2014 leadership program faculty bios

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1 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health 2014 Global Tobacco Control Leadership Program Faculty Bio-sketches Please NOTE: This compilation of bio-sketches does not contain all of the speakers in the 2014 Leadership Program. All speakers will be introduced and additional bios will be provided upon request. Joshua Abrams Joshua Abrams has led CTFK's programs in the former Soviet Union since 2008, providing assistance and advice to domestic partners to help pass major tobacco control legislation in Russia and Ukraine, as well as ongoing efforts to improve legislation in Kazakhstan and other regional countries. Joshua's experience in the region spans 20 years, during which time he has lived in or visited nearly all the former soviet states and worked for a variety of international aid organizations. Joshua's most recent experience prior to CTFK is as program director for international aid projects in Central Asia and Russia. He has also written on political and environmental issues in Eurasia. Dr. Adriana Blanco, MD Adriana Blanco is currently the Regional Advisor for Tobacco Control at the Pan American Health Organization. She received her medical degree from the School of Medicine of the University of the Republic of Uruguay. She holds a postgraduate degree in drug dependencies and a Master Degree in Polices for prevention of drug use by youth. Before joining PAHO, she had worked in tobacco control in Uruguay, She was co-coordinator of the National Alliance of Tobacco Control and a member of the Inter-institutional Advisory Committee on Tobacco Control of the Ministry of Health of Uruguay, and was fully engaged in the processes that led to the first tobacco control measures in Uruguay: packaging and labeling and smoke-free environments. Dr. Jo Birckmayer, PhD, MPH Jo Birckmayer joined the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids in 2008 as the Director of the International Research Department. She oversees the Campaign’s efforts to provide data and evidence to advocates from low and middle income countries seeking full implementation of the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control. Prior to her present position, Jo led technical assistance programs to assist U.S. States improve the effectiveness of state tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug prevention systems and monitored states compliance with the Synar Program, a Federal performance system which requires all States to reduce youth access to tobacco. Jo has published on the effects of youth access policies and gun availability on alcohol related injuries and the development of logic models to guide prevention practice and evaluation. She has a PhD from Harvard’s Health Policy Program and an MPH from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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    Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

    2014 Global Tobacco Control Leadership Program

    Faculty Bio-sketches

    Please NOTE: This compilation of bio-sketches does not contain all of the speakers in the 2014

    Leadership Program. All speakers will be introduced and additional bios will be provided upon

    request.

    Joshua Abrams

    Joshua Abrams has led CTFK's programs in the former Soviet Union since 2008, providing

    assistance and advice to domestic partners to help pass major tobacco control legislation in

    Russia and Ukraine, as well as ongoing efforts to improve legislation in Kazakhstan and other

    regional countries. Joshua's experience in the region spans 20 years, during which time he has

    lived in or visited nearly all the former soviet states and worked for a variety of international aid

    organizations. Joshua's most recent experience prior to CTFK is as program director for

    international aid projects in Central Asia and Russia. He has also written on political and

    environmental issues in Eurasia.

    Dr. Adriana Blanco, MD

    Adriana Blanco is currently the Regional Advisor for Tobacco Control at the Pan American Health

    Organization. She received her medical degree from the School of Medicine of the University of

    the Republic of Uruguay. She holds a postgraduate degree in drug dependencies and a Master

    Degree in Polices for prevention of drug use by youth.

    Before joining PAHO, she had worked in tobacco control in Uruguay, She was co-coordinator of

    the National Alliance of Tobacco Control and a member of the Inter-institutional Advisory

    Committee on Tobacco Control of the Ministry of Health of Uruguay, and was fully engaged in

    the processes that led to the first tobacco control measures in Uruguay: packaging and labeling

    and smoke-free environments.

    Dr. Jo Birckmayer, PhD, MPH

    Jo Birckmayer joined the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids in 2008 as the Director of the

    International Research Department. She oversees the Campaigns efforts to provide data and

    evidence to advocates from low and middle income countries seeking full implementation of the

    Framework Convention for Tobacco Control. Prior to her present position, Jo led technical

    assistance programs to assist U.S. States improve the effectiveness of state tobacco, alcohol, and

    illicit drug prevention systems and monitored states compliance with the Synar Program, a

    Federal performance system which requires all States to reduce youth access to tobacco. Jo has

    published on the effects of youth access policies and gun availability on alcohol related injuries

    and the development of logic models to guide prevention practice and evaluation. She has a

    PhD from Harvards Health Policy Program and an MPH from the University of North Carolina at

    Chapel Hill.

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    Dr. Frank Chaloupka, PhD

    Frank J. Chaloupka is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he

    has been on the faculty since 1988. He is Director of the UIC Health Policy Center and Director

    of the WHO Collaborating Centre on the Economics of Tobacco and Tobacco Control. Dr.

    Chaloupka holds appointments in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Department of

    Economics and the School of Public Healths Division of Health Policy and Administration. He is

    a Fellow at the University of Illinois Institute for Government and Public Affairs, and is a

    Research Associate in the National Bureau of Economic Researchs Health Economics Program

    and Childrens Program. Dr. Chaloupka is Co Director of Bridging the Gap: Research Informing

    Policy and Practice for Healthy Youth Behavior and Director of BTGs ImpacTeen Project. He is

    also Co-Director of the International Tobacco Evidence Network. Hundreds of publications and

    presentations have resulted from Dr. Chaloupka's research on the effects of economic, policy,

    and environmental factors on health behavior, including tobacco use, drinking, drug use, diet,

    physical activity, and related outcomes.

    Dr. Pankaj Chaturvedi, MD

    Dr. Pankaj Chaturvedi MBBS, MS, FAIS, FICS, FACS, MNAMS is Professor and Head and Neck

    cancer Surgeon at Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai. Dr Chaturvedi did his medical schooling

    and post graduation in General Surgery at Banaras Hindu University. He was adjudged the best

    Intern and the best post graduate during his tenure in Banaras Hindu University. Later, he

    decided to work in field of surgical oncology and received his formal training at Tata Memorial

    Hospital, Mumbai. He has been invited as visiting faculty in 18 institutions in 14 countries. He is

    member of several prestigious national and international organizations and he is reviewer of

    several leading journals and he is the editor of the Textbook of Head and Neck Surgery. He is

    the Assistant Editor of the International Journal of Head and Neck surgery. He has authored 6

    book chapters and 70 papers in international peer reviewed journals. He is Principal investigator

    of several clinical trials and his main area of interest is early detection of oral cancer. He is the

    recipient of the Robert Maxwell Byers award of the American Head and Neck society in year

    2010. He was nominated as Council Member of the prestigious International Academy of Oral

    Oncology. He is one of the founding members of South Asian Federation of Oncology and in

    the steering committee of the Eurasian Head and Neck Oncology Society. He is the founder and

    treasurer of the Head Neck Cooperative Oncology Group.

