2024 ELC Conference Speakers
February 15, 2024 Speaker Biographies by Presentation Session:
Varun Shetty, MD, MBA, MS
Chief State Epidemiologist
Texas Department of State Health Services - Office of the Chief State Epidemiologist
Dr. Varun Shetty is the Chief State Epidemiologist for the Texas Department of State Health Services. In this role, he leads the Chief State Epidemiologist Division, which includes the Center for Health Statistics, and the Disease Surveillance and Epidemiology Section. He provides leadership for a range of public health initiatives in the state including outbreak investigations and response, disease surveillance, data analysis and communication.
Diana Martinez, PhD, MPH
Deputy State Epidemiologist
Texas Department of State Health Services - Office of the Chief State Epidemiologist
Dr. Diana L. Martínez is the Deputy State Epidemiologist and a senior epidemiology subject matter expert at the Texas Department of State Health Services. She has a career in the field of Public Health that spans over 30 years. Dr. Martínez received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras and a Master of Public Health from the University of Texas School of Public Health in San Antonio. She later earned her PhD in Epidemiology, with minors in biostatistics and health services research, from the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston.
In her current role, she has direct oversight of the Disease Surveillance and Epidemiology Section of the Office of the Chief State Epidemiologist. She leads data analysis projects to address relevant public health questions using a crosscutting approach, with the goal of informing policy and leading to actionable public health activities. Before this role, Dr. Martínez was Senior Health Policy Advisor in NYC Mayor’s Office working with the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services. She was City Hall’s senior liaison to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. She was in this role during the emergence of COVID-19 in NYC. Prior to moving to New York, she served as Epidemiology Program Manager and was the lead Epidemiologist for Harris County Public Health in Harris County, Texas. During her 25-year tenure in Harris County Dr. Martinez had a leadership role in major outbreaks and investigations such as the public health responses to Hurricanes Katrina 2005 and Ike 2008, the 2009 H1N1 Influenza virus pandemic, 2014 MERS CoV and Ebola outbreaks, and the 2016 ZIKA virus investigations. She was Adjunct Professor for the University of Texas School Of Public Health and the University Of Houston Clear Lake. She has authored one and co–authored seven peer reviewed articles in the area of infectious disease surveillance and contributed to several MMWR publications. She is interested in using data to answer relevant public health questions with a crosscutting approach and mentoring the next generation of epidemiologist.
Niamh Gray
Education Specialist
https://www.dshs.texas.gov/laboratory-services
Eliza Villarreal
Laboratory Courier Coordinator
Jessica Romano, MPH
Technical Lead
Texas Department of State Health Services – Public Health Informatics and Data Exchange Unit
Prior to her position in the PHID group, Jessica worked as an epidemiologist at the local level and at Texas DSHS. Her experience in health informatics started while she was working as an informatics epidemiologist over in the HIV/STD section in Texas DSHS. Jessica focused on a variety of STD data analysis work that included assisting in the data migration from STD*MIS to THISIS. In March 2020, she joined the Public Health Informatics and Data Exchange team. Jessica’s role over the last couple of years as been the PHID Technical Lead where she oversees and monitor a variety of PHID teams and projects along with working closely with the NEDSS IT team.
Lara Anton
Senior Press Officer
Texas Department of State Health Services - Media Relations
Lara Anton is currently the senior press officer for the Texas Department of State Health Services. Since joining DSHS’s media relations group in 2017, she has covered a variety of disease outbreaks and emergency responses. Lara has conducted media training for all levels of agency leadership and worked closely with the executives on the development of crisis communications messaging.
Prior to joining DSHS, Lara was the communication manager for the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners. In addition to her decade working for the state, Lara has extensive experience in the nonprofit and private sectors. She was the director of communications for a church and spent 15 years in New York, where she worked for two high profile Wall Street firms and an international law firm.
