PMR/F Biographies

Tolu Adebanjo, M.D., M.P.H.

Preventive Medicine Resident

Learning goal for the year: I want to learn more about the practice of public health, including the collaboration with healthcare delivery systems and community and advocacy organizations, and build upon my policy development, program evaluation, and leadership skills.
As an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer, I have participated in diverse public health experiences, including implementing a pneumococcal carriage study, analyzing pneumococcal vaccine failures in children, investigating an invasive group A Streptococcus outbreak among persons experiencing homelessness, and developing guidance for infants with possible congenital Zika virus infection. During my pediatric residency, I was able to pursue my public health interests – child health and health disparities – while working in an HIV clinic in Swaziland. I participated in patient quality and safety initiatives with the hospital administration, and I saw firsthand how public health and healthcare systems intertwine. As a medical student, I obtained my M.P.H. to develop a foundation in the principles of public health. I focused my coursework in program development and evaluation, and I collaborated with the local school district to develop a SMART Board based nutrition curriculum.

Anindita Nanda Issa, M.D.

Preventive Medicine Fellow

Learning goal for the year: I would love to solidify my foundation in biostatistics with coursework and enhance my practical experience with program evaluation, policy development, and grant writing skills.
After earning my M.D. at the Medical College of Virginia in 2007, I completed an Anatomic Pathology residency at Emory University followed by a Forensic Pathology fellowship at the Fulton County Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. After taking a personal sabbatical to raise my children, I decided to redirect my career to public health. I worked in a local medical clinic as the director of preventive medicine on projects to maximize preventive medical care for patients with chronic diseases. In the Fulton County health department, I worked on a project to enhance diabetes prevention education in high school students via a mobile app. During my Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) assignment at CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health, I evaluated a disaster-related mortality system in Oklahoma, conducted Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response for a Zika preparedness in the United States Virgin Islands, and worked on the 2017 hurricane response in the Emergency Operations Center. Although I have a significant background in disaster mortality surveillance and expertise in medicolegal death investigation, I have a wide breadth of interests in public health and am looking forward to new experiences as a preventive medicine fellow.

LT Neil Chandra Murthy, M.D., M.P.H., M.S.J.

Preventive Medicine Resident

Learning goal for the year: I hope to obtain practical skills in improving population heath by learning how to strategically build multisectoral partnerships, engage with community leaders, effectively communicate to lay audiences through the media, critically evaluate health trends, conduct timely needs assessments, and respond to infectious and chronic disease health threats.
As an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officer with CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD), Immunization Services Division, I evaluate trends in vaccination coverage and work with immunization programs across the nation. During my time in EIS, I investigated a mumps outbreak in Seattle, WA, I and participated in the CDC Zika virus response. Prior to EIS, I completed my graduate studies in journalism, where I learned how to effectively communicate public health issues through health and science reporting. During public health and medical school, I helped conduct a digitized disease surveillance project at the world’s largest mass gathering (2013 Kumbh Mela, India). I also helped develop World Health Organization guidelines on protection from chemical and aerial attacks for use among Syrian civilians. During my intern year in emergency medicine, I developed tabletop exercises to train local health departments in North Carolina on how to detect and respond to an incident case of Ebola. I am passionate about population health, and I now look forward to completing the CDC Preventive Medicine Residency.

Wollelaw Agmas, M.D., M.A.S.

Preventive Medicine Fellow

Assigned to Denver Health, Denver, CO

I finished medical school and an internship at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. After I completed my internship, I was a practicing physician for about three years. My interest in public health sparked after I played a role in implementing a national HIV care and support program at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Since moving to the United States, I have worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of California San Diego, Center for AIDS Research (UCSD CFAR). I look forward to gaining the knowledge and experience of project management, policy, and leadership skills from the Preventive Medicine Fellowship.

Ahmed Kassem, MBBCh, M.P.H., Ph.D.

Preventive Medicine Fellow

Assigned to the Global Immunization Division, Center for Global Health, CDC, Atlanta, GA

Working as a physician, I quickly realized that I could be more effective in solving health problems if I integrated a public health approach with my clinical background. Subsequently, I earned a master’s degree with a focus on global health and a doctoral degree with a focus on psychiatric epidemiology. Throughout my career, I gained experience in a wide variety of subject areas including infectious diseases, chronic conditions, and injury prevention. Further, my Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) field assignment provided me a with first-hand understanding of how to utilize epidemiology to address real-world public health problems. As an aspiring medical epidemiologist, I hope to serve in a capacity that can inform policy, improve services, and ultimately reduce burden of disease in the United States and globally. To become a well-rounded medical epidemiologist, I believe that the Preventive Medicine Fellowship will help me acquire the policy and program experience needed for population health improvement.

Emily W. Lankau, D.V.M., Ph.D.

