Current Leadership
Ashley Braun is the Past- Secretary of the Genomics Forum and the Chair of the Membership Communications Committee. She is a 2009 graduate of the University of Michigan with a B.A. in Psychology and is currently attending law school. Her interests in Public Health and work with the Life Sciences and Society Program lead her to the Forum where she is a member of the Special Projects, Policy, and Program Committees. Her involvement on these committees sparked her interest in Health Law.
Nicole Exe is the Secretary of the Genomics Forum and the Co-Chair of the Membership Communications Committee. She is currently a research associate at the Center for Behavioral and Decision Sciences in Medicine at the University of Michigan. Her work focuses on how patients understand, react, and make decisions about their health care including genetic testing. She has a Master's in Public Health in Health Behavior and Health Education with a concentration in Public Health Genetics and a Bachelor's in Biology both from the University of Michigan. She has previously been an intern at Genetic Alliance and worked for the Center for Public Health and Community Genomics on the Midwest Genomics Forum.
Heather Honoré joined the Genomics Forum in its inaugural year. She is Chair of the Policy Committee and a member of the Program, Workforce Development, and Special Projects Committees. She currently serves as a Health Services Research & Development Post-Doctoral Fellow for the Houston VA HSR&D Center of Excellence at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center. She has worked in the fields of social work and public health research for over five years and has additional training in molecular biology. Her research and practice interests focus on cancer control and prevention, genomic health education (workforce and general public), and policy.
H. Dean Hosgood, III, Ph.D., M.P.H., is the Co-Chair of the Genomics Forum and Past Chair of the Program Committee. When he was chair of the program committee, he worked to increase the Forum’s visibility and notoriety within the American Public Health Association by coordinating presentations of high-scientific merit at the annual meeting. Dr. Hosgood is an epidemiologist at the National Cancer Institute in the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics. His research is focused on inter-individual variation of cancer susceptibility associated with environmental exposures, specifically in Asia. Dr. Hosgood’s research has expanded on experimental and epidemiological evidence that suggests genetic variation and other intermediate end-point biomarkers influence lung cancer susceptibility in populations with indoor air pollution exposures from coal and wood combustion. Additional work has focused on genetic susceptibility to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and multiple myeloma, as well as genetic variation and intermediate end-point biomarkers among individuals exposed to benzene, formaldehyde, and trichloroethylene. Dr. Hosgood received his Ph.D. in Cancer Epidemiology and M.P.H. in Environmental Health Sciences from Yale University. He is originally from Pennsylvania, where he earned his B.S. in Chemistry from Carnegie Mellon University.
Tricia Page is Co-Chair of the Program Committee. She is currently Assistant Director of the Genomics and Public Health Program at Emory University. She is also a staff member for the CETT (Collaboration, Education, and Test Translation) program, which is sponsored by the NIH Office of Rare Diseases Research. Before taking her current position, she worked as manager for the Newborn Screening Program at Emory, a position that sparked her interest in public health. Tricia earned her Masters degree in Genetic Counseling from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. She is a native Atlantan, and earned her bachelor’s degree in Genetics from the University of Georgia. Her current interests include: newborn screening, religion and genetics, carrier screening, genetic services provision, and genetic testing for rare disorders.
Kimberly Kaphingst is the Chair of the Program Committee. She is currently the Head of the Communication Research Section in the intramural Social and Behavioral Research Branch at the National Human Genome Research Institute. Kim has been a member of APHA for 12 years; during this time, her research has focused on health literacy, cancer communication, and genomic communication. Her current research at the National Human Genome Research Institute is focused on developing and evaluating effective strategies for communicating genomic information to lay audiences with varying levels of health literacy
James O'Leary is the Chair of the Genomics Forum. He brings his experience as the Chief Innovation Officer of Genetic Alliance, where he works to transform health through genetics by creating an environment of openness centered on the health of individuals, families, and communities. He focuses on community involvement, grassroots action, and accessible technologies to advance the goal of better health and aims to build the communications and membership infrastructure of the Forum and help integrate genetics into the public health community.