Lara is passionate about community service and has served on the boards of several nonprofits, including as the executive vice president of the Junior League of Northern Westchester and as the chapter president of National Charity League. She will begin her term as chapter president for the Young Men’s Service League in May.
Lara has a Bachelor of Science in Speech Communications from The University of Texas at Austin. She was raised in Austin and moved back when her two children were young to raise them in Austin. She is the proud mother of a current Longhorn and hopes her younger child will choose wisely when deciding where to attend college.
www.linkedin.com/in/lara-moncure-anton
Kenneth Davis, MPH
Manager III
Texas Department of State Health Services - Emerging and Acute Infectious Disease Unit, HCID, Foodborne/Waterborne
Kenneth Davis is a manager for the foodborne, waterborne, and high consequence infectious disease team at DSHS central office. Mr. Davis has been at DSHS for 4 years and began his journey in Texas public health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously to working at the Texas Department of Health, Mr. Davis worked at the Utah Department of Health as an enteric disease epidemiologist for 10 years. Mr. Davis has led multiple outbreak investigations, conducted thousands of case patient interviews, and given presentations at national conferences.
Minda Weldon, PhD
Senior Epidemiologist
Austin Public Health
Minda Weldon is a senior epidemiologist with Austin Public Health. Dr. Weldon received her PhD in epidemiology from the University of California at Davis in 1995. Prior to joining Austin Public Health, she managed the Older Sacramentan’s Health Study at UC Davis, served in the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS ‘95), and was a senior epidemiologist for the Texas Department of State Health Services. Her past work has focused on birth defects, cancer clusters, border health, and environmental epidemiology. Most recently, her focus has been COVID-19, health effects of and public health response to harmful algal blooms, and developing policies and support for staff members to publish and present their work.
Cody Hyde, MPH
Disaster Epidemiologist
Austin Public Health
Eric Almirol
Texas Department of State Health Services - 6/5S
Chelsea Smith, LMSW, LCDC
Behavioral Health Coordinator
Texas Department of State Health Services - PHR 7
Cynthia Williams, MPH, CIC
HAI Epidemiologist
Texas Department of State Health Services - Healthcare Safety Unit
After obtaining her MPH in Epidemiology from The University of Texas School of Public Health, she began working as an Infection Preventionist in healthcare settings in 2015 and obtained her CIC certification in 2017. She joined the Texas Department of State Health Services in March 2021 as an HAI Epidemiologist assigned to Public Health Region 8. Over the years she has conducted multiple infection control assessments in various healthcare facility types and conducted investigations of antimicrobial-resistant organisms and outbreaks in healthcare settings.
Gretchen Rodriguez, MPH, CIC
Lead HAI Epidemiologist
Texas Department of State Health Services - Healthcare Safety Unit
Gretchen Rodriguez serves as a Lead Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) Epidemiologist for the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). Prior to this position, she served as the HAI Epidemiologist for DSHS Public Health (PHR) 8 for 6 years and worked as an infection preventionist for multiple healthcare settings for 4 years. Gretchen has a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Biotechnology from the University of Puerto Rico, a Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Texas School of Public Health, holds a certification in Infection Control (CIC) and will be completing her Doctorate Degree in Public Health within the upcoming year.
Melissa Lebrun, DNP, MPH, APRN, FNP-C, CIC
Epidemiologist
Texas Department of State Health Services - Healthcare Safety Unit, MDRO/AR Data and Research Coordinator
Dr. LeBrun is currently the Unit MDRO/AR Data and Research Coordinator at DSHS in the Healthcare Safety Unit. Dr. LeBrun received her MPH from Dartmouth College and has focused on Antimicrobial Stewardship and Emerging Infectious Diseases. She is an Assistant Professor at Loyola University New Orleans where she teaches Advanced Pharmacotherapeutics, Doctorate-level Epidemiology, and Healthcare Economics. She is also a Board-Certified Family Nurse Practitioner with experience in Emergency and Family Medicine.