    Dr. Joanna Cohen, PhD

    Joanna Cohen is the Bloomberg Professor of Disease Prevention and the Director of the

    Institute for Global Tobacco Control at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public

    Health. She also holds an appointment in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the

    University of Toronto. Dr. Cohen obtained her PhD in Health Policy and Administration from the

    University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill and her MHSc in Community Health and Epidemiology

    from the University of Toronto. She has been involved in tobacco policy research for almost 20

    years. Trained in epidemiology and health policy, her research interests focus on the factors that

    affect the adoption and implementation of public health policies and on evaluating the

    beneficial effects and the unintended consequences of such policies. She has worked on studies

    of both Canadian and US legislators regarding tobacco and tobacco control policy,

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    a longitudinal cohort of smokers focusing on factors influencing quitting behavior, tobacco

    promotion at the point of sale, tobacco prices including taxes, tobacco packaging, options for

    reducing the physical availability of tobacco products, and tobacco industry interference in

    tobacco control. Dr. Cohen has been recognized for her teaching and mentoring, and has co-led

    a 6-year training program in public health policy. Dr. Cohen is a Senior Editor of Tobacco

    Control.

    Rob Cunningham, LLB, MBA,

    Rob Cunningham is a lawyer and Senior Policy Analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society who

    has worked in tobacco control since 1988. Robs background includes: author of the book

    Smoke & Mirrors: The Canadian Tobacco War; work to support the adoption of federal and

    provincial tobacco control legislation in Canada; appearing in court in tobacco cases, including

    cases dealing with tobacco advertising and promotion; and participation in negotiations for the

    WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

    Dr. Annette David, MD, MPH

    Dr. Annette M. David is a board-certified internist and Occupational and Environmental

    Medicine specialist who completed her Masters degree in Public Health at Columbia University,

    Internal Medicine residency training at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and

    post-graduate occupational and environmental medicine fellowship at Yale University. Dr. David

    was Technical Officer, and eventually Regional Adviser, for the Tobacco Free Initiative (TFI) at the

    WHO Western Pacific Regional Office. She currently serves as Consultant to both the

    Department of Public Health and Social Services and the Department of Mental Health and

    Substance Abuse. Dr. David chairs the State Substance Abuse Epidemiological Workgroup of

    Guam, and is adjunct Research faculty at the University of Guam Cancer Research Center, a

    Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Hawaii Cancer Research Center and guest faculty

    for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Healths Institute for Global Tobacco Control.

    She is Senior Partner, co-founder and head of the consulting services division of Health Partners,

    LLC. She continues to provide assistance to WHO as Consultant in tobacco control, NCD

    (Noncommunicable diseases) control, occupational/environmental health and healthy settings.

    Her publications include the 2004 WHO book Building Blocks for Tobacco Control: A Handbook,

    a chapter on Smoking and Tobacco Use in the 2008 Encyclopedia of Global Health, the 2009

    WHO book People at the Centre of Health Care, the chapter on Tobacco use: Equity and social

    determinants in Equity, Social Determinants and Public Health Programmes (2010), and the

    chapter on Smokeless Tobacco Ue in the Western Pacific in the forthcoming Global Report on

    Smokeless Tobacco (2012). Dr. David also authored the WHO Western Pacific Regional Strategy

    for the Tobacco Free Initiative 2005-2009, the WHO Regional Framework for Occupational

    Health 2007-2011 and the WHO Western Pacific Regional Strategy for Noncommunicable

    Disease Prevention and Control 2008-2015.

    Dr. Heba Fouad, MD

    Dr. Heba Fouad, a medical doctor, acquired her bachelor degree of Medicine and Surgery from

    Alexandria Faculty of Medicine, Egypt, in 1990. In 1993 she joined the Community Medicine

    Department, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University as a tutor in community medicine

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    department. In 1997, Dr Heba acquired the Master degree in Occupational Health and Industrial

    Medicine, followed by Doctorate degree in 2005 in same specialty, from Alexandria Faculty of

    Medicine, Egypt. She worked as lecturer in Community Medicine Department, Faculty of

    Medicine, Alexandria University; she conducted different research studies in occupational health

    and industrial exposures, and Contributed in the development of Community Medicine

    Curriculum in the Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Egypt for more than ten years.

    In 2007, Dr Heba Joined World Health Organization, Regional Office for the Eastern

    Mediterranean, since then she has been working as technical officer for Surveillance under WHO

    Tobacco Free initiative program, providing needed technical support to WHO Member States to

    monitor tobacco use and related indicators through implementation of the Global Tobacco

    Surveillance System in collaboration with CDC, Atlanta, USA and under support of Bloomberg

    Initiative to Reduce Tobacco use.

    Dr. Gauden Galea, MD

    Dr. Galea has been Director of the Division of Noncommunicable Diseases and Life-course at

    WHO/Europe since January 2011, and is a public health physician who has worked for WHO

    since 1998. He has held posts as technical officer for healthy islands and NCDs in the Pacific

    Islands, as regional adviser on noncommunicable diseases in the WHO Regional Office for the

    Western Pacific, and as coordinator of health promotion at WHO headquarters. He has a special

    interest in health promotion, the social determinants of noncommunicable diseases and the

    links between these diseases and the development agenda. Dr Galea has been Director of the

    Division of Noncommunicable Diseases and Life-course at WHO/Europe since January 2011, and

    is a public health physician who has worked for WHO since 1998. He has held posts as technical

    officer for healthy islands and NCDs in the Pacific Islands, as regional adviser on

    noncommunicable diseases in the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, and as

    coordinator of health promotion at WHO headquarters. He has a special interest in health

    promotion, the social determinants of noncommunicable diseases and the links between these

    diseases and the development agenda.

