Women’s and Girls’ Health: Across Identities, Places, and Life Stages Webinar Speaker Bios
At a glance
All speaker bios are shared below for the upcoming CDC's Office of Women's Health webinar titled, Women’s and Girls’ Health: Across Identities, Places, and Life Stages, on August 14, 2024, from 10:00am – 12:30pm ET.
Pattie Tucker, DrPH, RN, Director, Office of Women's Health, CDC
Pattie Tucker is Director of CDC's Office of Women's Health. She is recognized as a subject matter expert in the implementation and evaluation of culturally appropriate interventions that address drivers of health inequities. Dr. Tucker's career spans from a practitioner serving women and children to consultant on evidence- and practice-based strategies designed to promote healthy lifestyles and disease prevention domestically and internationally. She has worked in U.S. state and local public health departments and CDC Country Office in the Republic of Namibia, Sierra Leone, and the Republic of South Sudan. She holds a Doctor of Public Health from University of Alabama at Birmingham in Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology, a Master of Public Health in Policy and Management from Emory University, and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Florida A & M University.
Nirav Shah, MD, JD, Principal Deputy Director, CDC
Nirav Shah serves as the Principal Deputy Director of the U.S. CDC. Most recently, he served as the Director of the Maine CDC, leading the state public health agency. Prior to that he also served in roles as the Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, as well as the President of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO). Earlier in his career, Nirav worked for the Cambodian Ministry of Health as an economist and epidemiologist and previously worked as an attorney at Sidley Austin LLP, where his practice focused on health care regulation and enforcement. He holds an MD and JD from The University of Chicago.
Nancy López, PhD, Professor of Sociology at the University of New Mexico, Immediate Past Director/Co-founder of the Institute for the Study of "Race" and Social Justic
Nancy López is professor of sociology at the University of New Mexico. Dr. López directs/co-founded of the Institute for the Study of "Race" and Social Justice. Her scholarship, teaching and service are guided by the insights of intersectionality. Dr. López is author of Hopeful Girls, Troubled Boys: Race & Gender Disparity in Urban Education (2003); co-editor of, Creating Alternative Discourses in the Education of Latinas & Latinos (2003), Mapping "Race": Critical Approaches to Health Disparities Research (2013); and, QuantCrit: An Antiracist Approach to Education Equity (2023). Her current research, "Intersectionality as Inquiry and Praxis: Race-Gender-Class-Ethnicity for Student Success in STEM," is funded by the NSF HSIprogram.
Kathryn Godburn Schubert, MPP, President and CEO, Society for Women's Health Research
Kathryn Schubert has served as President & CEO of the Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR) since April 2020. She is a trusted leaders and consensus builder among women’s health stakeholders, and previously served as chief advocacy officer at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM). Katie began her career on Capitol Hill and subsequently advised organizations on policy strategy in the healthcare space. She is a board member of the National Health Council, Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance, and ASPN Foundation. She is a previous president of Women in Government Relations, and in 2020 was named Advocate of the Year by Professional Women in Advocacy for her work on inclusion of pregnant and lactating populations in research, and in 2024 named as one of the most influential people shaping policy in healthcare by the Washingtonian magazine. Katie holds a bachelor’s degree from Mary Washington College and a master’s degree from the George Washington University. When not advocating for women’s health, she’s spending time with her husband, three kids, and dog George.
Langan Denhard, MPH, Public Health Analyst, Center for Global Health, CDC
Langan Denhard has more than a decade's experience in working in spaces centered around the intersectionality of women's health. At the start of her career, as a housing advocate in Washington, DC, Langan supported individuals and families experiencing violence-related homelessness. There, she saw the importance of programs designed to respond to and challenge intersecting barriers to women's health such as poverty, racism, homelessness, and violence. As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mozambique, Langan focused on projects led by and serving women and girls, from establishing health clubs in primary schools to strengthening responsive health services for women engaged in sex work. After completing her Peace Corps service, Langan embarked on her master's in public health at Johns Hopkins University, where for her Capstone project she assessed barriers and enablers to housing among women experiencing housing instability due to violence. Langan now works with gender experts from around the world as a member of CDC's Gender and Youth team, which sits within CDC's global HIV prevention branch. In her role, she supports programs addressing violence as a barrier to prevention and treatment. She also supports DREAMS, the U.S. government's flagship global HIV prevention program for adolescent girls and young women, working primarily with teams in Mozambique and Zambia. Originally from Baltimore, she is currently based in Atlanta, where she lives with her partner and multiple animals.