Amanda Kieffer, DVM, MPH, DACVPM
Zoonosis Control Veterinarian
Texas Department of State Health Services - PHR 8
Dr. Amanda Kieffer is the Zoonosis Control Veterinarian for the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), Public Health Region 8. She obtained her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Iowa State University concurrently with her Masters of Public Health from the University of Iowa in 2008. Upon graduation, she served as an Army Veterinarian for 5 years and in 2013 achieved status as a Diplomat of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine. She worked as an instructor and Program Director for the Blinn Veterinary Technology Program in College Station from 2015-2017 before joining the DSHS in 2018. Dr. Kieffer currently lives in San Antonio with her husband Adam, their 4 children, and a menagerie of animals.
Ashley Hawes, MPH, CQA
Disaster Epidemiologist
Austin Public Health, Epidemiology and Public Health Preparedness Division, Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program
Ashley Hawes is an epidemiologist in the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program at Austin Public Health. She has over 9 years of laboratory work prior to earning her MPH and joining Austin Public Health. Her work focuses on Biowatch, syndromic surveillance, healthcare coalition building, and general emergency preparedness for Travis County.
February 16, 2024 Speaker Biographies by Presentation Session:
Elise Huebner, MS, CPH, CIC
Epidemiologist III, Team Lead
Texas Department of State Health Services - Emerging and Acute Infectious Disease Unit, Vaccine Preventable Diseases
Elise Huebner earned her Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Austin College in 2008, and her Master of Science in Health Services Research from Texas State University - San Marcos in 2012. Her first job in public health focused on community health assessments and program evaluation; however, her interests were mainly focused in infectious disease epidemiology, immunization programs, and vaccine-preventable, invasive diseases. In 2013, Elise began her career as an infectious disease epidemiologist with Williamson County and Cities Health District, and, over time, moved up to Epidemiologist II. In 2020, she advanced to the Vaccine Preventable Disease Epidemiologist III Team Lead at the Texas Department of State Health Services. Overall, Elise has worked in infectious disease epidemiology, including vaccine-preventable, invasive and respiratory, high-consequence, foodborne, zoonotic, tuberculosis, and health-associated infections, for over 10 years with field experience in interviewing, case investigation, small- and large-scale outbreaks, testing, surveying, data collection, data analysis, reporting, and data quality. In her current role at DSHS, Elise focuses on a variety of VPDs, including providing guidance and assistance to health departments throughout Texas, coordinating with other DSHS departments, completing projects to increase team efficiency, planning and executing grant metrics, reports, and other surveillance and quality improvement activities.
https://www.dshs.texas.gov/vaccine-preventable-diseases
Binoj Peter, MPH
Epidemiologist II
Texas Department of State Health Services - Emerging and Acute Infectious Disease Unit, Vaccine Preventable Diseases
Binoj Peter earned his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree from India in 2001, and his Master of Public Health (MPH) in Epidemiology from Texas A&M University School of Public Health in 2013. He has participated in clinical research internship with Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida. He worked as Communicable Disease Epidemiologist for the city of St. Louis Department of Health for 2 years between 2019-22 where he served as surveillance coordinator for viral influenza, COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases as well as other communicable diseases, lead investigator for communicable disease outbreaks and advisor to disease intervention specialists for communicable disease case investigations. He is currently serving as Epidemiologist II for Vaccine Preventable Disease (VPD) Team under Emerging and Acute Infectious Disease Unit (EAIDU) of Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). In this role, he serves as Vaccine Preventable Disease Coordinator for the state of Texas and works with CDC and regional and health departments to ensure that state meets grant metrics, act as point of contact and subject matter expert for VPDs and enhance surveillance, case investigations and laboratory testing of suspect VPD cases.
