Class Notes

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1980s

Jim Jarboe 82MPH was the Decatur Rotary Club’s nominee for the annual “You Are The Key” award last March at the Capital City Club-Brookhaven in Atlanta. Jarboe was recognized for his role in the club’s literacy initiative, “On the Same Page,” which reached more than 2,000 students in Decatur, Ga., in fall 2011.

1990s

Gordon Freymann 93MPH received the Sellers-McCroan Award from the Georgia Public Health Association last April. He is director of the Office of Health Indicators for Planning, Georgia Department of Public Health. The award recognized his staff’s work on OASIS (Online Analytical Statistical Information System).

Raghu Raju 96MPH and his wife Arathi opened a tea bar in Atlanta using a different business model. They are donating 50% of after-tax net profits to charity. They call their charitable efforts “Being in the World,” a phrase they have copyrighted. Raghu’s inspiration to contribute to humanitarian and environmental causes stems directly from his experiences at RSPH. The couple created jobs for six employees at their tea bar, Mahamosa, at Perimeter Mall.

Thomas H. Prol 88OX 91C 97MPH was sworn in last May as secretary of the New Jersey State Bar Association. He is a three-term trustee and expected to become president in 2017.

Sharon l. Talboys 98MPH was named associate director of the Office of Public Health Workforce Excellence at the University of Utah Division of Public Health, where she is a doctoral student. Talboys co-directs the university’s Global Health Study Abroad Program in Chandigarh, India, and coordinates the Bassi Pathana Community Collaborative Development Project, an Indo-U.S. partnership.

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2000s

Born: To Tarek H. Khalil 01MPH and his wife, Nancy, a daughter, Rachel, on Oct. 6, 2011. She joins her sister, Rebecca, who is 6. The family lives in Bedford, Nova Scotia.

Dr. Darcy Ann Freedman 02MPH is assistant professor and Centenary Faculty in Social Disparities in Built Community Environments in the College of Social Work at the University of South Carolina. Freedman’s research promotes health equity through improved access to healthful foods.

The Rev. Tolton Pace 02MPH  is the youth pastor of Impact Church in the historic West End section of Atlanta. Pace also was accepted into the High Potential Diverse Leaders Class of 2012 at Nonprofit University, Georgia Center for Nonprofits, in conjunction with his work as program director for Agape Community Center in Northwest Atlanta.

Married: Dr. Janet Witte 01M 02MPH and John Hopkins last February, when she also became stepmom to Matt and Devin. The family lives outside Boston with their dog Coby. Janet is a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and has a private practice. John works in business development for a software company.

Born: To Jennifer S. Blakely 99OX 01C 03MPH and her husband, Michael Jr. 00OX 02C, a son, Michael Joseph Blakely III, on June 27, 2011.

Dr. David A. Bray 01C 04MPH 08PhD was named the lead Senior National Intelligence Service Executive with the National Commission for Review of Research and Development Programs of the U.S. intelligence community. Bray is a lifetime member of the Senior Executive Association and was elected to its board of directors in 2011.

Married: Dr. Kate ­Elizabeth Koplan 04MD/MPH and Gregory Caldwell Little, on May 5, 2012, in Key West, Fla., at the Harry S. Truman Little White House. She is the director of medical management at Atrius Health, a nonprofit alliance of six group medical practices in eastern Massachusetts. He is director of the performing arts division of New Frontier Touring, a Nashville Booking Agency, and works in Boston.

Sophie Wenzel 04MPH works for the Alaska Division of Public Health as an adolescent health program manager.

Hassanatu Blake 05MPH and Hussainatu Blake were honored by the White House in July as Champions of Change, part of President Obama’s Winning the Future initiative. The twin sisters founded Focal Point Global, which connects underserved youth by using low-cost technologies such as Skype to address social issues. Focal Point Global has connected youth in the United States, Cameroon, and Namibia to discuss HIV and child trafficking in their communities.

