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Ashley Wells, MPH, CHES
President
Ashley Wells serves as the program
administrator for the students in the Master of Public Health program and the
Doctor of Public Health program at The University of Georgia. She is
responsible for admissions, recruitment, program development and the
internship program. In addition, Mrs. Wells serves on the college
accreditation committee and is the liaison with the Council on Education
for Public Health (CEPH). Mrs. Wells holds bachelors degree in Political
Science from UGA and an MPH degree in Health Promotion and Behavior from
UGA. She is a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES). Ashley's
interest in health education stems from her experience as a peer health
educator at UGA and from her previous experience at CDC in the Division of
STD Prevention. She looks to continue her efforts in furthering the health
education profession by teaching undergraduate public health students in
the coming fall semester.
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Lynn Woodhouse, Ed.D, MPH, CHES President-Elect
Dr.
Woodhouse’s professional responsibilities and
activities emphasize public health workforce development, specifically the
development of community-based practitioners. Beginning in fall 2007 she
accepted the position of Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Assessment and
Accreditation and Professor of Community Health at the Jiann-Ping
Hsu College of Public Health at Georgia Southern University. From 1987 to
2007 she was the director of the East Stroudsburg University of PA Council
on Education for Public Health (CEPH) accredited MPH program in community
health practice and the former director of the undergraduate community
health education program (1987-1995). Dr. Woodhouse’s
research areas of expertise include mixed method projects designed to
illuminate risks to vulnerable populations and support health equity. She
teaches research methods, both qualitative and quantitative, social
behavioral science theory, and applied research. Her professional service
includes two three year terms on the Board of Councilors of the Council on
Education for Public Health (CEPH). She is a member of the APHA Governing
Council, the APHA Education Board, a board member of the Council of
Accredited MPH Programs (CAMP), and in multiple volunteer/elected positions
with Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) including Vice President
and Trustee of Research and Ethics, and serves on the Health Disparity
Elimination Research Agenda Committee. She is currently the President-Elect
of GFPHE. Dr. Woodhouse has received multiple awards for her work in public
health education. She was awarded the 2006 APHA PHEHP Distinguished Career
Award and the 2006 SOPHE Trophy. In 2007 she received a distinguished
alumna award from the University
of Cincinnati. She is
a fellow of the Society for Applied Anthropology and a fellow of the Royal
Institute of Public Health. She is a member of Delta Omega, the public
health leadership honorary society, Delta Omicron, the leadership honor
society and Phi Kappa Phi, the academic honor society.
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Sarah
J. Olson, MS, CHES
Immediate Past President
Sarah
Olson is the immediate GFPHE Past President and was the President in
2006-7. She is a 15-year+ national SOPHE member and was previously the
president of the Texas SOPHE chapter before moving to Georgia.
Sarah has over thirty-five year’s experience in health promotion and
disease/injury prevention, training, and leadership. She earned her
Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from Tulane University
and is a Certified Health Education Specialist. She was with the Texas
Department of Health for almost 12 years as a health educator, including
serving as the Director of the Public Health Promotion Division, and then
was the Director of both the Health Education and Disease Management
Divisions for a large HMO in Texas. In 1998, Sarah joined the Injury Center
at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.
In June 2005, she moved to the new Division of Partnerships and
Strategic Alliances in the National
Center for Health
Marketing at CDC. She is the author of a number of health promotion
materials and is a sought-after national speaker on a variety of topics,
including building effective partnerships. She is an Associate Editor for SOPHE’s Health Promotion Practice, writing the regular
“Book and Media Review” column. Sarah enjoys competitive ballroom dancing
and wildlife and landscape photography.
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Pat Thomas, MPH, CHES
Treasurer
I am originally from Alabama
and came to Atlanta to work on my Masters in
Clinical Microbiology, and it resulted in working for both the State of Georgia as a Laboratory Scientist and St. Joseph’s Hospital
for 18 years. During that time, I obtained my Masters degree in Public
Health with a concentration in Health Education from Emory University.
During the Masters program, I became a member of GFPHE. I finished my
degree in 1993 while I was still working for the state. In 2001, I started
working for CDC in the Division of Laboratory System and also became
involved with a working group at CDC geared toward Health Educators and
Health Communicators (PHEP-Net). I served as chairman of PHEP-Net in 2004.
My involvement with GFPHE has included serving as secretary several years
ago and involved in obtaining continuing education credit for their
programs.
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Joseph Ralph, MPH, CHES, CHES
Secretary
Joseph
Ralph joined the Steps Program in the Division of Adult and Community
Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in early September
as a public health advisor with Northrop Grumman. He is part of the Program
Services and Evaluation Team and is working on several issues related to
program development and sustainability. He worked in a similar capacity
with the National Fruit and Vegetable Program in the Division of Nutrition,
Physical Activity, and Obesity at the CDC. Over the past four years, his
professional endeavors have focused on chronic disease issues related to
obesity, physical activity, nutrition, and tobacco use. Before joining the
CDC, he worked as a health educator at the Memphis and Shelby County Health
Department. Joe received his Bachelor of Science and Masters in Public
Health from the University
of Tennessee.