https://www.dshs.texas.gov/vaccine-preventable-diseases
Varsha Misra, MPH
Epidemiologist I
Texas Department of State Health Services - Emerging and Acute Infectious Disease Unit, Vaccine Preventable Diseases
Varsha Misra earned her Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from Texas Tech University in 2019, and her Master of Public Health from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in 2020. In 2020, she started her career in public health as a COVID-19 case investigator with Texas Department of State Health Services Public Health Region 1. She eventually contracted with the CDC Foundation and started working as a COVID Epidemiologist at Public Health Region 6/5S. In 2022, she advanced to be the Vaccine Preventable Disease Epidemiologist I at the Texas Department of State Health Services. Varsha has worked in infectious disease epidemiology, including vaccine-preventable and respiratory diseases, for over 3 years with experience in case investigation, data collection, data analysis, reports, and data quality. In her current role at DSHS, Varsha focuses on multiple VPDs, including reviewing cases from all over Texas, providing guidance and assistance to health departments throughout Texas, communicating with other DSHS departments, completing tasks for grant metrics, conducting reports, and other surveillance and quality improvement activities.
Bonnie Oh, PhD
Molecular Biologist IV, Team Lead
Texas Department of State Health Services – Microbial Genomics
Bonnie received her undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of Virginia and her doctoral degree in Molecular Biology from the University of Pittsburgh. Bonnie’s experience working with the state public health lab started with serotype identification of Salmonella and Shigella clinical samples, expanded to Norovirus genotyping, drug resistance gene identification in bacteria, and finally to whole genome sequencing of a variety of microorganisms. The Microbial Genomics team focuses on sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 from clinical and wastewater samples, Mpox, Influenza, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. They work closely with the Advanced Molecular Detection team on many shared projects, including metagenomics and will soon begin newborn screening sequencing. The lab’s expanding sequencing capacity and scope of testing allows the tracking of variants and genes of interest over time to support public health.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bonnie-oh-33302527
Maliha Rahman, PhD
Team Lead Advanced Molecular Detection
Texas Department of State Health Services - Laboratory Services Section
Gabriela Calvi, MPH
Epidemiologist Level I
Dallas County Health & Human Services
Gabriela Calvi is a driven public health professional with a Bachelor's degree of science in Public Health from Brigham Young University- Idaho and with a Master of Public Health from UThealth. She has been working at DCHHS as an acute communicable disease epidemiologist since January 2020, specializing in waterborne and foodborne infectious diseases, while also investigating other infectious diseases. Gabriela continues to make significant contributions to the public health, including field work such as educational outreach, prevention & infection control measures to underserved populations during a large-scale Hepatitis A outbreak and site inspections with regulatory agencies.
www.linkedin.com/in/gabriela-calvi
Kelly Spencer, AAS, BS
Zoonosis Specialist
Texas Department of State Health Services - Zoonosis Control Branch
Kelly Spencer has an AAS in Veterinary Technology and a BS in biology from Sul Ross. She started with DSHS January of 2023 after many years in small, large and emergency veterinary medicine and teaching veterinary technology.
Brent Moore, DVM, MS, MPH, DACVPM
Regional State Public Health Veterinarian
Texas Department of State Health Services - PHR 4/5N
Brent Moore was in veterinary clinical practice for 14 years prior to joining the Texas DSHS in February 2020. He earned board certification by the American College of Veterinary Preventative Medicine in 2016 with a primary focus in infectious and zoonotic diseases. As a Regional State Public Health Veterinarian with the Texas DSHS, he is tasked as being a subject matter expert in zoonotic diseases. Brent has spoken at the Diseases in Nature conference, Texas DSHS Preventative Medicine conference, and has lectured for the DSHS Preventative Medicine Resident program in vector-borne and foodborne diseases. He was also an adjunct professor at Pasco-Hernando State College, teaching Introduction to Microbiology.
