Principal investigators

Susan Allan, MD, JD, MPH, is the Director of the Northwest Center for Public Health Practice at the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine, and is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Services. She is the Principal Investigator on the Northwest Center for Public Health Preparedness Program, supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She is also Co-Principal Investigator for the Public Health Training Center, supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration. Dr. Allan has been on faculty in the School of Public Health and Community Medicine since July 2008. She has extensive experience in public health practice, including positions as State Public Health Director in Oregon (2005-2008) and Health Director for Arlington County, Virginia (1987-2005).

Mark W. Oberle, MD, MPH, is the Associate Dean for Public Health Practice at the School of Public Health and Community Medicine. Dr. Oberle concluded a 21-year career with the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention before coming to the University of Washington. He is the principal investigator of the HRSA Public Health Training Center at the NWCPHP.

Carl Osaki, RS, MSPH, is a Clinical Associate Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, SPHCM, where he teaches Environmental Health Practice. He is a former member of the Washington State Board of Health and former Chief of Environmental Health at Public Health - Seattle & King County. Mr. Osaki is principal investigator for the CDC-funded Regional Academic Environmental Public Health Center.

Andy Stergachis, PhD, RPh, Professor of Epidemiology and Adjunct Professor of Pharmacy, is active in emergency distribution of pharmaceuticals and public health disaster preparedness, chairs the Washington State Pharmacy Association Emergency Preparedness Committee, and is the local county's Strategic National Stockpile Coordinator. Dr. Stergachis is Principal Investigator of the HRSA-funded Bioterrorism Curriculum Development Program.

Charles D. (Chuck) Treser, MPH, DAAS, is a Senior Lecturer and academic advisor in the Undergraduate Program in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences. Mr. Treser teaches in both the undergraduate Environmental Health program and the school-wide extended MPH degree program. Mr. Treser is the principal investigator on a cooperative agreement between CDC and the Association of Environmental Health Academic Programs to strengthen environmental public health education and training throughout the United States.

Faculty, instructors, and curriculum developers

Janet Baseman, PhD, MPH, is a Senior Fellow in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Washington. As a member of the Northwest Center’s epidemiology team, she develops online trainings to improve the epidemiological knowledge and skills of front line public health workers. Additionally, she works as an epidemiologist with the UW Center for Public Health Informatics and the Kitsap County Health District.

Randal Beaton, PhD, EMT, is a Research Professor and Clinical Psychologist in the Psychosocial and Community Health Department in the School of Nursing; and a Research Adjunct Professor in the Department of Health Services in the School of Public Health and Community Medicine. Dr. Beaton is also a volunteer EMT and has twenty-five years experience as a clinical psychologist. He has headed NIOSH and FEMA funded programs to examine the causes and effects of stress in firefighters and other emergency responders. In the past several years his research has focused on psychosocial aspects of terrorism; especially in First Responders. Dr. Beaton has been an instructor at the Summer Institute for Public Health Practice in Seattle and currently serves as a co-leader of the ASPH/CDC Disaster Mental Health Collaborative Group.

Betty Bekemeier, PhD, MPH, MSN, RN, has been a member of the University of Washington Department of Health Services faculty since March 2002. Her specialty area lies in public health practice system development and served as the Deputy Director of the Turning Point National Program Office. Betty is also a public health systems researcher, examining effective strategies for local and state public health systems to most effectively improve population health and eliminate disparities. Before coming to the UW, Betty's career has been in public health practice at the local level. Her local public health experiences include public health nursing, clinical and field management, epidemiology, community assessment, maternal child health, and administration.

Jeffrey S. Duchin, MD, is Chief, Communicable Disease Control, Epidemiology and Immunization Section, Public Health - Seattle & King County. He also holds appointments at the University of Washington in the School of Medicine and in the School of Public Health and Community Medicine. He has worked with NWCPHP on preparedness resources for clinicians and has delivered plenary sessions at several of our Summer Institutes.

James L. Gale, MD, MS, is a Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology, a former Health Officer for Kittitas County, and former Director of the Northwest Center for Public Health Practice. Dr. Gale is interested in closer ties between academic public health and public health practice. He served as the principal investigator of the CDC Center for Public Health Preparedness at the NWCPHP.

Victoria Holt, RN, MPH, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Epidemiology. She is also affiliated with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, where she conducts research on women's reproductive health topics, and the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, where she researches issues pertaining to intimate partner violence prevention. Dr. Holt leads the NWCPHP's Public Health Epidemiology Project and has taught in Institutes in Alaska, Oregon, and Montana.

John M. Kobayashi, MD, is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology. Dr. Kobayashi was the State Epidemiologist for the Washington State Department of Health. He is presently a foreign advisor with the Field Epidemiology Training Program in Japan.

Patricia Kuszler, MD, JD, is Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Development in the UW School of Law. Dr. Kuszler holds Adjunct Professor appointments in both the School of Medicine and the School of Public Health and Community Medicine. She has developed and taught the public health law modules currently being offered through the NWCPHP's Summer Institute Programs in Montana, Seattle and Alaska. Dr. Kuszler teaches two courses in Public Health Law for the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, one focusing on the tension between individual rights and state police power, and a second focusing on organizational and jurisdictional issues confronting public health. The role of public health law in addressing the public health threats of terrorism and infectious disease outbreaks is central to much of Dr. Kuszler's public health law courses.

Patrick O'Carroll, MD, MPH, FACPM, is the Regional Health Administrator at U.S. D.H.H.S. Region X in Seattle. Prior to this, Dr. O'Carroll served as an EIS-trained medical epidemiologist with the Public Health Practice Program Office (PHPPO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and was assigned to the UW as an Executive Fellow in Public Health Informatics. He has also served as the Associate Director for Health Informatics at PHPPO and directed CDC's Health Alert Network program. Dr. O'Carroll is former Director of the Northwest Center for Public Health Practice.

Jeremy Sappington, MSPH, is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Health Services. Mr. Sappington teaches organizational management in the Masters in Health Administration Program. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Public Health and has 40 years of experience in public health education and organizational development.

Dennis Stillman, MHA, is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Health Services. Mr. Stillman has been a regular faculty member of the University of Washington since 1999 and has served as a clinical faculty member since 1989. He is the Associate Program Director of the Master of Health Administration Program and a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Health Services. Prior to joining the faculty, Dennis practiced health administration for 25 years, most recently as the chief financial officer of the University of Washington Medical Center.

John R. (Jack) Thompson, MSW, is a former Director of the Northwest Center for Public Health Practice at the University of Washington and is a Senior Lecturer with the Department of Health Services. Mr. Thompson has been on faculty in the School of Public Health and Community Medicine since November of 1994. Prior to that time, Thompson was employed by the Seattle-King County Department of Public Health for ten years, and was the Director of the Seattle Health Services Division from 1986-1994. Before coming to the Seattle-King County Department of Public Health, Thompson was Executive Director of Neighborhood Health Centers of Seattle, a consortium of community health centers, for six years.

Paul Wiesner, MD, is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Services. Dr. Wiesner has had a diverse career at all levels of governmental public health (local, state and national), including the CDC and the DeKalb County (Georgia) Health Department. He serves as the Hot Topics in Preparedness Forum Leader.