Biographies

Kathleen Meehan Arias, MS, CIC
Ms. Arias has worked in the infection control field for over 23 years and is currently the Director of Arias Infection Control Consulting, LLC. She has infection control experience in a variety of healthcare settings, including acute care, long-term care and ambulatory care. She has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Medical Technology and a Master of Science Degree in Clinical Microbiology and is certified in Infection Control.

Ms. Arias has taught epidemiology classes at Thomas Jefferson University and at the Medical College of Philadelphia and has served on the faculties of Penn State University and Hahnemann University College of Allied Health Sciences. She is a frequent guest lecturer at local, national, and international conferences.

Ms. Arias is the author of the textbook "Quick Reference to Outbreak Investigation and Control in Health Care Facilities", published by Aspen Publishers, and the APIC Tool Kit "Surveillance Programs in Healthcare Facilities". She has authored journal articles and book chapters on various infection control topics, including the Surveillance chapter in the "APIC Text of Infection Control and Epidemiology". She is the editor of the APIC Tool Kit "Assessing and Developing an Infection Control Program in the Acute Care Setting".

Ms. Arias is an active member of the APIC and has served in many capacities at the local and national levels. She was Co-Chair of the APIC Education Committee from 1998-2000 and currently serves as the APIC President-Elect.
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Jim Battaglio, President, Creative Writing Co.
Mr. Battaglio served as the Vice President for Corporate Communications to Hartford Hospital for 25 years before retiring three years ago. While serving in this role, some of his duties included the establishment of the corporate communications policy for New England's largest health care network, spokesman for both Hartford Hospital and many of its corporate holdings, medical spokesman for high profile patients of national and international notoriety, and advisor to the CEO and senior management on high profile communications with state and federal agencies.

Prior to his hospital administrative career, Mr. Battaglio spent over 12 years as a journalist, investigative reporter and columnist with The Hartford Times. Some of his articles have been published nationally and internationally.
Over 16 years ago, Mr. Battaglio formed his own communications company, assisting industry and health care institutions with their media needs - much of it crisis communications. He currently operates the communications company and has returned to journalism, combining his medical and journalism backgrounds. Mr. Battaglio writes a monthly medical column for over 50,000 readers and does radio shows for the blind each week.

Mr. Batttaglio is known for his lectures, speeches and presentations on the 21st Century media, where he frequently compares the vast differences between the press today and that of the 20th Century.
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P. J. Brennan, MD
Dr. P. J. Brennan is the Chief of Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety at the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Professor of Medicine at the School of Medicine and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Brennan served as Director of Infection Control for 11 years at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and for periods of time held the same post at the Presbyterian Medical Center and the Philadelphia VA Medical Center. In 2001 he became the Chief of Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety at Penn and in that capacity leads the patient safety and quality initiatives for UPHS. For this role he has focused on medication safety, improving communication, facilitating the reporting of errors and near misses and linking cost containment efforts to measures of quality. Under his leadership UPHS has implemented an on-line incident reporting system to enable rapid reporting and response to occurrences throughout the Health System. Current efforts include the development of a Delta team of UPHS staff who serve as peer educators in patient safety, the creation of on-line education programs in patient safety that include simulations, and quality improvement efforts to reduce risk in several clinical areas. He is also leading the UPHS effort to develop a new model for interactions between Penn Medicine and the Pharmaceutical industry and is the principal investigator of an AAMC grant to foster collaboration between resident physicians and graduate nurse trainees to develop and implement programs for quality improvement and patient safety.

Dr. Brennan served as the Director of Tuberculosis Control for the City of Philadelphia for seven years, a position he relinquished in October 2004. He is a fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. Secretary Tommy Thompson recently appointed him chair of the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) for the Department of Health and Human Services. This Committee advises the Secretary of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion on a broad range of issues related to control of infectious diseases. Dr. Brennan co-chairs the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council Advisory Panel on the Public Disclosure of Healthcare Associated Infection rates.
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Denise Cardo, MD
Dr. Denise Cardo is Director, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion (formerly known as Hospital Infections Program), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Cardo joined CDC in 1993 as a medical epidemiologist in the HIV Infections Branch, Hospital Infections Program, and in 1998 she became chief of this branch. In 2000, she became the chief of the Prevention and Evaluation Branch in the same division.