Sepehr Arshadmansab, MPH
Health Informatics Specialist
Texas Department of State Health Services - Public Health Information & Data
Nicolette Janoski, MPH
Epidemiology Division Manager
Fort Bend County
Nicolette Janoski is a seasoned public health professional with a career spanning over a decade. Her career took off in Tarrant County and Dallas County after her Master’s in Public Health degree from UNTHSC. Over the course of her career, she has worked in emergency management, public health policy, and epidemiology. She has had the opportunity to respond to a number of infectious disease outbreaks and natural disaster events.
Her most recent role was Chief Epidemiologist/Epidemiology Division Manager for Fort Bend County, TX.
Kourtney Lopez, MPH, a-IPC
HAI Epidemiologist
Texas Department of State Health Services - Healthcare Safety Unit
Kourtney Lopez graduated from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston with an MPH in Epidemiology. Kourtney also holds a BS in Biology from the University of Houston. Kourtney worked as a research assistant at UTHealth doing COVID-19 seroprevalence analysis and joined the Texas Department of State Health Services as an HAI Epidemiologist in 2023. Kourtney conducts regional surveillance for MDROs and investigates healthcare-associated infections in Public Health Region 6/5S healthcare settings.
Angel Guevara, MS, MPH, CIC
HAI Epidemiologist
Texas Department of State Health Services - Healthcare Safety Unit
Mr. Angel Guevara is a Healthcare-Associated Infections Epidemiologist for the Texas Department of State Health Services Healthcare Safety Unit. Mr. Guevara graduated with a Masters in Public Health in 2014 and Master of Science in Biomedical Informatics in 2016 from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Mr. Guevara first joined the Texas Department of State Health Services Public Health Region 11 Zoonosis Control Program in 2015, the PHR 11 Epidemiology Program in 2018, and the Healthcare Safety Unit in 2020, and became Certified in Infection Control in 2022. Mr. Guevara conducts regional surveillance of multidrug-resistant organisms, investigates healthcare-associated infections, and responds to outbreaks in Public Health Region 11 healthcare settings.
Jose Ulloa, MPH
Epidemiologist
City of San Antonio Metropolitan Health District
Jose Ulloa earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Angelo State University at San Angelo, Texas in 2020. He earned his Master of Public Health degree from the Texas Tech University Health Science Center Julia Jones Matthews School of Population and Public Health at Lubbock, Texas in 2022. During undergrad and graduate school, he served multiple roles such as Health Coach, Medical Assistant, and Open Access Care Coordinator with Shannon Medical Center. Mr. Ulloa is currently an Epidemiologist with San Antonio Metropolitan Health District where he conducts investigations on reportable infectious diseases for the City of San Antonio and Bexar County. Most recently, Mr. Ulloa presented on Murine Typhus disease trends in Bexar County at the 2023 Diseases in Nature (DIN) conference.
Amanda Decimo, RN, MPH
Tuberculosis Nurse Consultant
Amanda is a TB Nurse Consultant with the DSHS Tuberculosis and Hansen’s Disease Unit in Austin. Prior to joining the Unit’s Clinical Care Team in May of 2023, she worked as a Nurse Case Manager with the DSHS Region 8 TB Program in San Antonio. Her interest in TB started years ago during an internship for nursing school at a TB clinic in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. Since then she has worked in various public health settings and inpatient facilities. She holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) in Epidemiology and Biostatistics and a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) in Anesthesia. She spent many years working in critical care and anesthesia before pursuing her long-term interest in TB. In her free time, you’ll find Amanda searching for outdoor adventures with her husband, daughter, and her Brittany spaniel.
Stephen White, PhD, MLS(ASCP)CM
Epidemiologist III Team Lead
Texas Department of State Health Services - Emerging and Acute Infectious Disease Unit
Dr. Stephen L. White is currently the High Consequence Infectious Diseases Team Lead Epidemiologist III at the Emerging and Acute Infectious Diseases Unit at the Texas Department of State Health Services. In this role, Dr. White coordinates surveillance, develops guidance, and conducts epidemiological analyses on statewide data for highly pathogenic infectious diseases, such as Ebola, Marburg, mpox, smallpox, and other conditions.