    Dr. Stanton Glantz, PhD

    Dr. Glantz, the American Legacy Foundation Distinguished Professor of Tobacco Control,

    conducts research on a wide range of topics ranging from the health effects of secondhand

    smoke (with particular emphasis on the cardiovascular system) to the efficacy of different

    tobacco control policies. Dr. Glantz conducts research on a wide range of issues ranging from

    the effects of secondhand smoke on the heart through the reductions in heart attacks observed

    when smokefree policies are enacted, to how the tobacco industry fights tobacco control

    programs. His research on the effects of secondhand smoke on blood and blood vessels has

    helped explain why, in terms of heart disease, the effects of secondhand smoke are nearly as

    large as smoking. Consistent with what would be expected from the biology of secondhand

    smoke, he demonstrated a large and rapid reduction in the number of people admitted to the

    hospital with heart attacks in Helena, Montana, after that community made all workplaces and

    public places smokefree. His work in this area was identified as one of the top research

    advances for 2005" by the American Heart Association. He was one of the people who first

    argued that controlling youth access to tobacco products was not an effective tobacco control

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    strategy and was on of the first people to identify the importance of young adults (not just

    teens) as targets for the tobacco industry and efforts at smoking cessation and tobacco use

    prevention.

    Dr. Glantz is Principal Investigator for the $20 million 5 year Tobacco Center of Regulatory

    Science Improved Models to Inform Tobacco Product Regulation, that was funded in

    September 2013 as part of a first-of-its-kind tobacco science regulatory program by the U.S.

    Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health. The centers overarching

    theme is the development of improved models to inform tobacco product regulatory strategies

    that integrate 1) economic impacts of tobacco use on health costs, 2) risk perceptions, perceived

    acceptability, consumer responses to pro-tobacco marketing and anti-tobacco messages and

    other social determinants of tobacco use, and 3) rapid changes in risk due to tobacco use and

    secondhand smoke exposure as manifest in cardiovascular and pulmonary dysfunction. The

    center also includes two developmental projects (one on behavioral models and one on

    cardiovascular and pulmonary disease models), three Cores (Administrative, Informatics and

    Analytics, and Biomarker), a postdoctoral training program and a process for selecting future

    developmental projects.

    Stephen Hamill

    Stephen Hamill is Director of Communications and Advocacy at World Lung Foundation (WLF).

    WLF uses social marketing to address some of the world's most pressing public health problems

    through changing behaviors, promoting healthier social norms, and advancing good public

    policy. In the past five years more than a billion people have seen a WLF campaign. Steve leads

    WLF's global new and social media practice and is the point person for the organization's work

    in Turkey, the Middle East and Indonesia.

    Marita Hefler

    Marita Hefler is a researcher at the Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin, Australia. Her

    research interests are use of social media to enhance tobacco control, and reducing smoking

    prevalence among socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. She has over 14 years of

    experience in a range of tobacco control and other public health and community development

    programs, in both Australian and international NGOs and health services. Her international work

    on innovative use of social media for tobacco control advocacy has been used to inform

    tobacco control practice and advocacy, particularly in Southeast Asia. Marita was an invited

    speaker at the World Conference on Tobacco or Health in 2012 on use of social media for

    tobacco control advocacy, and was commissioned by the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control

    Alliance (SEATCA) to prepare a report funded by the World Health Organization on social media

    strategies for tobacco control. She is an active commentator on public health matters through

    Twitter, where she can be found at @m_hef.

    Laurent Huber, MS

    Laurent Huber is Director of the Framework Convention Alliance (FCA), an international coalition

    of over 200 members from over 100 countries, which has been instrumental in the drafting,

    approval and recent entry in force of the tobacco treaty. It is the first treaty negotiated under

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    the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO) and has the potential to save millions of

    people from the death and disease caused by tobacco use and addiction.

    A humble, soft-spoken advocate, Laurent has fought the tobacco control epidemic with skill and

    dedication. A natural coalition builder, Laurent has had a huge impact in the international

    tobacco control movement. The FCA has been widely recognized for its vital role in shaping the

    Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). This is in no small part attributable directly

    to the work of Laurent Huber.

    For the past four years, Laurent has quietly played an influential role behind the scenes, building

    the base of the FCA and reaching out to advocates and policymakers around the world. His

    leadership has helped ensure the FCA's growth from a fledgling alliance to a powerful global

    tobacco control force. He also was a key figure in establishing the FCA as a legal entity with

    official status with the WHO.

    Fluent in four languages, Laurent is often traveling around the world to lead tobacco control

    policy workshops for advocates and legislators. Laurent's unique skills and background allow

    him to combine the resources of an American NGO with the diplomacy and approach of a

    "citizen of the world," fostering cooperation from all parts of the globe. His personal skills and

    tact have given the FCA both a strong independent voice and a close partnership with the WHO.

    Hundreds of advocates from the Africa to South America have benefited from Laurent's

    leadership. The American Lung Association and the C. Everett Koop Foundation are proud to

    recognize his outstanding leadership.

    Dean Michael Klag, MD, MPH

    Dr. Klag is Dean of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the oldest and largest

    independent graduate school of public health in the world. The School currently has programs

    in over 120 countries, with over 2,000 students who come from approximately 80 countries. He

    is chair of the Association of Schools of Public Health and chair of the NIH Advisory Board on

    Clinical Research. He is an internist and epidemiologist who earned his medical degree at the

    University of Pennsylvania and his MPH degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and

    Public Health. For eight years, he was Director of the Division of General Internal Medicine and

    was the first Vice Dean for Clinical Investigation at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where

    he instituted new policies and procedures for oversight of human subject research.

    Dr. Klag is a world renowned kidney disease epidemiologist whose scientific contributions have

    been in the prevention and epidemiology of kidney disease, hypertension and cardiovascular

    disease. He was one of the earliest investigators to apply epidemiologic methods to the study of

    kidney disease. In doing so, he and his collaborators were able to first determine that the US

    was in the midst of an epidemic of end stage kidney disease, determine the incidence of kidney

    disease, and publish the risk of developing kidney disease associated with blood pressure,

    diabetes, race, socioeconomic status and other factors. These findings are considered landmark

    contributions. He directs one of the longest running longitudinal studies in existence, the

    Precursors Study, which began in 1946. Results of that study demonstrated that serum

    cholesterol measured at age 22 years predicts cardiovascular disease in midlife. This work had a

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    profound impact on the policy related to cholesterol screening in young people. He has also

    shown that health behaviors and other factors lead to the development of hypertension, and

    that differences in risk of hypertension in urban and non-urban societies can be explained by

    differences in health behaviors. Dr. Klag is the author of over 200 publications and was the

    Editor-in-Chief of the Johns Hopkins Family Health Book.

