Leigh Cash
Leigh Cash, a DrPH student in Environmental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, has been awarded PACER's first DHS/Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Fellowship. Leigh has a Master of Environmental Management from Yale University and Bachelor of Science in Environmental Health from the University of Georgia. She has written a law on the posting of notification for the indoor use of pesticides in public buildings and worked on enhancing environmental, health, and safety programs for Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems. At the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation and Office of Radiation and Indoor Air, she worked on improving compliance and performance for a variety of industry sectors and developed strategies to reduce exposure to indoor air pollutants. Leigh has also worked for the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in their Biosafety Level 3 CDC Select Agent Registered Laboratory, as a policy advisor for the California Laboratory Emergency Response Network project, and most recently on all-hazards preparedness for the Town of New Canaan, CT. She is interested risk and decision modeling/analysis applied to CBRNE threats and emergency preparedness. Her advisor is Dr. Patrick Breysse.
Bryan Christensen
Bryan E. Christensen is a Ph.D. candidate in environmental health engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences. Bryan recently spent two years at Edgewood Chemical Biological Center with the Aerosol Sciences Team (Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD) working on his dissertation research. His primary focus there was method development for the generation and sampling of viral aerosols, the methods of which are currently being applied to sampling for airborne influenza in the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital. In addition to his bioaerosol research, Bryan has studied both the nanoparticle distribution and particle fluorescence of diesel exhaust. He has also completed two certifications, one in Public Health Preparedness, the other in Risk Sciences & Public Health Policy. Before coming to Johns Hopkins, Bryan earned a Bachelor of Science in biology from Saint Vincent College, followed by a Master of Environmental Pollution Control from the Pennsylvania State University. Ultimately, Bryan would like to apply his skills in exposure/risk assessment to preparedness and response for airborne infectious agents.
Sharon Nappier
Sharon Nappier is an environmental microbiologist whose primary research focuses on the fate and transport of infectious agents in the environment, microbial exposure assessment, and public health risks associated with the introduction of a non-native oyster species into the Chesapeake Bay. Ms. Nappier has additionally worked to provide and teach microbial detection techniques in South America and Africa. She aims to apply her background in microbiology to evaluate biological detection methods that will rapidly and sensitively identify infectious agents in complex environmental media and clinical samples. Ms. Nappier earned her BS degree in biology and in environmental studies from The George Washington University and her MSPH degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She plans to complete her PhD this spring from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Division of Environmental Health Engineering. During her PhD, she has taken extensive coursework in disaster response and completed two certificate programs, in Humanitarian Assistance and in Risk Sciences and Public Policy.
Scott E. Ornitz
Scott E. Ornitz is a man of inimitable talents. He is a graduate of the studio arts and has studied, with great zeal, the psychological sciences, coupled with a work background that is wide and varied. His training as a minister makes him a well-balanced individual suited for the representation and extemporaneous explanation of any engineering problem. It is this communicability and diversity that has earned him honors in schooling as well as status as an Engineer In Training (EIT). The commitment to transition to the engineering discipline stemmed from the desire to be able to see his engineering visions come to life. As a natural designer he has the unique ability to, with the training he received at FAU, incept ideas that will work and be aesthetically appealing. Mr. Ornitz has recently completed a cross-disciplinary internship that has been accepted at an international engineering conference and will soon be showcased at future conferences. His honors include the receipt of an exclusive admission to a National Science Foundation sponsored program to the membership in several engineering honor’s societies. His passions, tempered with ability to reason, have led him to be cognizant of the need to bring sustainable design to the fore.
Lori Uscher-Pines
Lori Uscher-Pines will complete her doctoral degree in Health Policy and Management at Johns Hopkins University in January 2008. As a doctoral student, she focused on emergency preparedness and response, vulnerable populations planning, and pandemic influenza. Her dissertation tracked the health and healthcare utilization impacts of displacement following disaster. In addition to her academic studies in emergency preparedness, Uscher-Pines coordinates the public health preparedness directors of the states in the Mid-Atlantic in order to support regional planning efforts. She has also worked at the New Jersey and Philadelphia Health Departments on projects related to college/university planning for pandemic influenza, emergency hotline operations, and preparedness for community based organizations serving vulnerable populations. She plans to pursue a career in academics.
LaKaisha T. Yarber LaKaisha T. Yarber is a doctorate of public health candidate at Morgan State University School of Community Health and Policy who is committed to equipping special populations with knowledge and skills needed to make healthy decisions. In the summer of 2007, LaKaisha joined forces with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as a recipient of the DHS Minority Serving Institutions Summer Research Team Fellowship. During her tenure, she strengthened the psychometric properties of the Special Populations Responses to Emergent Threats (SPRET) survey instrument, a tool used to assess low income minorities’ preparedness behavior before, during and after Hurricane Isabel and the 2002 tornado that devastated LaPlata , Maryland . Her current research effort examines the relationship between trust in local public health systems on disaster preparedness among economically disadvantaged minorities. Prior to enrolling in Morgan, LaKaisha attended the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) where she received a BS in Biology and a MS in Health Sciences. During her masters training, she focused on health and health care of developmentally delayed and geriatric psyche populations. Upon leaving UCA, she became a certified health education specialist. LaKaisha T. Yarber is dedicated to breaking the barriers affecting disaster preparedness by aspiring to empower vulnerable populations to become better prepared for all hazards through increased awareness, research and cross-cultural dialog. Furthermore, she vows to be the voice for special populations that oftentimes go unheard in the event of a disaster.