Kristen Van Buren, DrPH, Research Epidemiologist, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, CDC
Kristen Van Buren earned her Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) degree in occupational epidemiology from the University of Kentucky in 2022, where she was also a Central Appalachian Regional Education and Research Center (CARERC) Fellow, and her Master of Public Health (MPH) degree in epidemiology from East Tennessee State University in 2011. She has over 10 years of experience working in public health where she has been involved with cancer prevention and survivorship, preventative screening and health outreach among workers, and community-based participatory research. Her research interests include maternal/child health, reproductive health and safety among workers (including maternal occupational exposures), and occupational health equity. Kristen is currently a research epidemiologist in the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Division of Field Studies and Engineering
Sarah Blake, PhD, MA, Assistant Research Professor, Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health
Sarah Blake is an associate professor and Director of the MPH and MSPH programs in the Department of Health Policy & Management at the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health. She also serves as the Director of the Emory Maternal and Child Health Center of Excellence (CoE). As a health services researcher with particular expertise and training in maternal health care and program evaluation, Dr. Blake's research aims to build evidence-based interventions and policies that reflect communities' perspectives and needs. Dr. Blake's research also centers on creating equitable and collective research partnerships with women, their families, health care providers, community-based organizations, and public health agencies. Additionally, she is an appointed member of the Georgia Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC), for which she lends her expertise in Medicaid policy to examine causes of pregnancy-related deaths in Georgia.
Fowzio Jama, MPH, Director of Research, Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Georgia
Fowzio Jama is the Director of Research at the state-wide nonpartisan nonprofit organization, Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Georgia. Fowzio graduated from Emory University with a Master of Public Health in the Global Health Department. During her graduate studies, Fowzio served as a Co-Principal Investigator with the Hargala Institute to conduct a needs assessment for elders living in displacement camps in Mogadishu, Somalia. Since completing her graduate studies, Fowzio has led a variety of maternal and infant health community-based projects in her role. Her projects include expanding access to maternal oral healthcare services, doula care, and researching barriers to care for birth givers. Fowzio also serves as a member on the Oral Health Equity Partner Workgroup and is passionate about improving maternal and infant health outcomes in the state of Georgia through comprehensive data collection, analysis, and dissemination.
Shan Qiao, PhD, Associate Professor, University of South Carolina, Arnold School of Public Health
Shan Qiao is an Associate Professor at the Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina (USC). She earned her Ph.D. in International Health from Johns Hopkins University in 2012. She is also co-leader of the Social Media core in the Big Data Health Science Center (BDHSC). Dr. Qiao's research primarily focuses on HIV/AIDS, COVID-19, and health disparities using mixed methodology and Big data approach. Funded by the NIH and CDC, she has studied HIV-related disclosure, stigma, resilience, and mental health issues among people living with HIV, sexual and gender minorities, and female sex workers in global contexts (e.g., China, Nigeria, and Zambia). She also led an NIH-funded project on the impacts of HIV-related service interruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic using multi-type, multi-source datasets. Dr. Qiao has a track record of publication and external research grant support. She has published 177 papers, secured as PI on one R01, two R21 grants, two CDC grants, and one NIH contract, and Co-investigator on nine R01 grants. She won the David Rosenstein Award at the annual conference of American Public Health Association in 2013 and the International Scholarship Award at the 20th International AIDS Conference in 2014. She was also selected to receive Breakthrough Star 2020 and Ann Johnson Institute Magellan Faculty Fellow 2021 at USC. Dr. Qiao serves as an ad-hoc grant reviewer for NIH and Associate Editor of Applied Psychology: Health and Wellbeing.
Terri Jowers, Executive Director, South Carolina Community Health Worker Association
Terri Jowers, of the South Carolina Community Health Worker Association (SCCHWA), represents Community Health Workers (CHWs) and supporters who are building a healthier South Carolina through the promotion of education, networking, and advocacy for the community health worker profession. SCCHWA provides networking, professional development, advocacy and resources, and a foundation for the education of CHWs and the organizations and systems that support them.