    Tom Lalley

    Tom Lalley is the Associate Director for International Communications at the Campaign for

    Tobacco-Free Kids where he focuses on using communications to promote policy advocacy in

    Indonesia and Russia. Prior to TFK, he worked at Environmental Defense Fund where he led

    communications for the Oceans program which focused primarily on improving the

    management of fishing. Before that, he worked for six years at World Wildlife Fund as the

    director of program marketing and the director of media relations. His first job in public

    relations was with Environmental Media Services directing media activities on biotechnology,

    natural resources and other issues. His background also includes reporting for public radio

    stations in California, Washington, D.C., Albany, New York and Denver. His stories aired regularly

    on National Public Radios All Things Considered and Morning Edition. He received an

    Associated Press award for an investigative story on an illegal dump in the Adirondack Park and

    his NPR series on the deregulation of the electric utility industry was the first on that subject in

    the national broadcast media. He graduated from Guilford College, a Quaker school in

    Greensboro, North Carolina, majoring in Religion. Tom lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife

    and daughter. In his spare time, he plays in a bluegrass band, cycles and tends to his garden.

    Patricia Lambert, JD

    Patricia Lambert is a South African human rights lawyer and social justice advocate currently

    working as the Director of the International Legal Consortium (ILC) at the Campaign for

    Tobacco-Free Kids in Washington, DC part of the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use.

    In the past six years, the ILC has provided legal technical assistance to almost 70 countries.

    For ten years, during the Mandela and Mbeki administrations, Patricia worked as a legal adviser

    to the South African government on a range of human rights, trade, environmental and health

    issues.

    While with the Ministry of Justice, she co-drafted South Africas National Action Plan for the

    Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, which was lodged with the UN in December 1998;

    advised on the post-Apartheid revision of laws pertaining to sexual offences against women and

    children; and participated actively in the judicial transformation process.

    During her time with the Ministry of Health (1999-2006), Patricia began to work intensively on

    tobacco control. In addition to implementing South Africas comprehensive tobacco control

    legislation, she was appointed as the Chief Negotiator for the South African government for the

    Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the worlds first public health treaty. During

    the negotiations she served as Africas representative on the Bureau that managed the treaty-

    making process and chaired several sessions of the negotiating body. Beyond tobacco control,

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    Patricia advised her government during its historic legal battle with the multinational

    pharmaceutical industry over the countrys groundbreaking laws aimed at providing affordable

    medicines, and was appointed as South Africas Chief Negotiator for the revision of the WHO

    International Health Regulations.

    Patricia is the current President of the International Network of Women Against Tobacco

    (INWAT). She also serves on the Boards of Action on Smoking or Health (ASH-US) and the

    African Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA).

    Dr. Benjamin Lozare, PhD

    Dr. Benjamin V. Lozare is Director for Training and Capacity Building at the Johns Hopkins

    Bloomberg School of Public Health/Center for Communication Programs (CCP). Dr. Lozare has

    more than 25 years of experience in research, teaching, and practice in international and

    development communication. He has served as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the

    Health Sciences Campus of the University of the Philippines, as the first Director-General of the

    Philippine Information Agency, and as Deputy Secretary-General of the Asian Mass

    Communication Research and Information Center Foundation. He has consulted with UN

    agencies such as the World Health Organization, the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far

    East, and the United Nations Population Fund. At CCP he has led the development of SCOPE

    (Strategic Communication Planning and Evaluation), a computer-aided communication planning

    software used in training workshops. Dr. Lozare was an Eisenhower Fellow and recipient of the

    first Newsweek International Communication Grant. He obtained his PhD in mass

    communications from the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Lozare teaches tobacco control

    communication and is a faculty of the IGTC series of leadership workshops on tobacco control.

    Sandra Mullin, MSW

    Sandra Mullin is Senior Vice President for Communications at World Lung Foundation, where

    she leads a team of communication professionals in marketing, public relations and online

    editorial activities, domestically and internationally. Through funding by the Bloomberg-Gates

    Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, Ms. Mullin also guides WLFs global communications team in

    providing technical assistance for anti-tobacco mass media campaigns in low and middle

    income countries. Ms Mullin is also a member of WLFs senior management team.

    Matthew L. Myers, JD

    Matthew L. Myers is President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a leader in the fight to

    reduce tobacco use and its devastating consequences in the United States and around the

    world. By changing public attitudes and public policies on tobacco, the Campaign strives to

    prevent kids from smoking, help smokers quit and protect everyone from secondhand smoke.

    The Campaign acts as a counter force to the tobacco industry and its special interests and serves

    as a resource to others working to reduce tobacco use. In 1996, Mr. Myers helped to found the

    Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and has been with the Campaign since its inception. Initially, he

    served as its Executive Vice President and Legal Counsel and oversaw the Campaigns advocacy

    efforts. In 1997, Mr. Myers participated in the negotiations that led to an unprecedented

    agreement between the tobacco industry and the states. He then served as one of the leading

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    spokespersons for public health in the debate that followed in Congress and worked with

    Senator John McCain on his 1998 comprehensive tobacco legislation. On January 1, 2000, Mr.