Dr. Eduardo Velasco is the Chair of the Special Projects Committee. He has been a public health scholar and practitioner for the past 16 years. At his former job with Mexico’s National Institute of Public Health/School of Public Health of Mexico, he has held leadership positions as Chair of two Departments (Department of Health Policy Analyses and International Health and Department of Public Health Genomics) as well as Deputy Director for Academic Development. At Morgan State University School of Community Health and Policy, he is a Professor and Associate Dean and served for two years as Interim Chair for the Department of Public Health Analyses. He has conducted research as a PI on migrant health (epidemiologic surveillance), screening programs (HPV and cervical cancer) and genetic epidemiology (candidate genes for type 2 diabetes mellitus). He has served as a panel member for CDC research review section and published in peer reviewed journals. He has participated in faculty development and mentoring programs, as well as in research agenda development and priority setting. Dr. Velasco has taught several courses on research methods, statistics and epidemiology and conducted research seminars for doctoral and master of sciences programs.
Kristi Zonno
Kristi has worked in the clinical, industry, public health and currently the non-profit setting. Through her experience she has developed a strong interest policy from the organizational to the federal level, and appreciates its broad impact, which ranges from individuals to public health. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Providence College, a Certificate in Clinical Research from Boston University, and a Master of Science in Genetic Counseling from Arcadia University with Board Certification in Genetic Counseling from the American Board of Genetic Counselors.
Kristi currently works at Genetic Alliance as Director of Genetics and Health Policy, and views policy as one of many tools to improve health and create effective systems. Prior to joining Genetic Alliance she worked in public health as Program Manager for the RI Newborn Screening Programs, in clinical genetics as a pediatric and adult genetic counselor, as well as in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries as a clinical researcher where she spent seven years working on clinical trials primarily in oncology. In her time as a researcher she contributed to the clinical development of four compounds, one of which was subsequently approved for treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma.
Past Chairs (2008-2009)
Aaron Goldenberg, PhD MPH is the Chair of the Special Projects Committee. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioethics at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). He is also Assistant Director of the Center for Genetic Research Ethics and Law at CWRU. His work focuses on the ethical and social issues surrounding advances in public health genomics, biobanking, genetics and health disparities, and the intersection between bioethics and public health ethics.
Dr. Goldenberg received his PhD in Bioethics from Case Western. His dissertation focused on the ethical issues surrounding the use of Michigan's residual newborn screening bloodspots for research purposes. His project also included a review of state newborn screening policies and educational materials. Dr. Goldenberg has a MA in bioethics from Case Western and an MPH in Health Education and Public Health Genetics from the University of Michigan . Before beginning his PhD program, he was the Center Manager for the University of Michigan ’s Center for Genomics and Public Health.
Erin Payne is the Chair of the Policy Committee, helps to facilitate the Health Disparities Working Group, and is a member of the Gene-Environment Working Group. She is a recent graduate of the University of Michigan School of Public Health, where she will begin doctoral studies in the fall of 2009. Her research interests revolve specifically around chronic disease genetics with additional interests in health disparities, policy development, and pharmacogenomics. As a research assistant for the Life Sciences and Society Program at the University of Michigan she is also involved in community education and engagement on issues related to genetics and genomics.
Jody Platt
Jody Platt is the Chair of the Genomics Forum. She serves as the Assistant Director of the Life Sciences and Society Program at the University of Michigan, whose mission is to promote education, research, and community engagement on issues that arise from the ethical and social ramifications of the life sciences, including genomics. She has worked in the field of public health for over ten years on issues of genetics policy and education, public health workforce development, health disparities, communicable disease prevention, and access to health care. Jody chaired the Genomics Forum in its inaugural year and is committed to the Forum’s growth and sustainability.
Tiphané Turpin is Chair of the Membership and Communications Committee. She is also the communications manager of Genetic Alliance, a nonprofit health advocacy organization. At Genetic Alliance, she identifies and implements public relations initiatives, writes and edits web content, oversees organizational written communications, develops strategic communications plans, promotes events and tools, develops cohesive messaging and branding platforms, conducts external, media and stakeholder relations, and creates digital and print collateral. Tiphané is new to genetics and is enjoying learning a new area of health communication.