Prior to joining CDC, she had a distinguished career in the Division of Infectious Diseases at one of Brazil's prestigious medical institutions, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Sao Paulo, Brazil, where she received her medical degree in 1980, completed her residency and fellowship, and joined the faculty as Associated Professor of Infectious Diseases. In addition, she was a co-founder and President of Sao Paulo Association of Infection Control and a consultant to the Brazilian Ministry of Health. During 1990-1991, she did a sabbatical at the Hospital Epidemiology Program, University of Tennessee, Memphis, under the supervision of Dr. Glen Mayhall.

Her interests include patient safety, prevention of healthcare-associated infections, and antimicrobial resistance. She is the author of several research and reviewed papers including book chapters.
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Georgia P. "Gigi" Dash, RN, BSN, MS, CIC
Ms. Dash has worked in the field of hospital epidemiology for over 30 years and has been an APIC member since 1972. She has served APIC as Chair of the Education Committee, Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee and most recently as Chair of the Practice Guidance Council.

Ms. Dash is a former CBIC President and was APIC President in 2002. Currently, she serves as APIC's representative to the CDC HICPAC.

Ms. Dash has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Villanova University and a Master of Science in Community and Preventive Medicine from Medical College of Pennsylvania. She is Director of Infection Prevention and Control Department at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia.
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Sherrie Dulworth, RN, CPHRM
Ms. Dulworth is a principal and healthcare management consultant in the New York office of Milliman. She joined the firm in 1996. She works with healthcare payers and providers to develop effective medical management, operations, and marketing strategies. While at Milliman, Ms. Dulworth has published research on various topics including Healthcare Associated Infections, Hepatitis C, HIV and Risk Management/Quality issues.

She has more than 20 years of experience in the managed care market. Prior to joining Milliman, she worked with Fortune 500 employers, insurance carriers, governmental bodies, and self-insured organizations on a national and international basis to help assess and implement cost-containment strategies for group health and workers' compensation.

Ms. Dulworth coordinated Management Service (MSO) activities in both development and operations on behalf of over 700 physician members of multi-state, single-specialty networks.
Ms. Dulworth is a registered nurse with experience in a majority of areas in critical care as well as cardiac and spinal cord rehabilitation.

She is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Risk Management (CPHRM). She has served as a visiting professor at the Columbia University School of Nursing. She has published in the area of international healthcare and managed care and is a guest lecturer on topics of insurance and managed care.
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Loretta Fauerbach, MS, CIC
Ms. Fauerbach is the Director of Infection Control for Shands Hospital at the University of Florida and Shands HealthCare system. Her practice covers the spectrum of healthcare from pre-hospital settings including homecare, ambulatory surgical centers and free standing ambulatory care clinics, community hospitals and the tertiary referral university based hospital which includes the 7th largest transplant center in the country, a pediatric hospital and a burn center.

Ms. Fauerbach plays an active role in the infection control profession. She is a member of APIC, SHEA and ASM. She is currently the chair for APIC's Practice Guidance Team assuming that role after two years on the Guidelines Committee. She is APIC's liaison to AAMI, HICPAC and IDSA. She has also served as APIC's liaison to FDA for reuse of single use devices. She has served on APIC's membership committee as well. Ms. Fauerbach has also been president and a founding member of two APIC chapters: Suwannee Region North Central Florida and East Central Pennsylvania. She also has served as the president of the Florida Professionals in Infection Control.

Ms. Fauerbach has presented at state and national meetings and has published articles in peer review journals. Most recently she has authored the chapter on "Risk Factors for Infection Transmission" in the APIC Text of Infection Control and Epidemiology and a chapter on "Practical Applications in Infection Control" in Seymour Block's book, Disinfection, Sterilization and Preservation.