    Myers became the Campaigns President succeeding Bill Novelli. Later that year, Mr. Myers was

    named by President Clinton to co-chair a Presidential Commission to examine the economic

    problems being experienced by tobacco farmers and their communities and recommend

    possible solutions. In 2004, the Harvard School of Public Health bestowed the prestigious Julius

    B. Richmond award on Mr. Myers for his work as an advocate in preventing tobacco industry

    marketing to children. On October 26, 2007, the American Cancer Society honored Mr. Myers

    with its highest award, The Medal of Honor, for his work in the fight against cancer and

    childhood tobacco addiction. Over the last 25 years, Mr. Myers has participated in virtually every

    major national tobacco-related legislative effort and has worked with state tobacco prevention

    advocates and officials around the country. In 1980, Mr. Myers joined the Federal Trade

    Commission in the Division of Advertising Practices and was responsible for the agencys

    tobacco-related activity. Later he was named the acting Deputy Assistant Director of the FTCs

    Division of Advertising Practices. From 1982 to 1996, Mr. Myers represented the Coalition on

    Smoking OR Health, an organization comprised of the American Cancer Society, the American

    Lung Association, and the American Heart Association, first as its Staff Director and later as its

    General Counsel. During the 1980s, Mr. Myers worked on successful legislative campaigns to

    raise the federal excise tax on tobacco products, eliminating smoking on domestic airplane

    flights, strengthening cigarette health warnings, banning ads for smokeless tobacco on TV and

    requiring health warnings on smokeless tobacco ads and packages. In 1989, Mr. Myers received

    the prestigious Surgeon Generals Medallion from Dr. C. Everett Koop for contributions to the

    public health of the nation. In 1996, he received the Smoke free America Award as the lawyer

    who had made the greatest contribution to tobacco-control efforts in the United States. He was

    honored with the Jacob K. Javits Award in 1998 for his contributions to public health. In 1999,

    Mr. Myers was asked to serve on the first advisory committee established to advise the Director

    General of the World Health Organization on tobacco issues. Mr. Myers legislative advocacy

    efforts are featured in two books by Michael Pertschuk, former chairman of the Federal Trade

    Commission (FTC): The Giant Killers and Smoke in Their Eyes. Mr. Myers is published widely in

    health and medical publications and appears often on national news programs to discuss

    tobacco issues. In 1973, Mr. Myers began his career as a law clerk to Raymond Pettine, the Chief

    U.S. District Court Judge in Rhode Island. From 1974 to1977, he was an attorney for the

    American Civil Liberties Union Foundation National Prisoner Project, and from 1977 to 1980, he

    was their chief counsel. From 1981 to 1996, Mr. Myers was partner in the law firm of Asbill,

    Junkin & Myers in Washington, D.C. He specialized in complex commercial litigation and cases

    concerning employment law, the Privacy Act, health law, and First Amendment issues. He holds

    a B.A. from Tufts University and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School, where he was

    awarded the Order of the Coif and served on the staff of the Journal of Law Reform. Mr. Myers

    and his wife, Louise, reside in Washington, D.C. They have two grown children.

    Dr. Ana Navas-Acien, MD, PhD

    Ana Navas-Acien, Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at

    JHSPH, is a physician-epidemiologist with a specialty in Preventive Medicine and Public Health

    and with a long-term interest in the health consequences of widespread environmental

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    exposures. Based on an epidemiologic approach, her research investigates chronic health effects

    of arsenic, selenium, lead, cadmium and other trace metals.

    Given the paucity of epidemiologic data at low/moderate levels, the possible biological basis,

    and the controversy for current environmental standards, this challenging area of research is

    potentially relevant for public health. For exposures with large epidemiologic evidence of the

    adverse health effects, such as secondhand smoke, her interest is to conduct research in support

    of progressive policies to reduce involuntary exposure to environmental toxins.

    Ricardo Sandoval Palos

    Ricardo Sandoval Palos, a researcher in the US Program at Human Rights Watch, investigates

    abuses in the US immigration system. He is a veteran investigative journalist whose writings

    about immigration, crime in Latin America, and business in California have won numerous

    awards. Previously, as an editor with the Center for Public Integrity, Sandoval Palos supervised

    investigations into an overlooked health epidemic among farm workers in Central America, a

    black market in strategic minerals in South America, and the tobacco industrys lobbying push in

    developing nations. As a correspondent in Latin America, his investigation into the fate of

    millions of dollars withheld from paychecks of World War II-era Mexican bracerosguest

    workers in the United Statesfueled a movement to win reimbursement by the Mexican

    government. And his examination of profiteering in the remittance business between the US and

    Mexico won prestigious awards from the Overseas Press Club and the Inter-American Press

    Association. Sandoval Palos is also co-author of the biography, The Fight in the Fields: Cesar

    Chavez and the Farmworkers Movement, published by Harcourt.

    Bill Parra, MS

    Bill Parra is Chief Operating Officer of Tobacco Control Initiatives (TCI), the CDC Foundations

    largest public health project.

    Mr. Parra began his career with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and

    served in various assignments throughout the organization before retiring in 1999 as Deputy

    Director of the CDC National Center for Environmental Health. During his career with CDC, Mr.

    Parra held assignments at CDC Headquarters and was also assigned by CDC to the Los Angeles

    Country Health Department, the Chicago Board of Health, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

    Department of Health, the United States Agency for International Development, Washington,

    D.C., and the World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, during the early days of WHOs

    global response to HIV/AIDS.

    Mr. Parra was selected to the Senior Executive Service of the Federal Government in 1996.

    Mr. Parra earned his B.S. degree from Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California, and his M.S.

    degree from Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia.

    Dr. Armando Peruga, MD

    Armando Peruga is a medical doctor. He graduated from Masters and Doctoral programs of the

    Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In his native Spain, he was the director of the

    http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/hmh/site/hmhbooks/bookdetails?isbn=9780547350998&srch=truehttp://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/hmh/site/hmhbooks/bookdetails?isbn=9780547350998&srch=true
  • 11

    Research Institute on Health and Welfare in Madrid and later became the Dean of the National

    School of Public Health. In the early 80s he worked for the Washington DC Commission of

    Public Health as a behavioral change epidemiologist and began to work with the Pan American

    Health Organization in 1990. He was the leader of the tobacco control team of this organization

    until the beginning of 2006 when he moved to Geneva as the coordinator for the capacity

    building unit of the Tobacco Free Initiative (TFI) of the World Health Organization. Since 2009 he

    is the programme manager for TFI.

    Dr. Angela Pratt, PhD

    Angela Pratt currently works with the WHO in Beijing, China as the Technical Officer, Tobacco

    Free Initiative. In this role she oversees the WHO's tobacco control activities in China. Angela

    Pratt was previously Chief of Staff to the former Australian Minister for Health, the Honourable

    Nicola Roxon. During this time, Angela was intimately involved in delivering Australia's world-

    first tobacco plain packaging laws, along with a range of other major reforms to the Australian

    health system. Prior to working with Minister Roxon, Angela served as a senior advisor on health

    to the Australian Labor Party in opposition. She has also worked as a policy analyst in Australia's

    parliamentary research service, and ran her own successful health and public policy consultancy.

