Department of Veterans Affairs, serving on the VA National Leadership Board, and chairing a number of national committees dealing with system-wide communications, Systems Redesign, Patient-Centered Care, Customer Service, and Resource Allocation. In recognition of his leadership, Mr. Norby was selected by the President of the United States to receive the highly distinctive Presidential Rank Award, an award reserved for only the most accomplished leaders in the Senior Executive Service.
Opening Plenary Session
A Community Comes Together: Rebuilding the Public Health and Healthcare System after the Joplin, Missouri, Tornado
Moderator:
David L. Lakey, M.D.
Commissioner, Texas Department of State Health Services
David Lakey, M.D., Commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, leads one of the largest agencies in Texas state government with a staff of 12,000. He oversees programs such as disease prevention and emergency preparedness, community health services, consumer safety, mental health and substance abuse prevention and treatment and was recently elected president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) for 2011–2012.
Prior to being appointed commissioner, Dr. Lakey served as associate professor of medicine and director of the Center for Pulmonary and Infectious Disease Control at the University of Texas Health Center in Tyler.
Dr. Lakey trained at Vanderbilt University in internal medicine, pediatrics, and pediatric infectious disease.
Panelists:
Melissa Friel
Director, Center for Emergency Response and Terrorism, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services; Jefferson City, MO
Melissa Friel is the Director of the Center for Emergency Response and Terrorism (CERT) for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, overseeing $17 million in federal grant funding, including the CDC Public Health Emergency Preparedness grant and the Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response (ASPR) Hospital Preparedness Grant. She also serves as an Incident Commander for ESF 8, public health and medical emergency response within the state of Missouri.
D. Sean Smith, D.O.
Emergency Physician, St. John's Regional Medical Center
Physician President, Mercy/St. John's Clinic—Joplin and Kansas Division; Joplin, MO
Dr. Sean Smith, is an emergency room physician and Physician President of the Mercy Clinic, a Multi-Specialty Integrated Clinic of over 110 physicians and 25 mid-level providers based in Joplin, Missouri.
Chris Harmon
Chief Emergency Services Officer, American Red Cross Greater Ozarks Chapter; Springfield, MO
Chris Harmon is the Chief Emergency Services Officer of the Southern Missouri Region of the American Red Cross which serves 40 counties. Chris began his Red Cross career as a caseworker 11 years ago where he showed his compassion and strong commitment to service delivery. Chris naturally rose through the ranks as he showed he could do more than just casework. He has mastered departmental budgeting, staffing (both paid and volunteer), partnering (with other organizations, businesses and government) and orchestrating response to more than one multi-million dollar disaster in his own back yard. Chris has proven he is committed to the Red Cross Mission.
Chris is not only a valued member of the Southern Missouri Chapter. He is also a valued member of the American Red Cross national team. He has deployed on many Disaster Relief Operations across the country. His most memorable deployment was to 9/11 in New York.
In Missouri Chris has led many disaster operations, including the Hurricane Katrina Evacuation response which lasted over 4 months because over 4000 evacuees came to Southern Missouri to wait out the storms and then had no home to return to, and most recently, the Joplin Tornadoes. Joplin, MO was hit by an F-5 Tornado which devastated a 6 square mile region of a 40,000 population town. About 25% of the town was destroyed. Relationships with partners that had been cultivated before the disaster were put to the test and are stronger today because of the bonds cemented through our joint efforts on this relief operation. His vision and commitment to best serve the disaster client has lead the Southern Missouri Regional Red Cross and its community partners to successfully help our clients better prepare for and recover from disasters. His leadership has been instrumental in rallying our community partners in readiness and response during disasters.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2012
Plenary Session
Fact or Fiction: The Science behind the Movie Making of Contagion
Moderator:
Lillian Shirley, BSN, MPH, MPA
President, National Association of County and City Health Officials Director, Multnomah County Health Department; Portland, OR
Lillian Shirley, BSN, MPH, MPA, Director of the Multnomah County Health Department, provides public health leadership in collaboration with community partners to address the county's health needs, and offers health policy leadership on both a county and state level. Her department is the largest provider of safety-net services in the state of Oregon. A Federally Qualified Health Center with primary care, dental, pharmacy and mental health services, they provide an integrated medical home model. In addition, the department provides health services in all county jails. Her jurisdiction is known for innovation in policy and systems approaches to improving and protecting the publics' health. Ms. Shirley is the appointed Vice- Chair of the Oregon Health Policy Board charged with implementing Health Reform in Oregon and is current President of the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO).