Preventive Medicine Fellow

Assigned to the National Wildlife Health Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Madison, WI

When I was a veterinary student, the idea of ‘One Health’ seemed so simple in principle, but working as a veterinary epidemiologist has taught me that the complexities of government policies and regulations can make effectively practicing one medicine incredibly challenging. This is a lesson I first learned as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer responding to disease events associated with international trade and travel with CDC’s Division of Global Migration and Quarantine. Since completing the EIS program, I have worked as a scientific consultant helping clients address health concerns at the human-wildlife interface. I am excited to be returning to government service as a Preventive Medicine Fellow to obtain invaluable training in leadership, program management, and health policy that will enhance my ability to facilitate communication and collaboration between the human and wildlife health communities.

Lillianne Lewis, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.A.P.

Preventive Medicine Fellow

Assigned to the Gwinnett County, Newton County, and Rockdale County Health Departments, Atlanta, GA

My goal is to serve my community as a public health physician. Early on in my training, I appreciated the multiple challenges involved in efforts to optimize health and wellness. Understanding the significance of the relationship between public health and clinical medicine during my medical studies at Duke University, I completed my M.P.H. at UNC-Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health with a concentration in maternal and child health and an Interdisciplinary Certificate in Health Disparities.  After my community pediatrics residency, I engaged in an immersive Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) experience where I not only learned about epidemiology through the lens of asthma studies, but I also gained insights as a public health responder during the Zika virus response. I am excited to utilize my clinical experiences and physician insights to inform public health action through the Preventive Medicine Fellowship (PMF). With the addition of program, policy, and administrative perspectives, PMF will enhance my ability to serve and advocate for patients and communities.

Chidi Obasi, M.B.B.S., M.S., Ph.D.

Preventive Medicine Fellow

Assigned to the Sabin Vaccine Institute, Washington, D.C.

My interest in preventive medicine stems from my medical education in communities where health care focused on prevention rather than cure, and communities rather than individuals. These experiences sustained my diverse clinical and research experiences in both developed and developing countries; and defined my passion for disease surveillance, public health leadership and policy initiatives. During my three-year tenure as a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-sponsored Postdoctoral Primary Care Research Fellow, I was involved in research focused on developing a patient-oriented instrument – the Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptom Survey-11 (WURSS-11). This instrument evaluates the severity of symptoms of acute respiratory illness and assess the impact on the quality of life of individuals with acute respiratory illness. The Preventive Medicine Fellowship will enhance my educational background and round out my career experience. My medical education began in community medicine and primary health care and subsequently evolved into thorough interdisciplinary commitments in population health including disease prevention and epidemiology.

Runa Gokhale, M.D.

Preventive Medicine Resident

Assigned to DeKalb County Board of Health, Decatur, GA

Runa Gokhale joined CDC in 2014 as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer with the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention. During her tenure there, she worked with complex survey data from the Medical Monitoring Project and served on the Ebola response team in Nigeria. Her most recent position prior to joining CDC was as a hospitalist at the Atlanta VA Medical Center. Runa has extensive international experience, including work in HIV prevention outreach in Mumbai, India (2002), a clinical rotation in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (2009), and from 2010-2011 a clinical/research fellowship with University of North Carolina Project-Malawi (UNC Project) in Lilongwe, Malawi. While there, she led two research projects on HIV/Tuberculosis (TB) co-infection and served as a medical advisor to the Lighthouse Clinic and Martin Preuss Center, the two largest HIV clinics in Lilongwe. Runa received a B.A. in international relations from Brown University in 2002, an M.D. from Jefferson Medical College in 2007, and completed her internal medicine residency at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, in 2010. She is licensed by the Georgia Composite Medical Board and is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine.

Jefferson Jones, M.P.H.

Preventive Medicine Fellow

Assigned to Waterborne Disease Prevention Branch, Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, CDC, Atlanta, GA
Jefferson Jones is a Preventive Medicine Fellow with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He received his Bachelor of Science in biomedical engineering at Northwestern University, where he also earned a Masters of Public Health and Medical Degree. He completed the CDC Experience Applied Epidemiology Fellowship in the Division of Tuberculosis Elimination and a residency in pediatric medicine at the University of California San Diego. He served as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer in Arizona. He has been involved in the prevention and control of epidemics including Ebola, measles, dengue, Zika, tuberculosis, HIV, and Valley Fever.

Misha Robyn, D.V.M., M.P.H., D.A.C.V.P.M.