    Angela holds a BA and PhD in Sociology and Politics from the University of Wollongong,

    Australia.

    Dr. Gan Quan, PhD

    Dr. Quan Gan joined the Union in 2009 as a Technical Advisor for the Tobacco Control

    Department and has been the Director of China Office since 2014. Dr. Gan holds a B.S. in

    Environmental Chemistry from Nankai University, and a Master and a PhD degree in

    Environmental Health Sciences from the University of California at Berkeley. He has more than

    ten years of extensive experience in tobacco control research and policy advocacy. Prior to

    joining the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Dr. Gan was a research

    fellow at the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California,

    San Francisco.

    Dr. Vishal Rao, MD

    Dr.Vishal Rao is presently associated with BGS Global hospital and cancer institute where he is

    working as a senior consultant in surgical oncology (head neck). He completed his post

    graduation in otolaryngology head neck surgery from Jawaharlal Nehru medical college in

    Belgaum. Thereon he went to complete his fellowship training in Head neck oncology surgery at

    the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai and a brief stint at the Pittsburgh school of medicine as

    visiting scholar. He has been associated with Kidwai memorial center of oncology and HCG Curie

    Center of Oncology in Bangalore.

    He has more than 20 national and International publications to his credit, and is a reviewer for 7

    international journals. He has received many national and international awards including the

    Who's who in medical care for 2011. He is a member of the state anti tobacco cell and High

    power committee on tobacco control in government of Karnataka. He is a patron for Karnataka

    state "voice of tobacco victims" campaign initiated by Tata hospital. He is a national executive

  • 12

    member for federation of head neck oncology , state association for otolaryngology head neck

    surgery.

    Dr. Jonathan M. Samet, MD, MS

    Jonathan M. Samet, a pulmonary physician and epidemiologist, is currently Professor and Flora

    L. Thornton Chair for the Department of Preventive Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at

    the University of Southern California and Director, USC Institute for Global Health. He received

    an A.B. degree in chemistry and physics from Harvard College, before receiving the MD degree

    from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. He also has an MS in

    epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Samet has investigated diverse

    health issues using epidemiological approaches. His research has focused on the health risks of

    inhaled pollutantsparticles and ozone in outdoor air and indoor pollutants including

    secondhand smoke and radon. He has also investigated the occurrence and causes of cancer

    and respiratory diseases, emphasizing the risks of active and passive smoking. He has served on

    numerous committees concerned with using scientific evidence for the development of policy to

    protect public health. For several decades, he has been involved in global health, focused on

    tobacco control and air pollution. He currently chairs the Clean Air Scientific Advisory

    Committee of the U.S. EPA and also the FDAs Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee.

    He was appointed to the National Cancer Advisory Board in 2011. Dr. Samet received the

    Surgeon Generals Medallion in 1990 and 2006, the 2004 Prince Mahidol Award for Global

    Health awarded by the King of Thailand, and the 2006 Public Service Award of the American

    Thoracic Society. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of

    Sciences in 1997.

    Vandana Shah, JD, LLM

    Vandana Shah is the Director, South East Asia Program for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

    (CTFK), a US based non-profit organization that works in the United States and globally as part

    of the Bloomberg Initiative to reduce tobacco use in developing countries. Vandana leads CTFKs

    programming in India and Bangladesh and directs legislative/legal work in Indonesia. She works

    with governments and non-government partners in these countries to reduce the burden of

    tobacco-related death and disease by advocating for strong tobacco control policies and its

    effective implementation. She provides strategic leadership for both direct and indirect political

    advocacy, litigation and media efforts in these countries, working closely with in-country staff

    and funded partners/grantees. Prior to this position, she served as the Executive Director of the

    North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund (HWTF), a state foundation that was responsible

    for awarding $30 million in grants for key health care prevention programs with an emphasis on

    tobacco control projects. She has law degrees from Duke University and Calcutta University,

    India and is entered into practice in North Carolina and India.

    She is the co-founder of KIRAN, a domestic violence and crisis services organization for South

    Asians in North Carolina and is currently serving on its board and currently chairs its Board. She

    has served on the board of North Carolina Society for Health Care Attorneys, Triangle Interfaith

    Alliance and the Indian American Forum for Political Education and the International Affairs

  • 13

    Council. Vandana was born and raised in Kolkata, India currently lives in North Carolina with her

    husband and two children.

    Mohammad Shahjahan

    Mohammad Shahjahan is the founder Director and CEO of Bangladesh Center for

    Communication Programs (BCCP) established in 1996 as the successor to the Bangladesh

    country office of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for

    Communication Programs (JHU.CCP). He has more than 26 years of experience in the field of

    strategic communication including developing communication strategy; planning, designing and

    implementation of large-scale campaigns; community mobilization intervention; management

    and monitoring of programs; evaluation, etc. He has extensive experience in developing training

    curriculum, communication materials and capacity building workshops. He also facilitates

    trainings on strategic communication, leadership development, and organizational

    communication and more of this kind for the professionals of both government and non-

    government sectors using various state-of-the arts concepts, approaches, tools and techniques

    including Visualization in Participatory Programs and Future Search Conference.

    Prior to assuming in the leadership position of BCCP, Mr. Shahjahan acted as the Deputy

    Country Representative of JHU.CCP Bangladesh Program. He harnessed the diversified expertise

    and skills of the staff that placed BCCP to a different height establishing it as a one-stop

    strategic communication organization in the region. He leads BCCP as a sustainable

    organization with about 100 fulltime staff. BCCP has its own 7-storied office building from which

    it is operating now. BCCP as an organization and Mr. Shahjahan individually have received a

    number of accolades and recognition for his operational effectiveness in managing programs.

    Mr. Shahjahan has a Masters degree in Economics and a Bachelor degree in Law.

