Biography

I received my Bachelor of Science degree from URI in 2013 in Interdisciplinary Health Studies with a concentration in Global and Environmental Health and was one of the first students to graduate from the major when it launched.  After URI, I received my Master in Public Health degree in Epidemiology from the Boston University School of Public Health in 2016 concentrating in infectious disease epidemiology.

After obtaining my MPH in 2016, I was hired as an Epidemiologist I and later promoted to an Epidemiologist II in the Center for HIV Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Evaluation at the Maryland Department of Health.  In this role, I was responsible for a wide range of surveillance and epidemiological activities including data processing, cleaning, analysis and report writing.  In November 2022, I was promoted to Deputy Chief of the Center where I took over responsibility for planning, directing, and administering Maryland’s federally funded HIV/AIDS surveillance program, which included supervising a team of 12 epidemiologists and surveillance staff responsible for conducting surveillance activities for HIV/AIDS across Maryland.  More recently, following an internal reorganization, I was named the Manager of the newly formed Case Surveillance Division within the Center for Informatics at the Maryland Department of Health, which is responsible for conducting surveillance activities for HIV, AIDS, and all reportable sexually transmitted diseases (STIs) throughout Maryland.

As one of the first students to graduate from the degree program that would eventually transform into the Public Health major, I am amazed at how much the major has grown since my time at URI.  Had URI had a Master of Public Health (MPH) program when I was an undergraduate student, I would have loved to stay and pursue my graduate education at URI as well.  When I was first offered to act as a mentor for the new MPH program, I jumped at the chance as I believe it is important for current public health professionals working in the field to help train and inspire the next generation of students who may be thinking about pursuing a career in public health.  So far, it has been great getting the chance to meet this first cohort of MPH students, and I look forward to working closely with them in the Spring semester.