Preventive Medicine Fellow

Assigned to Enteric Zoonoses Activity, Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases (DFWED) and One Health Office, CDC, Atlanta, GA

I first joined CDC as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) in 2014 and enjoyed gaining breadth in public health activities at the New York State Department of Health, including working in healthcare-associated infections, hepatitis A, Q fever. I was deployed twice to Liberia for CDC’s Ebola response in both the Epidemiology and Infection Control teams. I earned my Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and Masters in Public Health degrees at Tufts University. I also earned a Certificate in International Veterinary Medicine working on food hygiene in Nepal and Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Indonesia. After veterinary school, I worked in food safety for the United States Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, as a Supervisory Public Health Veterinarian and an Enforcement, Investigation, Analysis Officer before receiving a promotion to a Frontline Supervisor covering over 40 regulated facilities in Brooklyn and Queens, New York. I followed up on my previous work in Indonesia as a temporary food safety consultant with the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization. I am currently learning a great deal about public health prevention with CDC’s Preventive Medicine Fellowship in the Enteric Zoonoses Activity in the Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases, working with other federal partners and industry to prevent enteric diseases associated with contact with animals.

Brenna VanFrank, M.D., M.S.P.H.

Preventive Medicine Resident

Assigned to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Strong4Life, Atlanta, GA

Brenna VanFrank is a pediatrician, recent graduate of the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS, class of 2014), and current preventive medicine resident. She has particular interest in the integration of health care and public health and in the prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases. During her time as an EIS Officer, Dr. VanFrank worked in CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity where she focused on obesity prevention through nutrition environment interventions. Dr. VanFrank received her M.S.P.H. from the University of Utah, her M.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and completed her pediatrics training at the University of New Mexico.

Jessica Adam, MD, MPH

Class of 2015 – 2016 Preventive Medicine Fellow (PMF)
Assigned to the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Atlanta, GA

I earned my MPH in medical school at George Washington University. Since internal medicine residency, I have performed medical evaluations for asylum seekers, work I have found deeply humbling. After my chief resident year I worked with Medecins Sans Frontieres in Uzbekistan, on multi-drug resistant TB and later, in Zimbabwe, where I was responsible for TB activities in a project serving over 5,000 HIV+ patients. In between, I obtained my Diploma in Tropical Medicine, strengthening my interest in diseases impacting resource-poor settings. I spent two years developing a hospitalist program in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. As an EIS officer assigned to the County of San Diego I participated in outbreaks involving dengue, bovine TB, infections associated with tattoos and investigations involving Mexican-style soft cheese; deployment to Sierra Leone for Ebola was another highlight. I hope to augment these experiences during Preventive Medicine Fellowship and gain valuable programmatic and policy experience.

Almea Matanock, MD

Class of 2015 – 2017 Preventive Medicine Resident (PMR)
Assigned to the University of New Mexico – Preventive Medicine Residency and New Mexico State Health Department, Albuquerque, NM

Entering medical school, I did not understand what a career in public health meant. My goals were and still are to provide essential services: access to care even for people separated by geography, culture, or class; preventive care; advocacy; and the inclusion of all aspects of patients’ environment into their health. Along the way several experiences lead me towards public health; influenced by a brief time as a nutritionist for WIC before starting medical school, more clearly defined by working in Zambia to establish early infant diagnosis of HIV, seen through the challenges faced by pediatric patients and their families both in the US and abroad, and expanded in scope and type of work by EIS. I am looking forward to gaining a better understanding of the practice of public health including the operation of health policy and further experience in analytic methods, program management, and leadership during PMR.

Sarah Rhea, DVM, MPH, PhD

Class of 2015 – 2016 Preventive Medicine Fellow (PMF)
Assigned to the North Carolina Division of Public Health, Raleigh, NC

After graduating with a DVM from Purdue University, I began work as a veterinarian in small animal practice. During veterinary school and especially in practice, I developed an interest in emerging infectious diseases and the intersection of human, animal, and environmental health, or “One Medicine”. This prompted my pursuit of an MPH and PhD in epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where my research focused on the use of emergency department visit data for infectious disease and injury surveillance. For EIS, I was assigned to the North Carolina Division of Public Health where my investigations included Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks at multiple long-term care facilities, hepatitis B transmission at a dialysis facility, and a multi-state cluster of severe Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections. I deployed to Texas in support of contact tracing and data management activities during the Ebola outbreak in Dallas.

Sara Tomczyk, PHN, MSc

Class of 2015 – 2016 Preventive Medicine Fellow (PMF)
Assigned to Minnesota Department of Health, St Paul, MN

My career path has been a series of non-traditional experiences that have led me to a strong interest in applied epidemiology and evidence-based health policy. I first worked in refugee clinical care and later moved to Ethiopia where I worked in the field of neglected tropical diseases for several years. I then pursued studies in epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and worked as a research fellow at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Belgium. As an EIS officer, I have worked on evaluation projects related to respiratory surveillance, pneumococcal conjugate vaccines, antibiotic resistance and appropriate antibiotic use in addition to various investigations including MERS-CoV in Saudi Arabia, a pneumonia cluster among unaccompanied minors at US border shelters, and the Ebola response in Guinea. I look forward to bridging these experiences and taking my career path to a new level with the PMF leadership opportunity.