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Married: Dr. Jessica Risser 06MD/MPH 07MR and Dr. Mike Corwin, on May 27, 2012. Jessica completed her dermatology residency at Brown University in 2010 and her dermatopathology fellowship at Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence, R.I., in 2011. She now works as a dermatologist and dermatopathologist at Kaiser in Vacaville, Calif. Her husband Mike is a radiologist.

Jessica Ann Schindelar 06MPH was appointed as a health communication specialist in CDC’s Division of News and Electronic Media.

Ebonei N. Butler 07MPH was accepted into the PhD program in epidemiology at the University of North Carolina, where she joins fellow graduate Brionna Hair 08MPH.

Samantha Eells 07MPH was appointed assistant professor of research in the Clinical Outcomes Research Unit of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Dr. Alexis B. Reedy 07MPH graduated in May from Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, where she received the Daniel E. Sweeney Award for Outstanding Family Medicine Student. She began her residency at Lancaster General Hospital in Pennsylvania in July. Reedy plans to advocate for public health as a family medicine physician.

Married: Kerry Ann Thomson 07MPH and Kurt Velguth on Sept. 3, 2011, in her hometown of Portsmouth, N.H. Kurt finished his medical residency this past summer, and the couple is seeking another placement with Doctors Without Borders. Kerry works at the Colorado Department of Public Health and has “appreciated my MPH from Emory everyday!” She is looking into PhD programs at the University of Washington in Seattle, where the couple would like to make their home.

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Married: Laurel Curry 08MPH and Daniel Weir on May 5, 2012, in Mt. Pleasant, S.C. Laurel is a research public health analyst for RTI International in Washington, D.C. The couple lives in Arlington, Va.

Brionna Hair 08MPH is a doctoral student in epidemiology at the University of North Carolina.

Debra Prosnitz 08MPH 08PhD works for ICF International on USAID’s flagship Maternal Child Health Integrated Program.

Jennifer K. Arney 09MPH is a program associate for Gender/Gender-based Violence, HIV/TB Global Program, with PATH. Arney works in the Washington, D.C., office of PATH, which serves more than 70 countries.

Married: Hilary Eiring 09MPH and Jeff Christanell on Sept. 17, 2011, at the Old Courthouse on the Square in Decatur, Ga. She is a health policy fellow with CDC, and he is a sales account manager with White Cap Construction Supply in Atlanta.

Married: Shauna Mettee 09MSN/MPH and Jeff Zarecki on Jan. 14, 2012, in Colorado. She is a CDC Preventive Medicine fellow. The couple lives in Atlanta with their two children.

Laura Leichti Colbert 10MPH has been a program coordinator at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s Camp Strong4Life since October 2010.

Marissa Esser 10MPH is a doctoral student at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Amanda Lewis 10MPH is a Certified Health Education Specialist at CDC. She and Trey Carnes will marry on Oct. 20.

Jane E. Bigham 11MPH  was awarded a Presidential Management Fellowship with the CDC in 2011. She works for the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health in the CDC Office of the Associate Director for Policy.

Kellye D. Sliger 11MPH  is a statistical programmer at Oak Ridge Associated Universities. She lives in Rockwood, Tenn., near Oak Ridge.

Dr. Carrie McNeil 12MPH serves as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer in New Mexico where, as a student, she conducted a community needs assessment in Socorro County. Officials there  are using her assessment to address priority access to care, diabetes-related issues, tobacco and secondhand smoke, mental health, and maternal and child health.

Married: Gretchen Van Ess 12MPH and Dane Martin on Feb. 25, 2012.

Alumni Deaths

Johanna Shoopman Anderson 99MPH of Atlanta on May 4, 2012, with close friends and family at her side. She died following a brief illness with pancreatic cancer at age 73. Originally from Somerset, Ky., Anderson conducted research in virology, genetics, oral biology, hematology, and vascular research. At Emory, she was a program specialist at the Wesley Woods Center for Health in Aging. Survivors include a sister, her stepmother, and many cousins and friends.

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