Originally from Austin, Dr. White moved back to Texas from Miami, Florida, where he most recently served as the Laboratory Director of the Florida Department of Health’s Bureau of Public Health Laboratories in Miami for three years. Before taking the laboratory director position, Dr. White was the Bioterrorism Defense Coordinator and Virology Supervisor for the lab for approximately 7 years. From 2015-2016, Dr. White spent 15 months deployed to Liberia during the Ebola Outbreak in West Africa, where he set-up diagnostic laboratories for Ebola and worked with international partners to continue building the public health laboratory capacity of the country. Dr. White also previously served as a Senior Microbiologist at the South Dakota Public Health Laboratory, working with a variety of public health programs.
Dr. White possesses a PhD in Public Health (with an emphasis on epidemiology) from Florida International University. He also has a master’s degree in Clinical Practice Management and a bachelor’s degree in Clinical Laboratory Science- both from the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.
Rania Milleron, SM, PhD
Epidemiologist II
Texas Department of State Health Services - Emerging and Acute Infectious Disease Unit, Foodborne/Waterborne
Dr. Rania S. Milleron, a trailblazing epidemiologist and avid explorer, ventures where science meets the frontiers of public health crises. Her groundbreaking initiatives have not only expanded genomic surveillance capacities but have significantly bolstered Texas' ability to respond swiftly to emerging infectious threats.
To transform traveler monitoring for high-consequence infections, she has been a key player in the deployment of the Text Illness Monitoring platform. The application seamlessly connects travelers who report their symptoms to epidemiologists and partners, governed by the latest technology.
Driven by an unwavering commitment to public health, Rania seamlessly blends her technical expertise with a genuine passion for safeguarding communities. Her efforts resonate globally, contributing not only to the resilience of Texas but also to fostering international collaboration in the face of infectious threats. She has worked closely with the Ministry of Health in Nicaragua on Leishmaniasis surveillance, the World Health Organization on Leprosy control, and the Centers for Disease Control on building analytic capacity for microbial genomics and bioinformatics.
Her academic journey, from mastering Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Harvard University School of Public Health to pioneering molecular genetics doctoral research at the University of Texas, laid the foundation for innovative contributions in high-consequence infectious disease epidemiology. The turning point in her career was when she pivoted again into applied public health at the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), where she worked in the DSHS laboratory before joining the Emerging and Acute Infectious Disease Unit.
Rania's experiences, her triumphs over challenges, and her unwavering commitment to public health have all culminated in a grand vision. She dreams of a world where a rapid, global, genomic-driven public health response can be mobilized in the face of disease outbreaks. A world where science, technology, and cooperation unite to safeguard humanity.
Samantha Spencer, MPH
Epidemiologist II
Texas Department of State Health Services - Emerging and Acute Infectious Disease Unit, Foodborne/Waterborne
Samantha Spencer works as an epidemiologist on the Foodborne/Waterborne Team at the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). She conducts epidemiological analysis and surveillance on Salmonella and Cyclospora data. She utilizes her bachelor’s in Microbiology and Cell Science and Master of Science in Epidemiology in conjunction with Whole Genome Sequencing, statistical analysis, and Geographic Information System (GIS) to identify outbreaks across Texas. She also builds and implements training programs for local health departments to educate and empower them on foodborne diseases.
Before joining Texas DSHS, she worked as a Peace Corps volunteer to improve health care in rural communities in Morocco. Afterward, her career focused on various private labs from radiocarbon dating to microbiology/mycology labs in Florida. She also volunteered with overseas programs aimed at reducing childhood cancers in Rwanda.