Her experience includes over 10 years in working with homecare throughout the state of Florida. She has published on a statewide infection surveillance project in the homecare journal Caring. She has also presented home care related topics at APIC, SHEA and other conferences. During 2001, Loretta was a reviewer for the new homecare publication jointly sponsored by APIC and the Missouri Home Care Alliance.
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Nancy Foster, VP for Quality and Patient Safety Policy, American Hospital Association
Nancy Foster is the Vice President for Quality and Patient Safety Policy at the American Hospital Association. In this role, she is the AHA's point person for the Hospital Quality Alliance, which is a public-private effort to provide information to consumers on the quality of care in American hospitals. Nancy is the AHA's representative to the National Quality Forum, serves as a member of the National Heart Attack Coordinating Council and the Healthcare Infection Control and Prevention Advisory Committee of HHS. She provides advice to hospitals and public policy makers on opportunities to improve patient safety and quality.

Prior to joining the AHA, Nancy was the Coordinator for Quality Activities at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). In this role, she was the principal staff person for the Quality Interagency Coordination Task Force, which brought Federal agencies with health care responsibilities together to jointly engage in projects to improve quality and safety. She also led the development of patient safety research agenda for AHRQ and managed a portfolio of quality and safety research grants in excess of $10 million.

She is a graduate of Princeton University and has completed graduate work at Chapman University and Johns Hopkins University. In 2000, she was chosen as an Excellence in Government Leadership Fellow.
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Pamela Frederick, Director, CMS
Ms. Frederick is the Director for the Division of Acute and Chronic Disease Management in the Quality Measurement and Health Assessment Group, Office of Clinical Standards and Quality of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The division is currently coordinating the launch of a new Hospital Compare web site which will debut at the end of March 2005. Besides hospital measurement work, Ms. Frederick is overseeing the development of measures for the new Medicare drug benefit and measures for the End Stage Renal Disease program. Ms. Frederick has a BS degree in Medical Technology and a MSB from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Ms. Frederick has over ten years of experience working in the healthcare delivery system in hospital laboratory settings. Prior to becoming Division Director, Ms. Frederick worked as a Technical Advisor for Medicare's End Stage Renal Disease program.
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Eddie Hedrick, BS, MT (ASCP), CIC
Eddie Hedrick has been an Infection Control Professional for 34 years. In January of 2004 he took early retirement from the University of Missouri Hospitals and Clinics, where he was the Manager of Infection Control and Staff Health Services for the past 20 years, and took a new position as the Emerging Infections Coordinator for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. He remains as adjunct faculty for the Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health Professions at the University of Missouri. Previously he served as a clinical virologist/microbiologist for three years and then as Hospital Epidemiologist for 15 years at Morristown Memorial Hospital in Morristown, New Jersey. Mr. Hedrick received his B.S. degree from Bowling Green State University in 1967 and his Medical Technology degree in 1968. He is also certified in infection control.

After assuming his new role at the Department of Health and Senior Services he was assigned to work on the newly proposed and subsequently passed Senate Bill 1279, which established the Missouri Nosocomial Infection Control Act of 2004. His experience has been helpful in providing historic insight into approaches to infection control and as a scientific resource.

In the past, Mr. Hedrick was a Section Editor for the American Journal of Infection Control and a member of the editorial board of Hospital Infection Control for over 20 years. From 1994 - 1999 he was a member of the APIC's Governmental Affairs Committee and was Chairman of the Tuberculosis Task Force. He has served as the Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary and as Executive Committee member of the Missouri Department of Health's Advisory Committee on Infection Prevention and Control. In 2004 he was appointed to the State Advisory Committee for the Nosocomial Infection Bill (SB 1279).

Mr. Hedrick has served as Secretary of APIC, Chairman of the APIC Standards Committee, and a member of the APIC Education and Research committees. He is also a past chairman of the Northern New Jersey Practitioners in Infection Control. Mr. Hedrick also acted as Chairman of the Ad-Hoc Committee on Infection Control in the Handling of Endoscopic Equipment and subsequently authored many papers on the topic.

