John Ehiri, PhD

Dr. Ehiri is a Professor and Director of the Division of Health Promotion sciences, MEZCOPH at the University of Arizona. His research and teaching focus on social and behavioral aspects of disease prevention, and on global maternal, child and adolescent health-all linked by program intervention design, evaluation methodology and evidence-based policy/practice.

His recent book, "Maternal and Child Health: Global Challenges, Programs and Policies" is the first comprehensive textbook that is entirely devoted to the topic of global maternal and child health. He is the principal investigator of this graduate certificate program in MCH Epidemiology funded by HRSA/MCHB.

Dr. Ehiri is the primary instructor for the class "Evidence-Based Methods MCHt" and "Project Design, Implementation & Evaluation." View Bio

Douglas Taren, PhD

Dr. Taren is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Public Health, at the University of Arizona. Currently, he serves as president-elect of ATMCH. He has worked extensively with state WIC programs in Arizona, New York, Florida, Navajo Nation and the U.S. Virgin Islands training WIC staff on the collection and interpretation of dietary and anthropometry data.

His current research is on developing the night vision threshold test (NVTT) to assess for vitamin A deficiency in developing countries.  It seeks to evaluate and compare two vitamin A distribution methods for night blind pregnant women in Nepal.

Over the past several years, Dr. Taren has worked to advance graduate education to make it culturally appropriate and learned centered. He is the former Director for the UA MPH beginning in 1993, and former Director for the FCH concentration. Dr. Taren was the founding member of the Rocky Mountain Public Health Education Consortium (RMPHEC), and former Project Director for the MCHB funded Rocky Mountain MCH Certificate Program.

Janet Foote, PhD

Dr Foote is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, College of Public Health, at the University of Arizona.

She teaches the online Basic Principles of Epidemiology course. As a Nutritional Epidemiologist, Dr. Foote completed post-doctoral training analyzing data from the Multiethnic Cohort Study and continues actively working in cancer prevention education and research. Along with working with Public Health Practice MPH students, she is currently assisting the Arizona WIC program with epidemiologic analyses.

Dr. Foote is the primary instructor for the class "Basic Principles of Epidemilogy."

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Sydney Pettygrove, PhD

Dr. Pettygrove is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, at the University of Arizona. She primarily works on the effects of environmental and occupational exposures on reproductive outcomes including birth defects and developmental disabilities. She has investigated the role of environmental exposure to pesticides in neural defects and is currently working on a monitoring program for autism in Maricopa County, Arizona. Dr. Pettygrove is also the Lead Location Investigator for the Maricopa County National Children's Study Arizona Study Center.

She is the primary instructor for the class "Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology." View Bio

Francisco Garcia, MD, MPH

Dr. Garcia is the Distinguished Outreach Professor of Public Health, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Mexican American Studies and Clinical Pharmacy at the University of Arizona. He is the Director of the University of Arizona Center of Excellence in Women’s Health, Chair of the Section of Family & Child Health, and Co-Director of the Cancer Disparities Institute of the Arizona Cancer Center. His research and clinical expertise is in the area of pre-malignant cervical disease and human papillomavirus infection affecting the female lower genital tract, and the evaluation of new technologies and therapeutics for cervical cancer precursors.

Dr. Garcia also has a long established interest in the cancer prevention among US-Mexico Border, Southwest American Indian, and Latin American populations. Dr. Garcia is a member of a variety of national committees including the NIH Advisory Committee for Research on Women’s Health, the American Cancer Society Gynecologic Cancer Advisory Committee, and he is Chair of the ACS HPV Vaccine Clinical Guidelines Committee and the International Affairs Committee. He also leads the HPV Comprehensive Services Task Force of the Association for Reproductive Health Professionals and Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Dr. Garcia is the President of the Hispanic Serving Health Professions Schools, a national organization concerned with Hispanic health care workforce and public health issues.

Dr. Garcia is the primary instructor for the class "Maternal and Child Health."

Lorie Wayne Chesnut, MPH

Ms. Chesnut is a Faculty member in the Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health at the University of Kentucky and has worked in the field of maternal and child health (MCH) epidemiology for over fifteen years.

She is currently completing her doctorate (ABD) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the Maternal and Child Health Policy and Leadership Program, under the Department of Health Care Organization and Policy.