Quoc Phung (Selena) Than, MPH
Epidemiologist II
Texas Department of State Health Services - Emerging and Acute Infectious Disease Unit, Foodborne/Waterborne
Quoc Phung (Selena) Than is a foodborne epidemiologist working for the Texas Department of State Health Services Emerging and Acute Infectious Disease Unit. She received a degree of Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from California State University of Northridge in 2018. She started working for Texas DSHS in 2019 with the Tuberculosis division, then moved to the Foodborne & Waterborne team in July of 2020. Her works mainly focus on the surveillance and data reporting of Cryptosporidiosis, Shigellosis, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, hemolytic uremic syndrome, and Vibriosis. In addition, she also conducts epidemiologic analysis to identify clusters and outbreaks in Texas.
Amira Bashadi, MPH
Epidemiologist
Texas Department of State Health Services
Amira Bashadi is an Epidemiologist with the Texas Department of State Health Services. She graduated from Boston University with her MPH in Epidemiology. She has over 10 years of experience working in public health and has worked at both the state and local level. In her current role, she provides guidance on Malaria and Typhus fever for the Zoonosis Control Branch.
Raquel Castillo, MPH
Chief Epidemiologist
Cameron County Public Health
Raquel Castillo, MPH, is the Chief Epidemiologist at Cameron County Public Health. She joined Cameron County Public Health in 1999 as a Health Educator and since then has held numerous positions within CCPH including Epidemiologist, Planner, Environmental Health Director, Public Health Preparedness Director, and most recently Lead Epidemiologist and Chief Epidemiologist. Ms. Castillo has responded to numerous public health and environmental health emergencies including hepatitis A outbreaks, dengue outbreaks, H1N1, Hurricane Dolly, Red Tides, Zika, COVID-19 pandemic, fungal meningitis outbreak, and malaria. She has been involved in All Hazards Planning and is certified in the Incident Command System. Ms. Castillo received her Master’s in Public Health from the University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHSC) – Houston School of Public Health and her Bachelor of Science from the University of Texas at Brownsville.
Samantha Puttick
Public Health and Prevention Specialist
Texas Department of State Health Services
Samantha started her public health career in 2003 as the part-time receptionist for DSHS’ Region 2/3 office. She quickly moved onto the Tobacco Prevention program, which gave her opportunities to educate Texas youth on the dangers of smoking and discuss cessation resources with those who wished to kick the habit. She enjoyed her time in the Dallas/Fort Worth area for 2 years.
After a short hiatus from public health work and a move to East Texas, in November of 2007 Samantha returned to DSHS as the Public Health and Prevention Specialist for Region 4/5 North’s Zoonosis Control Division. She became the Zoonosis Program Specialist when the position became available in 2019.
During her 19 years with the Texas Department of State Health Services, Samantha has responded in various roles to many different emergencies, from natural disasters to pandemics.
Leigh-Anne Lawton
Program Specialist III
Texas Department of State Health Services
Brandon (Tyler) Collins, MA
Epidemiologist
City of Midland Health Department
Tyler Collins is currently the Epidemiologist for the City of Midland Health Department. Following the completion of his Bachelor’s and Master’s in History at Texas Tech University in May of 2020, Tyler joined the health department in December 2020 as part of the COVID-19 Contact Tracing Team. Upon joining the team he began working closely with the Health Department’s Epidemiologist and became the supervisor of the contact tracing team in May of 2021. Tyler then took over the role of Epidemiologist in December of 2021. Over the last two years he’s helped to create the City of Midland Health Department’s Disease Investigation team and started the arbovirus surveillance program in May of 2023. He has also worked to inform the public in Midland through interviews with local news stations and community groups on topics such as arboviruses, food safety, and mpox.