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Melissa (Moose) Alperin, MPH,
CHES
Advisor
Moose is a Senior Faculty Associate in
the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education at the Rollins
School of Public Health, Emory
University . She is also the Coordinator and Co-PI of the Emory
Center for Public Health Preparedness, a CDC-funded training center that
addresses preparedness training needs for the public health workforce.
Moose holds a MPH degree in Health Promotion and Education. She is the
author of Using Epi
Info: A Step By Step Guide and has taught Epi
Info to public health professionals throughout the United States , the Caribbean, Mexico
, Panama , and Thailand
. Moose is active in state and national professional organizations. On
the personal side, Moose loves a good murder mystery and is aunt to the
world's cutest kids.
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Nan Smith, MPH, CHES
Advocacy Committee
Chair
I am actually one of those persons who
was born and raised in Georgia,
but not Atlanta . My family moved to Covington, GA
when I was ten years old. Young Harris Junior College
and North Georgia College
were the places I spent my college career. After graduating from Charity Hospital 's School of Medical
Technology , I remained in New Orleans
for eight years and then went to Tunis
, Tunisia
where I worked and taught on board the Hospital Ship HOPE. I returned to Georgia and
began working in the chemistry laboratory at Emory University Hospital
Laboratory, where I also lead medical technology students' on-the-bench
training.
While at Emory, I took advantage of the
Tuition Reimbursement Program and completed the MPH Program in 1998.
Initially I was uncertain as to which track I would choose, but within a
couple of months, I knew Health Education would be my direction, and I
never regretted that decision. I finally made a transition from the
hospital to the United Way,
where I worked on the Information and Referral Line until January of 2004
when I retired.
My path in Health Education is rather
non traditional. Perhaps I went to graduate school to become a volunteer… I
have been on the Advocacy Committee of GFPHE for many, many years. Through
this connection, I also served on the Georgia Alliance for Tobacco
Prevention which, along with other organizations, helped to get the Clean
Indoor Act passed. I am also a member and Secretary to the Board of
Trustees of Atlanta Unity Church. I enjoy movies, cooking, enjoying eating
out occasionally, yoga, traveling, plays, symphony and my friends. I plan
to do more reading, genealogy research, and start playing the piano again.
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Allison Leppke, MPH, CHES
Continuing
Education Committee Chair
Allison Leppke received her BS in
Physiology from the University of California at San Diego
and MPH in Health Education and Health Promotion from the Rollins School of
Public Health, Emory
University.
Allison has worked in various positions as an instructional designer,
instructor, evaluator, and project coordinator at the RSPH over the past
four years and most recently worked as the Project Coordinator for the Emory Center for AIDS Research.
Allison recently began a position as a curriculum designer
for the Tobacco Technical Assistance Consortium (TTAC) at the Rollins
School of Public Health and started as a full time student at the Nell
Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory. Allison has served as the
continuing education coordinator for GFPHE since 2006.
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Cam Escoffery,
PhD, MPH, CHES
Membership Committee Chair
Cam Escoffery
is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences
and Health Education of the Rollins School of Public Health. Her teaching
and work involve public health training, community assessment and evaluation
and cancer control, particularly tobacco control. She loves reading and
spending time with her husband, Rich, and her children Michael (8) and
Sarah (3).
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David Ramsey, MPH, CHES
Strategic Planning
Committee Chair
Dave Ramsey retired
from the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity at CDC in
2004, and he continues to consult with CDC on a part -time basis. He is a
Past President of SOPHE and GFPHE. A Charter member of GFPHE, David has
served this organization in several capacities, including President. He
remains active in many health education organizations and has received
multiple awards for his service over the years. Dave lives with his wife in the country
and enjoys raising goats!
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Cassondra Kennedy Hepburn, MSHSE
Executive Director
Cassondra received her BA degree in Psychology/Human
Resources from Eckerd
College. After
working in a shelter for runaways, she decided to focus on prevention and
health education. She graduated from the University of Florida
with a Master of Science in Health Science Education in 1988.
Cassondra spent the bulk of her health education career
working in the Community Health Promotion Department of Gwinnett Hospital
System. She coordinated employee health promotion programs for hospital
system employees as well as in various community and corporate settings.
Programs included stress management, smoking cessation, exercise incentive,
weight management and other lifestyle change initiatives. Behavior
change-related health promotion is her professional focus.
Cassondra became the Executive Director of GFPHE after
founder and longtime director Barbara Wilkes retired. GFPHE was a strong organization
with a membership of over 125 health educators in various health education
settings when she stepped down in 2000 for a “sabbatical” to focus on her
growing family.
Cassondra has been married for 22 years to Andy Hepburn who
she met at Eckerd
College. They live in
Alpharetta and have three very active children—Sam (15), Ben (11) and Abby
(7)--who keep her busy with school, skateboarding, theater, dance, piano & guitar activities. Cassondra likes to
exercise, and she participated in the 2002 Avon
3-Day Breast Cancer walk—an incredible experience! Her longtime hobby is
photography and newest passion is scrapbooking.
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