Mr. Hedrick has lectured widely at universities, colleges, hospitals, various organizations, agencies, schools and groups on a variety of infection control related topics. He remains an adjunct faculty member of the Schools of Medicine, Nursing and the Allied Health Professions at the University of Missouri where he routinely teaches.
He is the author of many papers, abstracts, publications, and book chapters on infection control topics such as nosocomial infection rates as indicators of quality, AIDS, antibiotic resistance, antibiotic utilization review, antisepsis, disinfection and sterilization, dialysis related infections, endoscopy, infectious waste, TB in health care workers, meningitis, staphylococcal infections in newborn infants, surgical wound infections, reuse of disposables, and medical and surgical "rituals".

Mr. Hedrick was awarded the University of Missouri Hospitals and Clinic's Circle of Excellence Award for outstanding management. The American Medical Students Association's "Excellence in Teaching" award for his work with AIDS education and has been awarded the "Communicator of the Year" award from the Missouri Hospital Association. He has also received the "Educator of the Year" award for his work in AIDS education from the Regional AIDS Interfaith Network (RAIN).
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Teresa Horan, MPH
Ms. Horan joined the CDC in 1984 as Surveillance Coordinator for the Nosocomial Infections Surveillance Activity of the Hospital Infections Program (now DHQP). During her 19-year tenure at CDC, she has played an integral role in the development of the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (NNIS) system into the world's premier model of surveillance of hospital-associated (nosocomial) infections. Because of her outstanding teaching and communications skills, Ms. Horan has spent her career promoting the value of NNIS as a local and national performance improvement tool through her lectures, consults, and publications. She has taught thousands of infection control professionals and hospital epidemiologists from dozens of countries. She is also an Adjunct Senior Associate faculty member at the Emory University's Rollings School of Public Health. Ms. Horan has consulted with the Ministries of Health of more than a dozen countries on four continents. She has authored or co-authored 19 peer-reviewed articles and contributed to 4 book chapters on surveillance. She has been responsible for publishing the NNIS Report containing the annual benchmark data in the American Journal of Infection Control since 1995. She served as Guest Editor for AJIC on an issue devoted to surveillance and serves as its Section Editor for the "Current Methodological Concepts" section.

Ms Horan is a Commander in the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. Her work has been recognized with three individual and two group awards. In addition, she was honored in 2003 with the Elaine Larson Lectureship, established to recognize individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of infection control. She also received the US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary's Award for Distinguished Service last year for her efforts to integrate federal patient safety surveillance.

Ms. Horan assumed the role of Chief, Performance Measurement Sections in 2000. In this capacity she is responsible for integrating DHQP's three existing surveillance systems into a single new Internet based reporting network called the national Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). The development of the NHSN is one of DHQP's highest priorities as it represents CDC's response to the 1999 Institute of Medicine's report on medical errors and HHS Secretary Thompson's call for improved reporting of adverse events associated with the delivery of healthcare. Through NHSN, Ms. Horan will direct the expansion of the scope of surveillance to include non-infectious adverse events and healthcare delivery venues beyond the hospital.
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Ken Kizer, MD, MPH
Dr. Kizer is President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Quality Forum, a private, nonprofit, membership organization dedicated to increasing the provision of high-quality healthcare. Among his prior positions, Dr. Kizer served as the Under Secretary for Health in the US Department of Veterans Affairs for five years, and he was director of the California Department of Health Services for nearly seven years. Dr. Kizer practiced emergency medicine and toxicology for a number years, and he has been on the faculty of the University of California, Davis and the University of Southern California. He has held a variety of board directorships, and has been a consultant to several foreign countries.