    Dr. Tara Singh Bam, PhD, MPH

    Dr. Tara Singh Bam, a Public Health Practitioner and Doctorate Degree in Health System

    Development and Master of Public Health by training, has studied in Thailand and Nepal. He

    presently serves as Technical Advisor/Country Lead of Tobacco Control Programme in Indonesia,

    Myanmar and Nepal at the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The

    Union). He has had about 17 years experiences in public health policy development, programme

    management and evaluation in the field of tobacco, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS control in Nepal,

    Indonesia, China, India, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Cambodia. He has also

    academic teaching and research experiences with many papers presented and published in

    national and international journals.

    Andrii Skipalski

    Andrii Skipalskyi is chairman of the board (executive director) of the Advocacy Centre LIFE a

    non-profit, non-governmental organization that provides advocacy and tobacco control

    expertise in Ukraine and the eastern European region.

    LIFE also serves as the secretariat and resource center for the Coalition for a Tobacco Free

    Ukraine, a coalition of over 100 organizations, and manages a tobacco control press center with

    ties to over 200 national and regional media.

  • 14

    Andrii have been working with LIFE since 2010, providing overall management and advocacy

    expertise for the Smoke Free Ukraine project, funded by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.

    Andrii also regularly publish articles in national newspapers focused on tobacco industry

    interference, tobacco control and public advocacy. Prior to this, Andrii worked in international

    technical assistance projects in the field of social investments, advocacy, anti-corruption and

    media development, since 2000.

    Since the beginning of the project in 2008, the LIFE team has achieved several unprecedented

    victories over the tobacco industry in favor of public health. For example:

    In 2012, Ukraine adopted comprehensive smoke-free legislation with a complete ban on indoor

    smoking in all work places, including cafes, bars and restaurants. The legislation came into effect

    on 16 December 2012, and the compliance level as of January 2013 is 93 percent!

    Also in 2012, Ukraine adopted a comprehensive tobacco advertising, promotion and

    sponsorship ban. It came into effect on 16 September 2012, and the compliance level as of

    November 2012 was 95 percent.

    In 2011, Ukraine finally adopted regulations that obliged tobacco producers to place pictorial

    warning labels on cigarette packs. Starting 4 October 2012 all packs have a graphic warning

    covering 50 percent of the pack on one side and a text warning of the same size on the other

    side.

    In March 2014 after a year-long advocacy campaign conducted by LIFE Ukrainian government

    increased tobacco taxes by 30% starting July 1, 2014.

    IFE conducts continuous TI monitoring, and responds to the industry's efforts to discredit

    tobacco control activities. As the result of effective tobacco control advocacy, smoking

    prevalence has fallen drastically, dropping Ukraine from the country with the 4th highest rate of

    smoking (2006) to 24th place (2011) according to the WHO.

    Stephen Tamplin, MSE

    Mr. Tamplin accepted a position with Johns Hopkins University in October 2006 as Associate

    Scientist in the Department of Epidemiology of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public

    Health and later in the Department of Health, Behavior and Society. He is working with the

    Schools Institute for Global Tobacco Control and currently focuses on global tobacco control

    projects with a particular emphasis on Asia and the Pacific. From 2002 to 2006, Mr. Tamplin was

    a private consultant on environment, health and development issues whose clients included the

    JHSPH Institute for Global Tobacco Control, the World Health Organization, and the U.K.

    Department for International Development, the United Nations Childrens Fund and the

    University of Western Sydney, Australia. His professional career has included long-term

    employment with the World Health Organization (18 years in the Western Pacific Region where

    he served as a Technical Adviser on Air Pollution Control to the Republic of Korea from 1984 to

    1987; Regional Adviser in Environmental Health from 1988-2002; and, the Regional Focal Point

    for Tobacco Control from 1998-2002), the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (12 years

  • 15

    working in air pollution control) and the West Virginia Air Pollution Control Commission (4

    years). He has broad-based public health and environment experience in the United States and

    in Asia and the Pacific covering a range of technical disciplines, including tobacco control, air

    and water pollution control, chemical safety and hazardous waste management, and health

    promotion. Mr. Tamplin has an MS degree in Engineering (with an emphasis on environmental

    pollution control) from West Virginia University (1965); and, a BS degree in Industrial

    Engineering, also from West Virginia University (1964).

    Institute for Global Tobacco Control Program Staff

    Ayodeji Awopegba, DMD, MPH

    Ayodeji Awopegba provides support for the Institute's online tobacco control training programs,

    helping to create a platform for communication between IGTC and participants, and assists with

    other research projects. Dr. Awopegba worked as a research assistant at the Institute during his

    MPH program. He helped develop a surveillance system for tobacco packaging and labeling in

    the 14 Bloomberg Initiative countries, offered methodological and logistical support for the

    project, and provided research on tobacco legislation. He previously worked as a dental officer

    for federal and state hospitals in Nigeria. Dr. Awopegba received his dental degree and a year of

    clinical training from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and his Master of Public Health.

    Chaz Breeden, MBA

    Chaz Breeden tracks and oversees the Institute's overall budget and helps forecast and plan for

    future project costs. Mr. Breeden worked in the finance department for Health, Behavior, and

    Society for three years before moving to IGTC. He completed his MBA at University of Baltimore,

    and his Bachelor in Business Administration and Management at Towson University.

    Jennifer Brown, MPH

    Jennifer Brown helps manage and coordinate multi-site data coordination, supporting a

    surveillance project on tobacco product packaging in 14 countries. In this capacity, she is

    responsible for communication with international tobacco control partner agencies, training in-

    country field staff on the research protocol and assisting with the dissemination of research

    results. Ms. Brown previously held an internship in the international grants unit at the Campaign

    for Tobacco-free Kids. She also has experience conducting research on counterfeit medicines in

    Thailand. Ms. Brown holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and communication from the

    University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Master of Public Health degree from the University

    Of North Carolina Gillings School Of Public Health

    Elaine De Leon, MHS

    Elaine De Leon currently works on a tobacco cessation intervention that leverages Mondays as a

    day to quit or recommit to quitting smoking as part of the Institutes collaboration with the

    Monday Campaigns. Her past projects include a systematic review regarding non-cigarette

    tobacco dependence followed by a review of periodic messaging interventions. She previously

    worked for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in Rockville, MD

  • 16

    with the Office of Policy, Planning, and Innovation as well as the Office of Behavioral Health

    Equity. Ms. De Leon is an MHS graduate of the Department of Health, Behavior, and Society at

    the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Prior to her time at JHSPH, Ms. De Leon

    received a B.A. in Human Biology from Stanford University where she graduated with honors.