Prior to coming to Oregon, Ms. Shirley was Director of Public Health in Boston. After participating in the merger of Boston's public hospital with Boston University's medical center, Ms. Shirley served as the first executive director of the newly formed Boston Public Health Commission. Ms. Shirley served for nine years as a board member of CareOregon, the states largest Medicaid insurer. She served as Vice President of the Public Health Foundation, member of the Board of Oregon Public Health Institute, the Portland Sustainable Development Commission, OHSU School of Medicine Dept of Community Medicine Adjunct Faculty, and Board Member of North by Northeast Community Health Center.
Panelists:
Scott Z. Burns 
Writer, Contagion
As a filmmaker, Scott Z. Burns possesses the distinct ability to craft fascinating stories that walk a fine line between science fiction, action, and drama. His complex characters, smart writing, and precise direction create films that are as entertaining as they are memorable. With a background in advertising, Burns was drawn to filmmaking because it shared a similar creative and collaborative process where there is always a fresh approach to be taken.
On September 9, Warner Bros. released the thriller Contagion. Written by Burns and directed by Steven Soderbergh, the film once again reunites Burns with Matt Damon and also stars Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Laurence Fishburne, and Marion Cotillard.
Burns' first collaboration as a screenwriter with Soderbergh directing was on the Warner Bros. film, The Informant! starring Matt Damon. He also co-wrote the Academy Award-winning Bourne Ultimatum, starring Damon and directed by Paul Greengrass.
As a producer, Burns received the Humanitas Prize and the Stanley Kramer Award from the Producers Guild of America for his Academy Award-winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth.
In television, Burns wrote and directed HBO Films' critically acclaimed PU-239, which was produced by Soderbergh and George Clooney. Burns also wrote The Library, a stage play based on the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School with Kennedy/Marshall producing.
Burns began his career in advertising, after graduating Summa Cum Laude from the University of Minnesota. He was part of the creative team responsible for the original "Got Milk?" campaign and his advertising work has been recognized by the Clio Awards, the Cannes Film Festival, and the New York Film Festival.
Burns has written for GQ Magazine, Condé Nast Traveler, and the Huffington Post.
W. Ian Lipkin, MD
Director, Center for Infection & Immunity, John Snow Professor of Epidemiology, Columbia University
Photo credit: Columbia Technology Ventures
W. Ian Lipkin, MD, is internationally recognized as an authority on the use of molecular methods for pathogen discovery. Dr. Lipkin has over 30 years of experience in diagnostics, microbial discovery and outbreak response, has mentored and trained more than 30 students and post-doctoral fellows and leads a team of over 65 investigators, post-doctoral fellows, and research and support staff at the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.
In the 1980s, Dr. Lipkin identified AIDS-associated immunological abnormalities and inflammatory neuropathy, which he showed could be treated with plasmapheresis, and demonstrated that early life exposure to viral infections affects neurotransmitter function. Dr. Lipkin was the first to use purely molecular methods to identify infectious agents, implicated West Nile virus as the cause of the encephalitis epidemic in New York in 1999, assisted the WHO and the Peoples Republic of China during the 2003 SARS outbreak, developed MassTag PCR and Greenechip technology, and pioneered the use of high throughput sequencing in pathogen discovery. He and his team have discovered or characterized more than 400 infectious agents including Borna disease virus, West Nile virus, LuJo virus, human rhinovirus C, piscine reovirus and canine hepacivirus.
Dr. Lipkin has been featured by the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Discover Magazine, Nature Medicine, the History Channel, National Geographic, National Public Radio, Wired, and the Huffington Post.
Nicole Lurie, MD, MSPH
Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, Department of Health and Human Services, RADM, Public Health Service
Dr. Lurie is the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). As such, she serves as the Secretary's principal advisor on matters related to bioterrorism and other public health emergencies. Her office is the lead agency for federal public health and medical preparedness and response, helping the nation prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters.
Prior to her current position, she served as Senior Natural Scientist and Paul O' Neill Alcoa Professor of Health Policy at the RAND Corporation. She has previously served in federal government, as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Health for HHS; in state government as Medical Advisor to the Commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Health; and in academia, as Professor in the University of Minnesota Schools of Medicine and Public Health.