Her primary research interests are rural health disparities, perinatal epidemiology, oral health, maternal mortality, birthweight distribution, preterm birth and surveillance.  While primarily addressing issues pertaining to data collection and analysis, she is also working to improve federal and state systems of care for American Indian and Alaskan Native women, infants, and children through enhanced system integration and expanded resources for both tribal governments and state offices.   Ms. Chesnut’s research also includes the history of maternal and child health care for both Native Americans and people of the First Nations in Canada. 

Ms. Chesnut is the primary instructor for the class "Maternal and Child Health Information and Data Systems." View Bio

Eula J. Spears, BSN, Ms Ed, (RN)

Ms. Spears is the Assistant Dean for Practice and Service in the College of Public Health at the University of Kentucky and currently coordinates the student practicum experiences. She has extensive background in continuing education through her work at the state level as well as public health nursing experience. Ms. Spears has served as a nursing instructor at numerous colleges and healthcare facilities. She has extensive public health leadership and management experience in community assessment, applied research projects, directing and administering federal grants and cooperative agreements, manage surveillance systems, and building learning networks.

Ms. Spears is the primary instructor for the class "Cultural Competence for Maternal and Child Health Care." View Bio

James C. Cecil, DMD, MPH

Dr. Cecil grew up in a rural part of Kentucky just east of Louisville, the town famous for the running of the Kentucky Derby.   He received his Bachelors degree from Bellarmine College in 1966 and his Doctor of Dental Medicine from the University of Kentucky in 1970.   After practicing in Lancaster, Kentucky for several years, he relocated to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to earn his Masters of Public Health degree at the University of Michigan.  While at the U of M, he completed all but his dissertation as he worked toward his doctoral degree in dental epidemiology.

After a distinguished career in the United States Navy, which included an assignment as Specialty Advisor to the Navy Surgeon General, he returned to Kentucky to teach at the University of Kentucky in 1996.   Then in 2001, he was appointed Administrator of the Oral Health Program for the Kentucky Department for Public Health.  

In 2005, Dr. Cecil was recognized by the APHA for lifetime achievements through the receipt of the John W. Knutson Distinguished Service Award.   And in 2006, he received a “Daytime Emmy” for the History Channel documentary “Methamphetamine or Life”, which chronicles the methamphetamine epidemic in the United States. 

Dr. Cecil also coordinates the MCH Certificate Program for the College of Public Health at the University of Kentucky.   Because of his experience with public health at the national, state and local level, Dr. Cecil will coordinate the MCH Practicum experience for students.

Raymond E. Hill, DrPH

Dr. Hill is an Assistant Professor in the Health Services Management Department of the College of Public Health at the University of Kentucky and he is the Primary Investigator for the "Foundations in Maternal and Child Health" grant at the University of Kentucky.

His research interest is in public health workforce development and application of evidence based decision making in public health. Dr. Hill also has extensive experience in international health services management education.

Because of his expertise, Dr. Hill will be lending support to many aspects of the certificate program at the University of Kentucky. He will assist Ms. Spears in "Cultural Competence for Maternal and Child Health Care" and he will also work closely with Dr. Cecil in facilitating the student Practicum experience.

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Jeannette (Jennie) I Mullins BS MPH

Jennie Mullins is the Project Director and Co-Investigator for the Southwest Public Health Leadership Institute and the Professional Development Coordinator at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health (MEZCOPH). Jennie, along with the SWPHLI’s team, recently launched a new leadership development program for the US-Mexico Border region called Leaders across Borders/ Lideres a traves de las Fronteras. The program is a collaborative effort between the U.S. Mexico Border Health Commission, and numerous border wide partners including Arizona’s Office of Border Health, the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico and the Pan American Health Organization’s Border Office.

In recent years, she has promoted collaborative leadership to public health professionals by implementing the Turning Point Collaborative Leadership Training Series, which she co-teaches with Ken Schachter in the MPH program. Jennie also teaches a public health leadership course to Health Education undergraduate students at the College of Public Health.

Jennie has extensive experience in grant writing, program development and evaluation of community health and education and training programs. In particular, she directed the development of the Arizona Academy without Walls, a training series for county and tribal public health professionals.  She has worked closely with the Arizona Center for Public Health Preparedness and spearheaded the development of the Arizona tribal preparedness training project in 2005-2006 and helped plan and conduct a national tribal preparedness training assessment.

She has worked extensively with the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona, the Tohono O’odham Nation and the urban Indian health program in the Tucson Area on community health initiatives. View Bio