    Ashley Grant, MPH

    Ashley Grants work at the Institute focuses on projects and data analyses related to

    international tobacco control policies, secondhand smoke (SHS) monitoring, the role of social

    media in tobacco policy change, and SHS exposure and risk perception among flight attendants

    in collaboration with the Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute (FAMRI) Center of

    Excellence at Johns Hopkins. She previously worked as data manager and coordinator in the

    clinical laboratories at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston, MA, and as a graduate student

    she designed and implemented a study on tuberculosis in an indigenous population in Panam

    with Tufts University and the Department of Medicine at the Universidad de Panam. Ms. Grant

    received a B.S. in Health Policy and Management from Providence College, and a Master of

    Public Health degree in Global Health from Tufts University School of Medicine.

    Melinda Hawes, BA

    Melinda Hawes provides support to the director of the Institute, assisting with day-to-day

    management, travel and meetings, and Innovations in Global Tobacco Control lectures. She also

    assists with logistics for Leadership and Certificate Programs at the Institute and the Tobacco

    Packaging Surveillance System project.

    Asim Khan, MA

    Asim Khan is responsible for developing and implementing communication strategies to

    effectively disseminate the work of the institute through multiple channels, including the web

    and electronic media. He is also involved in creating multimedia content and design projects for

    IGTC. Mr. Khan holds a Master of Arts in Media Design/Publications Design from the University

    of Baltimore, and a Bachelor of Sociology from McDaniel College. He previously worked as a

    Marketing Production Specialist for American Postal Workers Union Health Plan in Glen Burnie.

    Laura Kroart, BA

    Laura Kroart is a project assistant who provides technology, writing and data management

    support to IGTC research project managers. She is currently assisting on a tobacco product

    packaging surveillance system operating across 14 countries. Previously, she was an intern with

    the Immigrant Service Providers Group/Health in Somerville, Massachusetts, where she

    completed a research study on immigrant health and vaccination access. Ms. Kroart received her

    Bachelor of Arts in American Studies and Community Health from Tufts University in 2012.

    Yasmeen Long, MA

    Yasmeen Long is responsible for managing the annual Global Tobacco Control Leadership

    Program, the Certificate Program in Global Tobacco Control, and the regional and in-country

    leadership programs, all of which aim to build the capacity of tobacco control leaders and

    researchers in low- and middle-income countries. Ms. Longs previous work includes managing

  • 17

    clinical research studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Bloomberg School of

    Public Health in the following areas: HIV/AIDS prevention, health promotion, and chronic

    diseases. She has also provided technical expertise in program monitoring and evaluation for

    health behavior and biomedical research at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General

    Hospital. Yasmeen received her B.S. degree in Health Sciences from Howard University and she

    holds a M.A. in Womens Health/Sociology from Suffolk University

    Rebecca Shillenn, BA

    Rebecca Shillenn is responsible for creating and publishing web-based content for the Institute

    for Global Tobacco Control. She supports all of IGTCs websites, social media and electronic

    communications, and assists with constituent relations and special events, including lecture

    series, workshops and IGTC exhibits at conferences. Ms. Shillenn has a Bachelor of Arts in Print

    Journalism from American University, and has worked in communications and marketing at

    Lehigh University and Rodale Inc. publishing in Pennsylvania.

    Andrea Soong, MPH

    Andrea Soong is currently involved in two projects using ecological momentary assessment

    (EMA) methodologies, as well projects involving secondhand smoke exposure in major

    international airports. She previously worked for the Office of Minority Health Resource Center

    (OMHRC) in Rockville, MD, before returning to graduate school. Ms. Soong has experience

    working with low-literacy and limited English proficiency populations in the U.S., and became

    interested in international health and tobacco control in 2012. She also interned long-term at

    Planned Parenthood, working primarily with Spanish-speaking patients in the family planning

    and prenatal clinic. She received a BA in Womens Studies and Spanish from the University of

    Michigan in 2008, and her MPH from Johns Hopkins in Health Education and Health

    Communication in 2012.

    Mark Spires, MPH

    Mark Spires assists in providing technical assistance for the Global Health Partnerships grant

    portfolio. In this capacity, he works with 31 grantees in cancer prevention and tobacco control

    to build their expertise in program monitoring and evaluation. Mr. Spires is also the

    Communications Coordinator for a project that aims to develop a method to evaluate the

    strength of tobacco control in 7 provinces in China, and to improve tobacco control capabilities

    at this level through provincial specific intervention activities. Mr. Spires received a B.A. in

    International Cultural Studies from Brigham Young University Hawaii, and holds a Master of

    Public Health degree in Global Health from Brigham Young University.

    Ashley Waith, MBA

    Ashley Waith is the first point of contact at IGTC and is responsible for administrative tasks that

    support the research team. She is a 2012 MBA graduate from the University of Baltimore, and

    received her undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Stevenson University.

    Carmen Washington, MPH, MSW

  • 18

    Carmen Washington is supporting knowledge generation for the Institutes Bloomberg Initiative.

    She is leading the development of a surveillance system for tobacco product packaging in

    fourteen countries. In this capacity she is responsible for the development, implementation, and

    management of all data collection and maintenance, and collaborative communication with

    country partners. Prior to IGTC she worked as an Evaluation Specialist at the University of Illinois

    at Chicago, for the CDCs Communities Putting Prevention to Work grant, evaluating the City of

    Chicagos tobacco policies. She also has experience working in Rwanda and South Africa

    conducting community-based evaluation and research. Ms. Washington holds both Master of

    Public Health and Master of Social Work degrees from the University of Washington.

    Jingyan Yang, MHS

    In her role as Senior Biostatistician, Jingyan Yang, MHS, provides biostatistical support for

    multiple projects at IGTC. Her major responsibilities include data analysis; maintaining and

    documenting different study data systems and databases; merging and cleaning multiple

    datasets on a routine basis; producing data reports for meetings, presentations and manuscripts;

    and writing papers. She also works with project investigators to design and carry out studies

    from a methodological prospective. Ms. Yang earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in health policy

    and management from Hangzhou Normal University in China. She also holds a Master of Health

    Science degree in epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.