| News Archive Tampa, FL (April 9, 2010) Dr. Conti Named Outstanding Woman in Public Health http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/health/now/?p=11851 These are among the many reasons Florida’s Division of Environmental Health Director Lisa Ann Conti, DVM, MPH, has been named the Florida Outstanding Woman in Public Health for 2010 by the University of South Florida College of Public Health. The College bestows the award each year to a woman whose career accomplishments and leadership have contributed significantly to the field of public health in Florida. Dr. Conti was honored at an awards ceremony April 7 in the COPH Samuel P. Bell, III Auditorium.
As director of the Florida Division of Environmental Health, Dr. Conti oversees the statewide activities and programs of the office to maintain and improve the state’s environment, ensure quality services to decrease or eliminate the occurrence of preventable diseases, and to maintain surveillance, investigation and education of diseases of environmental origin. She leads five bureaus: Environmental Public Health Medicine, Onsite Sewage Programs, Community Environmental Health, Water Programs, and Radiation Control, as well as the Office of Environmental Health Informatics and Preparedness. During the 2004 hurricane season, when four separate hurricanes crossed the state, Dr. Conti created “Strike Teams” that are made up of environmental and public health professionals trained to address the special needs of disaster ravaged areas. These Strike Teams were outfitted with “To Go” kits that included essential equipment and deployed to assist in the recovery of affected counties. Dr. Conti then developed the curriculum to train environmental professionals statewide. Her Strike Team concept and training have become national models for disaster response. Dr. Conti earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Florida in 1988, and her Master of Public Health degree from USF in 1993, and she is board certified by the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine. She is currently an adjunct instructor at the College of Veterinary Medicine at UF and has also taught at Florida State University and Tallahassee Community College. Before becoming director of the Florida Division of Environmental Health in 2003, Dr. Conti was State Public Health Veterinarian in the Florida Department of Health. The Florida Outstanding Woman in Public Health Award was initiated by USF in 1988, and nominations are solicited from public health practitioners across the state. Past honorees have included Lillian Stark, director of virology at the Florida Department of Health Tampa Branch Laboratory; Jean Malecki, director of the Palm Beach County Health Department; and University of Miami epidemiologist Lora E. Fleming, MD. - Story by Sarah Worth, and photo by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications Tampa, FL (April 9, 2010) USF Celebrates National Public Health Week http://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/health/now/?p=11820 The 100th Anniversary of the Florida Department of Health’s Tampa Laboratory was a highlight of the College of Public Health’s weeklong celebration
The USF College of Public Health celebrated National Public Health Week, April 5-11, with activities ranging from a Global Health Career Night and the college’s annual awards ceremony to student-led tours of the environmental and occupational health laboratories. One of the highlights of the week was the celebration April 8th of the 100th anniversary of the Florida Department of Health’s Bureau of Laboratories, Tampa Branch Laboratory. Since 2001 the laboratory has operated out of the William G. (Doc) Myers Building it shares with the USF Center for Biological Defense on the university’s Tampa campus — strengthening the USF’s longstanding partnership with Florida’s public health system.
Many of the laboratory’s 60 employees joined public health officials from Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Tampa and elsewhere to recognize the Bureau of Laboratories, Tampa Lab, achievements in promoting, protecting and improving the health of all citizens in the region. The laboratory’s staff provides reference testing for hospitals, commercial laboratories and private clinics as well as performing testing to detect viruses, including influenza, St. Louis encephalitis, West Nile, eastern equine encephalitis, polio, rabies, herpes, smallpox and monkey pox. The Tampa lab is one of five in the state’s public health laboratory network and works in tandem with Florida’s 67 county health departments. “The country cannot function without a strong public health system, and the public health system cannot function without strong public health laboratory services,” said Phil Amuso, PhD, director of the DOH Bureau of Laboratories, Tampa, and an alumnus of the USF College of Public Health.
Douglas Holt, MD, director of the Hillsborough County Health Department and professor of medicine at USF Health, read a proclamation from Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio. The proclamation read, in part, that the Bureau of Laboratories-Tampa Laboratory’s unique arrangement with the USF Center for Biological Defense “has provided students with a convenient location to perform special research and has allowed collaboration on numerous biodefense-related research projects, including the testing and detection efforts of any significant national biological risks such as the anthrax attacks in 2001 and the H1N1 influenza virus A outbreak in 2009.” For a description of the National Public Health Week activities at USF, click here. For National Public Health Week video, click here. RELATED STORY: Dr. Conti Named Outstanding Woman in Public Health MORE PUBLIC HEALTH WEEK PHOTOS…
- Story by Anne DeLotto Baier, and photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications Tampa, FL (April 2, 2009) — Sandra Magyar, executive director of the Florida Public Health Association (FPHA), has been named the Florida
Outstanding Woman in Public Health for 2009 by the University of South Florida College of Public Health. The College bestows the award each year to a woman whose career accomplishments and leadership have contributed significantly to the field of public health in Florida. Magyar was honored at an awards ceremony April 1 at the USF College of Public Health Auditorium in Tampa. Under Magyar’s leadership, the FPHA has nearly doubled its membership to one of the largest of any state American Public Health Association (APHA) affiliate. Many other organizations in Florida and nationwide have sought to use the model Magyar developed for the FPHA in advancing public health advocacy, education and networking. Magyar started her career as a health educator at the Duval County Public Health Unit in 1973, rising to the position of Operations and Management Consultant Manager. She became executive director of FPHA in 2002, after serving in a variety of volunteer positions for the organization including annual education conference chair, executive board member, and president. She was instrumental in creating the Florida Public Health Foundation, which was subsequently funded by the Florida Legislature to serve the state’s public health interests. Magyar has been executive director of the American Association of Public Health Physicians and of the Florida Association of County Health Officers, the state group of county health department executives. She currently chairs the Board of Directors for the State Employees Credit Union. She helped forge a connection between the USF College of Public Health’s Public Health Leadership Institute and FPHA, raising awareness among members interested in career development or pursuing graduate studies in public health. Magyar has been recognized for her work and scope of leadership with prestigious awards from the FPHA, the Southern Public Health Association and the APHA. She holds a master’s of education degree in health education with an emphasis in administration from the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. The Florida Outstanding Woman in Public Health Award was initiated by USF in 1988, and nominations are solicited from public health practitioners across the state. - USF Health - USF Health is dedicated to creating a model of health care based on understanding the full spectrum of health. It includes the University of South Florida’s colleges of medicine, nursing, and public health; the schools of biomedical sciences as well as physical therapy & rehabilitation sciences; and the USF Physicians Group. With more than $360 million in research grants and contracts last year, USF is one of the nation’s top 63 public research universities and one of 39 community-engaged, four-year public universities designated by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. For more information, visit www.health.usf.edu. - Photo by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications |
