Meet ATHN’s OPHI Team
As Senior Advisor on Public Health, Policy and Equity Melissa assists ATHN, NHPCC and the Office of Public Health Initiatives to integrate health equity, inclusion, and equality throughout the organizations. With a distinguished background in public health, Melissa spent nine years at the CDC Division of Blood Disorders where she helped create and co-lead the first national program and data collection system for sickle cell disease and thalassemia. In addition to her work at ATHN, she is also an Assistant Professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan. She received her PhD in interdisciplinary studies and her MPH in Public Health from Emory University.
Email: mcreary@athn.org
As Senior Director, Office of Public Health Initiatives, Justine is responsible for supporting ATHN’s efforts to coordinate federal programs, strengthen partnerships, implement health equity programming, and leverage ATHN’s capabilities to support medically underserved populations. Justine comes to the position with 20 years of experience working in public health, including public health practice work at the city, county, state, and national level, as well as experience training the next generation of public health practitioners as a faculty member. Most of her experience has focused on chronic disease prevention, management, and policy change, with a focus on health equity. She received her MSPH from the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Email: jkaplan@athn.org
As Director of the National Hemophilia Program Coordinating Center, Abby is responsible for the strategic development and leadership of the NHPCC, including ongoing collaboration with HRSA and the Regional Hemophilia Networks to identify gaps in services, standardize and improve access to care and share best practices through the creation and implementation of national initiatives. Abby has more than 15 years' experience in public health working across a range of topic areas, including physical activity promotion, obesity prevention, healthy communities, overdose prevention, and state-level chronic disease prevention, in research, non-profit, and government settings. Her work has focused on building collaborative relationships across organizations and partners, translating emerging and evidence-based interventions, creating opportunities to share best practices and successes, and designing both virtual and in-person peer learning opportunities - all with a focus on equity and systems thinking. She received her MPH from the UNC-Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health.
Email: alowewilson@athn.org
As the Director of the Community Counts Surveillance Project, Norma oversees the coordination of Community Counts in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She is a licensed registered nurse with a Master of Science in Nursing and a Master of Business Administration. Before joining ATHN in 2016, Norma served as the program manager for the Kansas City Regional Hemophilia Center.
Email: nwolf@athn.org
As the Community Counts Program Manager, Sarah’s role is to support the activities and goals of the Community Counts project. She is a certified clinical research professional with a Bachelor of Science degree. Before joining ATHN in 2023, Sarah served as Program Director and research coordinator for the Bleeding and Clotting Disorders Institute in Illinois.
Email: sgonzales@athn.org
For more information, contact ATHN at support@athn.org.