2015 – 2016 Executive Committee

President

Neil Gupta, MD, MPH—EIS ’10

Neil works in CDC’s International Infection Control Program in the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, supporting governments as they enhance laboratory, surveillance, and epidemiologic capacity to identify and control outbreaks of healthcare-associated infections. He currently serves as EISAA President and has made it his primary mission to improve the EIS Alumni networking experience. Under his leadership, EISAA launched a social-networking platform exclusively for alumni that centralizes the online directory and job board in one place, a space that Neil hopes will build greater camaraderie among alumni and contribute to more support for the EIS Program. Neil credits EIS with changing his career trajectory and chose to serve on the Executive Committee as a way of thanking the Program for his career in public health.

President-elect

Steve Waterman, MD—EIS ‘81

Steve serves as CDC’s Dengue Branch Chief in the Division of Vector-borne Diseases, overseeing direct applied research and prevention and control activities for Dengue and other Aedes mosquito transmitted diseases such as Zika. Steve credits EIS with helping to define his career and has enjoyed the chance to mentor EIS Officers over the years. His service to the EIS Alumni Association is an extension of his love for the EIS Program and his belief in the current strength and future potential of the alumni network. He will assume the role of EISAA President after the 2016 EIS Conference.

Secretary/Treasurer

Christina Mikosz, MD, MPH—EIS ‘11

Christina presently serves as a Medical Consultant for the Tuberculosis and Acute Communicable Disease unit in the Alameda County (CA) Public Health Department. While in EIS, Christina was a field officer assigned to the L.A. County Department of Public Health and spent much of her time working to control a measles outbreak among Burmese refugees from Malaysia; she also has previous experience as a CDC Experience Fellow working on rabies epidemiology in CDC’s Rickettsial Branch. She has served as Secretary/Treasurer of the Alumni Association during 2015-2016 and will continue to serve as an at-large member through 2017.

At-large representatives

Arthur (Art) Liang, MD, MPH—EIS ‘80 (2015-2018)

Art currently serves as CDC’s Senior Advisor for Food Safety in the Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases where he helps maintain working relationships with the food safety communities in industry, academia, at FDA, and at USDA. He has been instrumental in helping the EIS Alumni Association define its mission and vision and bring its activities in line with both—which includes fervent support for the EIS Program’s role in ‘next generation’ public health workforce development.

Laurene Mascola, MD, MPH—EIS ‘82 (2015-2018)

Laurene serves as the Chief of Acute Communicable Disease Control at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. As an EIS Officer, she split her time between the Division of STD Prevention and a field assignment in L.A. County, working on issues ranging from congenital syphilis to Listeriosis. She liked the field so much, she decided to stay. Lauren has served the L.A. County Department of Public Health for over 30 years now and loves to talk to EIS Officers about field opportunities.

Sarah Patrick, PhD, MPH—EIS ’95 (2013-2016)

Sarah is the Deputy Director of the St. Louis County (MO) Department of Public Health, where she presently leads the public health functions of three divisions—Communicable Disease Services, Environmental Health, and Health Education. She has been committed to field-based epidemiology for the past twenty years, having served as State Epidemiologist in not one, but two states—South Dakota and Missouri. She is active in the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) and has chaired the APHA Epidemiology section, both of which keep her well-connected to EIS alumni in the field. As a faculty member in Epidemiology, Sarah often encounters students who are considering applied epidemiology careers; it’s only fitting that she has made it her mission on the Executive Committee to ensure that Sencer scholarships (supporting EIS Conference travel) are appropriately advertised and utilized as a tool to recruit the best future EIS applicants. Sarah will be missed as she cycles off the Executive Committee after the 2016 EIS Conference.

Class of 2013 Representative

Ginny Bowen, PhD, MHS—EIS ’13 (2015-2016)

After completing her EIS assignment in the Division of STD Prevention, Ginny was excited to stay on at CDC as a ‘full-fledged’ Epidemiologist, working primarily on gonorrhea and syphilis projects. Over the past three years, she has worked on syphilis and meningitis outbreaks among MSM; international diagnostic evaluations for syphilis; and a new project designed to build local capacity to rapidly detect and respond to antibiotic resistant gonorrhea. She currently coordinates EIS activities within her Division, including recruitment efforts and a seminar series for new Officers, and looks forward to one day being an EIS supervisor.

Ex-Officio Members

Immediate Past President

Alexa Oster, MD—EIS ‘07

Alexa serves as the Lead for Molecular HIV Surveillance and the Acting Team Lead for the Incidence and Molecular Epidemiology Team in CDC’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention. She leads a team whose mission includes monitoring HIV transmission and incidence, which is useful for programs seeking to identify outbreaks and transmission networks. Alexa served in the role of EISAA President from 2014-2015 and was instrumental both in helping the Alumni Association grow its membership and in helping members find value in belonging to the Association.

EIS Program Representative

Josh Mott, PhD, MA, EMT-P—EIS ‘98

Josh currently serves as Chief of the EIS Program and Epidemiology Workforce Branch, relocating back to the states in 2015 to take the post after having worked in the CDC-Kenya office. Josh is very proud of the fact that the EIS Program recently received international accreditation as an outstanding Field Epidemiology Training Program. He enjoys working with the EIS Alumni Association to identify new ways to link alumni with prospective applicants who want to know more about what EIS Officers actually do and what roles they play in public health upon completion of the fellowship.

CDC Foundation Representative

Diana Robelotto

Diana serves as the CDC Foundation’s Director of Alumni Affairs and operates as the EIS Alumni Association’s primary liaison with the Foundation. She joined the CDC Foundation in 2014, bringing with her 11 years of experience at the American Cancer Society. She played a large role in helping the EISAA secure grant funding from the de Beaumont Foundation, which has enabled the Association to expand its roles in EIS Program recruitment and alumni networking. She helps maintain a database of EIS Alumni and is always ready to help put Alumni in touch with recruitment or meet-and-greet opportunities in their geographic areas.