Dr. Kizer has authored over 350 original articles, book chapters and other reports in the medical literature, and he is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha National Honor Medical Society, the Delta Omega National Honorary Public Health Society, and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Kizer is a fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians, The American College of Preventive Medicine, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, the American College of Medical Toxicology, the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology, the American Academy of Medical Administrators, the American College of Physician Executives, the Royal Society for Health Promotion, the Royal Society of Medicine, and the international Explorers Club.
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Sharon Krystofiak, MS, MS, MT(ASCP), CIC
Sharon Krystofiak is currently the Manager of Infection Control at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA and has worked in the field for over 14 years. She is currently serving as the co-chairman of the Hospital Acquired Infections subcommittee for the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4). Ms. Krystofiak has been an active member of APIC at the local, state and national levels and is currently a Director and Government Affairs chair for the Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology (CBIC).

Ms. Krystofiak has presented at many educational programs, including the APIC 1998 national educational conference and was a faculty member of APIC's ICE I and II courses. She collaborated for several years with the PA AIDS Education and Training Center, presenting educational programs on bloodborne illness to corrections facilities staff across the state. She also served as the Transplant Focus Group Leader for APIC.

Before entering the field of infection control, Ms. Krystofiak worked in the clinical laboratory at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh PA and Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, NY. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Technology and Master of Science degrees in Medical Technology from St. John's University, and Environmental and Occupational Health from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.
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Jerod M. Loeb, PhD
Jerod M. Loeb, PhD is Executive Vice President for Research at the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois. In this capacity, he has administrative responsibility for the Joint Commission's Department of Performance Measurement and Health Informatics and the Department of Health Policy Research, including the Centers for Patient Safety Research, Health Services Research and Public Policy Research. During his more than 10 years at the Joint Commission, Dr. Loeb has played a leadership role in identifying, evaluating and implementing performance measures across the wide variety of Joint Commission accreditation and certification programs. He is involved in a variety of national and international initiatives associated with performance measurement and patient safety, including those of the National Quality Forum, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the International Society for Quality in Health Care and the World Health Organization.

Before assuming his current position, he served as Vice President for Research and Performance Measurement and as Director of the Department of Research and Evaluation at the Joint Commission. Prior to coming to the Joint Commission in 1994, he was Assistant VP for Science, Technology and Public Health at the American Medical Association (AMA) in Chicago where he also served as Secretary of the AMA's Council on Scientific Affairs.

After completing his graduate education at the State University of New York - Downstate Medical Center, he held fellowship positions at Harvard Medical School - Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine. Dr. Loeb has been on the faculty at Northwestern University Medical School since 1979 in both full- and part-time capacities, received tenure in 1987, and is currently Adjunct Professor of Physiology. He is also an Adjunct Associate of the Center for Health Policy and Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research at Stanford University.

He has more than 125 publications in cardiovascular medicine, risk assessment and communication, scientific ethics and health care quality. He has been the recipient of grant awards from the federal government and other sources, serves on numerous national and international advisory bodies and as a referee for several scientific journals - including JAMA and the New England Journal of Medicine - and is currently on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Preventive Medicine in Managed Care. He is a member or fellow in many professional and honorary organizations. Dr. Loeb is on the Board of Directors of the National Patient Safety Foundation and the Water Quality and Health Care Advisory Board of the Chlorine Chemistry Council of the American Chemistry Society. He also serves on several Steering Committees of the National Quality Forum, including those addressing hospital measurement, cancer care, and patient safety.
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Tammy Lundstrom, MD
Dr. Lundstrom received her medical degree in 1987 from the University of Minnesota. She completed her Internal Medicine Residency and Infectious Diseases Fellowship training at Wayne State University from 1987-1992, and is currently Board Certified in both areas. Dr. Lundstrom has an extensive background in Infection Control, Hospital Epidemiology and Quality. She is currently the Vice President, Chief Quality and Safety Officer at the Detroit Medical Center, a multi-hospital Health System in Southeastern Michigan, as well as an Assistant Professor in Infectious Disease at Wayne State University School of Medicine. As such she currently oversees Infection Control, Quality, Patient Safety, and Employee Safety. Dr. Lundstrom serves on multiple state and national committees relating to Infection Control and Quality. She is currently a member of the Michigan Hospital Association's Quality, Compliance, and Safety as well as Patient Safety Committees. She has published in the field of Patient Safety, has lectured at national meetings, and has served on an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality grant scientific review team. She is a member of the faculty for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America Training Course in Epidemiology. Dr. Lundstrom is completing her law degree at Wayne State University.
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Lisa McGiffert, Sr. Policy Analyst on Health Issues, Consumers Union
Lisa McGiffert is a Senior Policy Analyst on Health Issues and the Project Director for StopHospitalInfections.org, a project of Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports.

