Center Team
Rocky Mountains & High Plains Center for Emergency Public Health
Led by a team of experienced faculty and staff, The Center is engaged in research and practice to help support stronger and more prepared local, state, national, and global health departments, agencies, and ministries of health.
Leadership
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Kimberley Shoaf, DrPH, MPH Dr. Kimberley Shoaf is a Professor in the Division of Public Health and the Executive Director of the Rocky Mountains & High Plain Center for Emergency Public Health. She has more than 30 years of experience in public health practice including experience as a health educator, trainer, and researcher. She has particular expertise in program planning and evaluation applicable to both general public health practice and emergency public health. She has worked with more than 50 local health departments in preparing for responding to disasters through training, assessments, and exercises as well as in writing of plans. She has both a research and an educational focus on workforce development within public health and primary care. Dr. Shoaf received her Master of Public Health degree in Population and Family Health and a DrPH in Community Health Sciences from the Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles. |
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Elaine Scallan Walter, PhD, MA Dr. Elaine Scallan Walter is a Professor of Epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She is the co-Director of the Region VIII Rocky Mountain Public Health Training Center (RM-PHTC), one of 10 regional public health training centers designated by the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) to provide training to professionals addressing a wide range of public health issues. She is also the co-Director the Colorado Integrated Food Safety Cetner of Excellence one of five Integrated Food Safety Centers of Excellence designated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide training, resources, and consultation to local and state health departments to improve foodborne and enteric disease surveillance and outbreak response. |
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Michelle Seage, PhD, W-EMT Dr. Seage is passionate about building individual and organizational public health emergency preparedness and response capabilities and resilience within the PHEP workforce. She also has direct disaster response experience utilizing ICS. Before working with the Center, she worked for the federal government in resource-limited settings and has expertise in diplomatic and defense-related U.S. foreign policy. |
Affiliated Faculty
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Christina A. Porucznik, PhD, MSPH Dr. Christina A. Porucznik is a Professor in the Division of Public Health. She is a doctorally-trained epidemiologist who served as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the Utah Department of Health before joining the faculty in 2005. She has worked in nonprofit, government, academic, and corporate settings with scientists, engineers, and policy makers. Dr. Porucznik received her Master of Science in Public Health and PHD in Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health.
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James L. VanDerslice, PhD, MSEE Jim VanDerslice, PhD is a Professor in the Division of Public Health. His research focuses on evaluating human exposures to chemical and microbiological hazards in the environment. Several of his studies have examined contaminants in drinking water and foods, and their effects on infants and children. He utilizes Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as a tool to assess spatial patterns in exposures. He has recently become interested in the effects of the built environment on physical activity and obesity, and is using GIS to classify the built environment of SLC neighborhoods using spatial data and aerial imagery. |
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Lindsay Keegan, PhD Lindsay's research answers the question of how transmission dynamics of infectious diseases impact control and elimination efforts. Her research centers on developing and applying novel statistical and dynamical methods to address questions on the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases. Currently she is working on using statistical and mathematical techniques to understand the how pathogens spread in healthcare facilities. In addition, she is working on using dynamical methods to respond to COVID-19. When she’s not doing research, you can find Lindsay in the mountains doing all manner of human-powered sports.
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Lisa H. Gren, PhD, MSPH Lisa Gren, PhD, MSPH is an Associate Professor in the Division of Public Health at the University of Utah. Dr. Gren has earned a BS degree in microbiology, MSPH in Public Health, and PhD in Public Health. She teaches Introduction to Biostatistics (PBHLT 6100) and Public Health Systems and Services (PBHLT 6500). Dr. Gren is the Director for the University of Utah Primary Care Research Network, and Associate Director for the Center for Research on Migration and Refugee Immigration. |
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L. Scott Benson, MD, PhD, MPH Scott Benson, MD, PhD, MPH is an Associate Professor in the Division of Public Health. His interest in global health was fostered by his environmental health research in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. This interest in the overlap between Public Health and the environment prompted him into medicine. He completed medical school, an internship/residency in Internal Medicine as well as a fellowship in Infectious Diseases. During his training, he conducted and participated in research in Ghana, Peru and India. He joined the Divisions of Public Health and Infectious Diseases where where he teaches, continues to work abroad and consults with infectious disease patients and returning travelers in the University Infectious Diseases clinic. |
Staff
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Austin Layton
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Emma Erwin, MSc, MPH, CPH
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Marci Harris, PhD, MPH, MPP
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Megan Petersen, PhD(c), MPH, W-EMT
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Affiliated Members
Steering Committee
Each member of the Steering Committee was chosen to ensure diverse representation from stakeholders in the region with expertise in public health emergency preparedness and response. They will have the opportunity to leverage their individual and collective experience and contacts to support the Center's efforts to meet the needs of State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial (STLT) public health departments throughout the region.
| Mitch Saruwatari, MPH Director, National Emergency Management, Kaiser Permanente, Regional |
| Katie Arrington, MPH Recovery and Resiliency Project Manager, Boulder County, CO |
| Charles Little, DO Medical Director, Mountain Plains Regional Disaster Health Response System, CO |
| Tammy Matt, BSN RN Public Health Nurse, Public Health Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes, Tribal Health Department, MT |
| Representative Montana Public Health Emergency Preparedness, MT |
| Representative North Dakota Department of Health, ND |
| Representative South Dakota Department of Health, SD |
| Annette Newman MS, RN, CCRN Disaster Preparedness Consultant, Utah Hospital Association, UT |
| Leisha Nolen, PhD State Epidemiologist, Utah Department of Health and Human Services, UT |
| Kasey DeLynn Shakespear, MHA, MPH, MA, CERT-SSBB Executive Director, Rural Health Association for Utah, UT |
| Traci Foutz, AWEM Emergency Preparedness & Response Coordinator, Fremont County, WY |
| Sheryl Roub, CPM, MCSE, CPIM Manager, Public Health Preparedness and Response Unit, WY |