https://www.facebook.com/MidlandHealthServices
Melina Granados, RN, BSN
Public Health Nurse
Texas Department of State Health Services - PHR8 Tuberculosis Program
Melina earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. Melina began her professional career at DSHS in 2022, joining the inaugural Texas Public Health Fellowship cohort as a Tuberculosis Nurse Fellow. Now, Melina serves as the Tuberculosis Nurse Lead in the San Antonio headquarters of Region 8. Working directly with communities and healthcare providers from across the region, Melina coordinates management of cases, as well as contact investigations for tuberculosis patients in Region 8. Through her daily collaboration with health care partners, Melina works tirelessly providing knowledge and education to the community in the ongoing effort to eradicate tuberculosis disease in Texas. And when she’s not fighting TB, Melina enjoys cooking and spending time with family and friends.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/melina-granados-bsn-rn-9a3032233
Tiffany Torres, MPH
Disease Surveillance Epidemiology Laboratory Department Manager
Lubbock Public Health
Tiffany is an epidemiologist for the Lubbock Public Health Department. She has been with the city health department since 2019 and manages the disease surveillance, epidemiology, and laboratory departments. Her focus is on HCID preparedness and HAI infections and is currently developing a wastewater surveillance system for the county. She worked as a clinical laboratory scientist for six years in acute care and outpatient settings before pursuing her career in public health. Tiffany graduated from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center with her master’s in public health in 2019. She also has her master’s in clinical practice management and bachelor’s in clinical laboratory sciences from TTUHSC. In her free time, Tiffany enjoys cooking and spending time with her family. She was born and raised in Lubbock and currently resides there with her husband and two dogs.
Jeff Swanson, PhD
Medical Research Specialist
Texas Department of State Health Services - Emerging and Acute Infectious Disease Unit, Data Analytics
Jeff Swanson has a PhD in Health Psychology from the University of Texas at Arlington, during which his work focused on the interactions between physical health, mental health, and immune system processes. Afterward, Jeff joined DSHS and has ten years’ experience working with vital statistics data processing and data management, along with work on infectious disease surveillance. Jeff’s activities have included producing automated statistical reports, producing legislative reports on licensed birthing centers and early term deliveries, producing infectious disease and vital statistics, and preparing data including visualizations for print and the web.
Gabrielle Franco, MPH
Epidemiologist II
Texas Department of State Health Services - Emerging and Acute Infectious Disease Unit, Data Analytics
Gabrielle earned her Bachelor of Science in Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2018, and her Master of Public Health in Health Promotion & Behavior Science from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston – School of Public Health in 2020. She has worked in public health for over six years in varying capacities. She currently works with the Data Analytics group in the Emerging and Acute Infectious Disease Unit on projects relating to the spread of disease.
Grace Kubin, PhD
Associate Commissioner, Laboratory Director
Texas Department of State Health Services - Public Health Laboratory Division
Grace Kubin, Ph.D. is the Associate Commissioner for the Public Health Laboratory Division and has served as the Laboratory Director of the State Public Health Laboratories at the Texas Department of State Health Services since 2011. She has held various positions in the laboratory such as performing testing in support of food borne outbreak investigations, managing biological and chemical threat testing, and serving in the State’s Emergency Medical Operations Center. During her time with the laboratory, she has been involved in multiple pandemic response efforts, such as 2009 H1N1, Ebola, Zika, and COVID-19.
Special Training Session Speaker Biographies
Ellen Wadler, MPH
Intervention Team Lead
Texas Department of State Health Services – Assessment, Compliance, Epidemiology (ACE) Branch
Ellen Wadler obtained a Master’s of Public Health (MPH) degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. She is the Team Lead for the Intervention Team within the Assessment, Compliance, and Epidemiology (ACE) branch at the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). She is currently overseeing the development of several projects housed within the Intervention Team, including a Maternal Influenza Vaccine Project and a School Coverage Rates Project.
Whitney Tillman, MPH
Manager III
Texas Department of State Health Services - Emerging and Acute Infectious Disease Unit, Vaccine Preventable Diseases
Whitney Tillman obtained a Master’s of Public Health (MPH) degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. She is the Manager for the Vaccine Preventable Disease Group at the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). She oversees daily operations of the Vaccine Preventable Disease, Acute Flaccid Myelitis and Influenza, and the Invasive and Respiratory Infectious Disease Teams.