In Texas, Lisa has directed CU advocacy efforts on health issues since 1991. Nationally, she directs StopHospitalInfections.org, a project aimed at reducing hospital-acquired infections by raising public awareness and seeking publication of hospital infection rates.

Lisa advocates for access, fairness, and accountability for health care consumers by working with state legislatures, state agencies, and through public education, including public speaking and work with local, state, and national media. Her areas of expertise include access to public and private health insurance; hospital and health care provider quality of care; prescription drugs; consumer protections in health insurance; and accountability of charitable health care organizations.

Prior to joining CU, Lisa was a policy analyst and legislative coordinator for the Texas Senate Committee on Health and Human Services where, for seven years, she was actively involved in the development and implementation of state health and human services policy.
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Pat Merryweather, Sr. VP, Illinois Hospital Association
Pat Merryweather is Senior Vice President with the Illinois Hospital Association and is the healthcare information and health care quality and policy liaison with local, state, and national public and private organizations. Pat has responsibility for COMPdata (an on-line comparative information system with primary data collection and performance measurement reporting and services in Illinois and five other states), quality improvement, HIPAA, community health, accountability, peer review, business coalitions, as well as providing health policy analysis.

Ms. Merryweather holds various professional positions and is an active participant in many state and national organizations, including: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Work Group Member on National and Provider Quality and Safety Measurements; Consumer Advisory Council Member of Medicare Quality Improvement Organization for Illinois; Illinois Department of Public Health Hospital Report Card Act Advisory Group and Sub-committees; HIPAA Illinois - Steering Committee, Chair of Transaction and Code Set Work Group; National Quality Forum - Member and Participant on Provider and Health Plan Council; National Uniform Billing Committee - Executive Committee Member; National Association of Health Data Organizations - Board member; Illinois Public Health Futures Institute - Executive and Steering Committee; and several other professional membership groups.

Ms. Merryweather’s prior professional experience included research and planning with American Hospital Association; Collaboration on development of Chicago Fire Department fire house and apparatus relocation project and emergency medical response system for City of Chicago; Preparation of housing and community development block grants for City of Chicago Departments of Housing and Community Development; and Instructor of Sociology at Cardinal Stritch University.

Ms. Merryweather has a Master of Arts Degree with concentration in Community Development and Bachelor’s Degree with Economics and Sociology majors. Ms. Merryweather has been a hospital bed-side volunteer for 25 years with teens with life-threatening conditions, and is actively involved in Rotary International relief, women enterprise development, and solar energy efforts in third world countries.
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Cathryn Murphy, PhD, Associate Professor, Wollongong University
Associate Professor Cathryn Murphy is an epidemiologist and holds an academic position at the Centre for International Health Advancement at the University of Wollongong, Australia. Cathryn has been active within the infection control community since 1989. Career highlights working as a guest researcher in the Division of Healthcare Quality and Infection Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia in 2000 and completing a short-term mission throughout South East Asian with the World Health Organization during the height of the 2003 SARS Outbreak. Cathryn managed the New South Wales government’s HAI Prevention and Infection Control Programme from 1997 until December 2004. She is currently a Managing Director of Infection Control Plus an independent, international infection control consulting company.