Leandris Liburd,PhD, MPH, MA, Acting Director Office of Health Equity, CDC
Leandris Liburd is the Acting Director for CDC’s Office of Health Equity (OHE). She served as the Associate Director for Minority Health and Health Equity for CDC/ATSDR since 2011. In this capacity, she leads and supports a wide range of critical functions in the agency’s work in health equity, women’s health, and diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility. She plays a critical leadership role in determining the agency’s vision for health equity, ensuring a rigorous and evidence-based approach to the practice of health equity, and promoting the ethical practice of public health in communities vulnerable to health inequities. Dr. Liburd has been instrumental in building capacity across CDC and in public health agencies to address the social determinants of health, and in identifying and widely disseminating intervention strategies that reduce racial and ethnic health disparities. She has skillfully executed innovative models of collaboration that have greatly expanded the reach, influence, and impact of the Office of Health Equity including the successful implementation of the Lewis Scholars Program (formerly the CDC Undergraduate Public Health Scholars Program) and the James A. Ferguson Emerging Infectious Diseases Graduate Fellowship. In May 2020, she assumed the role of Chief Health Equity Officer for CDC’s COVID-19 Response which was the first time in the agency’s history that this role and function was added to the leadership of the Incident Management Structure during the activation of CDC’s Emergency Operations Center. These and other accomplishments represent her tireless commitment to improve minority health and achieve health equity for all people.
Briana Jackson, BS, Public Health Analyst, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, CDC
Briana Jackson serves as a public health analyst for the Meningitis and Vaccine Preventable Diseases Branch (MVPDB) in the National Center of Immunization & Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD). As a public health analyst she leads budget execution efforts, serves as a robust liaison between laboratory and epidemiologist teams, implements problem solving skills, and oversees the advancement of program goals and activities. Prior to her MVPDB role, she served as a program analyst for the Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases (DFWED) in the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID). Some highlights during her tenure at the agency include, but are not limited to, receiving awards from CDC’s Young Professional’s Network (YPN) for her role as their Vice President of communications and for her excellent service and collaboration in planning their 2024 Diversity Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility (DEIAB) Symposium, completing three tour of duties to Tanzania, Kenya, and Ethiopia from 2017-2018 to support global health security (GHS) efforts, and receiving two NCIRD Honor Awards for Systems Improvement in 2022. Briana completed her B.S. in Biology from the University of West Georgia and received her certificate in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace from the University of South Florida. When Briana is not working, she enjoys spending time with her husband and son, traveling, reading, exploring creative freedoms of expression, and serving as a volunteer for various employee organizations such as YPN and NCIRD’s DEIAB council.
Shannon Griffin-Blake, PhD, Chief Disability Officer, Office of Health Equity, CDC
Shannon Griffin-Blake serves as the Chief Disability Officer in the Office of Health Equity within the Immediate Office of the Director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She has been instrumental in building capacity for disability inclusion within CDC and collaborating with a range of public health agencies to identify and disseminate strategies that address health disparities among people with disabilities. Moreover, she continues to champion strengthening the measurement, science, and practice of disability inclusion and accessibility in CDC-funded epidemiological studies, programs, communication, and partnerships to achieve health equity for all. Dr. Griffin-Blake has held multiple leadership positions within the agency and currently chairs the CDC’s Disability Inclusion and Accessibility Workgroup. She has various publications in community engagement and mobilization, intervention effectiveness and model development, behavioral theories, organizational change, and disability inclusion and health equity research. Lastly, Dr. Griffin-Blake holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Master of Arts in Health Education from East Carolina University, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Health Behavior and Promotion from the University of Georgia.
Denise Carty, PhD, Health Scientist, Office of Women's Health, CDC
Denise Carty is a health scientist in the Office of Women's Health at CDC where she conducts research on gender, race, and health-related quality of life in women and collaborates with CDC and external partners on various matters related to girls' and women's health. Prior to CDC, Dr. Carty worked as a women's health nurse practitioner and state public health officer with a career focus addressing women's health and racial and ethnic health disparities. Dr. Carty received a PhD from the University of Michigan School of Public Health with a research emphasis on social determinants of health and maternal and infant health outcomes.