Alexander Garza, MD, MPH
Assistant Secretary and Chief Medical Officer, Office of Health Affairs, Department of Homeland Security
Dr. Alexander Garza is the Assistant Secretary for Health Affairs and Chief Medical Officer of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). He manages the DHS medical and health security matters, oversees the health aspects of contingency planning for all chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear hazards, and leads a coordinated effort to ensure that DHS is prepared to respond to biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction.
Prior to joining DHS in August 2009, Dr. Garza spent 13 years as a practicing physician and medical educator. He most recently served as the director of military programs at the ER One Institute at the Washington Hospital Center, and has served as the associate medical director of the emergency medical services (EMS) for the state of New Mexico, and director of EMS for the Kansas City, Missouri, Health Department. While practicing medicine, Dr. Garza also served as a professor at leading medical institutions including Georgetown University, the University of New Mexico, and University of Missouri - Kansas City.
Brian Kamoie, JD, MPH 
Senior Director for Preparedness Policy, National Security Staff, The White House
Mr. 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. Mr. Kamoie previously served as deputy assistant secretary for preparedness and response and director of the Office of Policy, Strategic Planning & Communications at HHS. 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. Mr. 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, Mr. Kamoie was an associate professor of health policy and health services management and leadership at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services.
Matthew J. Hepburn, MD
Director for Medical Preparedness Policy, National Security Staff, The White House
Dr. Hepburn is an active duty US Army infectious disease physician, currently serving on detail to the White House National Security Staff. Dr. Hepburn’s prior assignments include directing domestic and international clinical studies at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), Chief Medical Officer at a Level II clinic in Camp Taji, Iraq, and liaison officer to the Defence Science and Technology Laboratories in the United Kingdom. Prior to these assignments, Dr. Hepburn was stationed at Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston Texas for residency training in internal medicine, chief residency, and fellowship training in infectious diseases.
RADM Ali S. Khan, MD, MPH
Assistant Surgeon General and Director, Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Ali S. Khan, MD, MPH, is (a former Assistant Surgeon General and) the Director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response (PHPR) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). PHPR provides strategic direction, support, and coordination for preparedness and response activities across CDC as well as with public health partners.
Dr. Khan joined CDC and the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps in 1991 as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer. Since then, Dr. Khan accomplishments include co-founding a novel One Health center, helping to design and implement the CDC component of the $1.2 billion 5-year President's Malaria Initiative, and serving as one of the main architects and Deputy Director of CDC's public health bioterrorism preparedness program. These preparedness efforts were crucial in limiting the scope of the first anthrax attack during which he directed the CDC operational response in Washington, D.C.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012
Closing Plenary Session
Public Health: Past Adventures and Future Expectations
Donald A. Henderson, MD, MPH
Distinguished Scholar and Professor of Public Health and Medicine, Center of Biosecurity of UPMC, University of Pittsburgh; Baltimore, MD
Dr. Henderson is a Distinguished Scholar at the Center for Biosecurity of UPMC and a Professor of Public Health and Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. He is Dean Emeritus and Professor of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and a Founding Director (1998) of the Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Strategies. From November 2001 through April 2003, he served as the Director of the Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness and, later, as a Principal Science Advisor in the Office of the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Dr. Henderson's previous positions include: Associate Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President (1990-93); Dean of the Faculty of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health (1977-90); Director of the World Health Organization's global smallpox eradication campaign (1966-77); and Chief of the Surveillance Section of the Epidemiology Branch of the Centers for Disease Control (1961-66).
In 2002, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. He is the recipient of the National Medal of Science, the National Academy of Sciences' Public Welfare Medal, and the Japan Prize, shared with 2 colleagues. He has received honorary degrees from 17 universities and special awards from 19 countries.
Dr. Henderson serves as an advisor to many organizations in the United States and abroad. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an Honorary Fellow of the National Academy of Medicine of Mexico, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London, an Honorary Member of the Royal Society of Medicine, and a Fellow of a number of professional medical and public health societies.
In June 2009, Prometheus Books published a book by Dr. Henderson entitled Smallpox: Death of a Disease. It is a personal account of the challenges, obstacles, and disasters faced by an intrepid international program in achieving the global eradication of smallpox.
Dr. Henderson is Coeditor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed journal Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strategy, Practice, and Science. Additionally, he has authored more than 200 articles and scientific papers and 31 book chapters and is coauthor of the renowned Smallpox and Its Eradication (Fenner F, Henderson DA, Arita I, Jezek A, and Ladnyi ID. 1988. Geneva: World Health Organization), the authoritative history of the disease and its ultimate demise.