Cathryn is a member of the Editorial Boards of the Australian and American Journals of Infection Control. She has published in scientific peer-reviewed journals, contributed to textbooks and presented on various aspects of her work at scientific meetings around the world. Cathryn is passionate about contributing to global infection control reform and mentoring the next generation of infection control practitioners. She is constantly seeking innovative solutions to ongoing infection control problems.
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Denise Murphy, RN, MPH, CIC
Denise Murphy is the Chief Patient Safety and Quality Officer at Barnes-Jewish Hospital at Washington University Medical Center in St. Louis. Prior to taking that position, she spent 7 years as Director of Healthcare Epidemiology and Patient Safety for BJC HealthCare. Denise went to nursing school in Philadelphia, received her BSN in Portland, Maine and a Master of Public Health degree from St. Louis University, School of Public Health.

Denise’s early nursing experience was in pediatric ICUs, surgical nursing and nursing management. She entered the field of Infection Control in 1981, sitting for the first certification in infection control (CIC) exam in 1983. She has been an ICP in hospitals ranging from 100 - 1200 beds, in rural and urban settings. Her presentations and publications are numerous on prevention of surgical site infections, bloodstream infections and ventilator -associated pneumonia, on re-designing infection control services, the business of infection control and establishment of patient safety programs.

Denise is an active member of APIC, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) and the American Society for Healthcare Risk Managers (ASHRM).

She is a past president of the APIC Greater St. Louis chapter, and currently serves as a director on the APIC national board. Denise was a 4 year member of the APIC annual conference task force, and is currently the ICP representative on the SHEA educational conference planning committee.
She graduated from the first AHA/National Patient Safety Foundation sponsored Leadership Fellowship training program in August, 2003.
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Frank Myers, III, MA, CIC, CPHQ
Frank Myers came to the infection control profession from the world of political science after teaching at the University of Delaware and working at the UN. Over 15 years ago he moved into the field of public health designing and analyzing studies on the prevalence of HIV in various at-risk populations. More than 10 years ago his wife accepted a position at the Salk Institute and they moved to California where he transitioned into acute care epidemiology.

In 2004, Frank was elected President of the California APIC Coordinating Council and was actively involved in the crafting of the mandatory reporting of healthcare-associated infections with the California legislature.

During this time, Frank was promoted to Manager of Clinical Epidemiology and Safety at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego. He has lectured on vascular infections in the People's Republic of China.
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Russell Olmsted, MPH, CIC
Mr. Olmsted has more than 20 years experience in the field of infection control/applied epidemiology. He currently is the Epidemiologist, Infection Control Services, at Saint Joseph Mercy Health System with headquarters in Ann Arbor, MI. Russ is involved in several activities related to infection prevention and control on a state, national, and international basis. He was Editor of APIC) Infection Control and Applied Epidemiology: Principles and Practice published in 1996 and serves as Associate Editor of the American Journal of Infection Control. He has provided presentations at a variety of professional meetings including APIC's Educational Conference & International Meetings, regional APIC chapter conferences and the Michigan Society for Infection Control (MSIC) educational conferences. Mr. Olmsted also is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Hospital Infection.

Author of several articles and chapters in peer-reviewed publications, Mr. Olmsted also is actively involved in several professional organizations including prior service on the Board of Trustees of the Research Foundation for Prevention of Complications Associated with healthcare, APIC Board of Directors and currently on the MSIC Board. His education background includes a bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of Michigan, and a Master of Public Health in General Epidemiology from the University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI. He also holds board certification in infection control from the Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. (CBIC).
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Julie Savoy, BSN, RN, JD
Ms. Savoy is a practicing health care attorney. She has been a registered nurse for 21 years with experience in surgery as well as an infection control practitioner at a 300 bed acute care facility for over 15 years.

After a 3 year hiatus, Ms. Savoy returns to an active role with APIC as a member of the Public Policy Committee. During her time as an ICP, Ms. Savoy served in various leadership roles for her local APIC chapter, as well as participating on the national level, chairing the Governmental Affairs Committee for 2 years in 1997 & 1998, participating as a member of the 1992 and 1993 APIC Program Committees and presenting as faculty for the APIC Basic Training Course from 1993 through 1998.

An invited presenter at state and national meetings, she has published articles in health care journals and co-authored a chapter in the IAHHS Advanced Manual on Health Care Security.
She is a 2002 graduate of the Louisiana State University Law School and currently maintains a practice in healthcare law, regulatory compliance and medical malpractice defense litigation.
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Sue Sebazco, RN, BS, CIC
Ms. Sebazco has been the Infection Control/Employee Health Director at Arlington Memorial Hospital in Arlington, Texas, since 1983. Prior to that, she was the Infection Control Practitioner at Laboratory Control Ltd., PC in Ottumwa, Iowa.

Ms. Sebazco served her local APIC chapter as President in 1986 and as chair of the Rural Health Outreach Program Task Force. She has been a member of several national APIC Program Committees, serving as the Chair of the 1997 Program Committee, and as a member of the Board of Directors and chair of the Governmental Affairs Committee, Public Policy Programs Team Leader. Ms. Sebazco currently serves as the 2005 APIC President.

Ms. Sebazco has served the Texas Society of Infection Control Practitioners as a board member for 5 years and as President. She has published in Health Texas Asepsis, and Infection Control Today and was a contributor on Occupational Health in APIC Infection Control and Applied Epidemiology: Principles and Practice and the 2000 APIC Text.

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Rachel Stricof, MT, MPH
Ms. Stricof is an Epidemiologist at the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and Assistant Professor at the State University of New York at Albany's School of Public Health where she directs courses in Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Healthcare Epidemiology. She has served as President of her local APIC Chapter (Chapter 69) and on various APIC national committees and task forces throughout her career. She is presently serving on the APIC Public Policy Team, TB Task Force, Bioterrorism Workgroup, and Mandatory Public Reporting Task Force. She is the APIC liaison to the Advisory Council for the Elimination of Tuberculosis (ACET) and the ACET liaison to the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC). She received her undergraduate degree in Medical Technology and Masters Degree in Public Health in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI.

During her career at the NYSDOH, Ms. Stricof developed and directed the Regional Epidemiology Program, designed the HIV seroprevalence studies, and has conducted studies and developed guidelines in the areas of tuberculosis control, infection control resources, bloodborne pathogens transmission and control, endoscopy-associated infection transmission and control, and bioterrorism preparedness in NYS healthcare facilities.

Ms. Stricof has presented at local, state, national and international meetings and has published in numerous peer review journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, Annals of Internal Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC), Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology (ICHE), American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) and International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IJTLD). She has served as a reviewer for AJIC, ICHE, AJPH, IJTLD, Epidemiology and Infection, Journal of Public Health Management & Practice, Emerging Infectious Diseases, and APIC Text of Infection Control and Epidemiology. She is a member of Delta Omega Society, the Honorary Public Health Society and has received numerous awards.
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Michael L. Tapper, MD
Dr. Michael Tapper is currently Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases, Hospital Epidemiologist, and Director of the AIDS Program at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, as well as Clinical Professor of Medicine at the NYU School of Medicine. After graduation from the college of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, Dr. Tapper completed residency training in internal medicine at Harlem Hospital Center in New York, and fellowship training in infectious diseases at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Tapper is a fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the American College of Physicians, the Royal Society of Medicine and the New York Academy of Medicine. He served as President of the New York Society of Infectious Diseases in 1995-96.

Dr. Tapper was the President of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America in 2003. He is a liaison member of the CDC's Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) and the CDC's Advisory Council on the Elimination of Tuberculosis (ACET). In addition to his work as a consultant to CDC, he is a member of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Advisory Group of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. He served in 2003 as a member of JCAHO's Infection Control Advisory Committee.

A frequent lecturer at national and international meetings, Dr. Tapper is the author of over sixty abstracts and papers, and has had a special interest in occupational healthcare worker issues. Active in HIV education, Dr. Tapper has also been the co-moderator since 1995 of the audio update series Changing Concepts in the Management of HIV Disease.
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