Region IV Public Health Training Center

Note: This is a recording of a webinar held on February 4, 2016. Training Overview According to the CDC, "in May 2015, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) issued an alert regarding the first confirmed Zika virus infection in Brazil. The outbreak in Brazil led to reports of Guillain-Barre syndrome and pregnant women giving birth to babies with birth defects and poor pregnancy outcomes." Since then, active Zika infections have been identified in Central America and the Caribbean. Cherie Drenzek, DVM, MS, State Epidemiologist, Georgia Department of Public Health will provide an overview of the Zika virus and its spread, including, what it is, how it's transmitted and who it affects. Dr. Drenzek will also discuss how to protect against Zika and how health departments can prepare to recognize, manage and report Zika infections and communicate prevention measure to the public. The course contains two modules: a content module and a resources and evaluation module. After accessing both modules, learners will earn a certificate of completion. When the certificate is available, learners will see a Certificate button on their dashboard. This recording is approximately 90 minutes. There are no prerequisites. Participants will need a broadband internet connection (Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred browsers) and computer speakers. For technical support, please contact emoryphtc@emory.edu. About the Trainer Dr. Cherie Drenzek grew up in Detroit, Michigan and received her bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences and her Master’s degree in Food Microbiology from Wayne State University in Detroit. She attended Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine and received her DVM in 1995; the same year, she entered the Epidemic Intelligence Service program at CDC and was stationed in the Rabies Section. Following EIS, Cherie was employed as an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine. This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UB6HP31680, Public Health Training Centers for $4,348,992. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government. Read More

Note: This is a recording of a webinar held on December 9, 2019. Training Overview Change can be scary. It involves terrible things like the unknown, discomfort, work, and losing control. It can also be an opportunity for discovery, growth, creativity, and letting go. In fact, these things are often two sides of the same coin. So how can we make the most out of a world where so much is constantly in flux? How can we move forward and be productive when we never seem to have enough information or time to make the right decision? Instructor Shana Merlin will be pulling tools from the world of improvisational theater, where change is happening constantly in front of a live audience. We will take a look at what our internal response is to change and see if we can shift it into something more productive. Like a good improviser,  participants will learn how to recover quickly from unexpected events, be curious about the unfamiliar, be flexible in response to new information and start things without knowing exactly how they will end. The course contains two modules: a content module and a resources and evaluation module. After accessing both modules, learners will earn a certificate of completion. When the certificate is available, learners will see a Certificate button on their dashboard. This recording is approximately 90 minutes. There are no prerequisites. Participants will need a broadband internet connection (Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred browsers) and computer speakers. For technical support, please contact emoryphtc@emory.edu. About the Trainer The Founder of Merlin Works, Shana Merlin is one of the most experienced and effective improv-based trainers in Texas. Shana is a lecturer in the College of Medicine Texas A&M University and an associate at the Center for Health Communication at the University of Texas.Presenting and performing nationwide, some of her clients have included Dell, T-Mobile, Silicon Labs, The University of Texas and Deloitte. Winner of “Best Improv Teacher” in Austin from the Austin Improv Collective, Shana founded Merlin Works, in 2003 to provide custom training, interactive presentations, and comedy shows to businesses and organizations using improvisation.  Some of her most requested fun, interactive programs are on the topics of team building, communication, sales, persuasion, leadership, making meetings matter, medical communications, and creativity.  This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UB6HP31680, Public Health Training Centers for $4,348,992. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government. Read More

Note: This is a recording of a webinar held on March 18, 2014. Training Overview This webcast is the fourth presentation in our 5-part series on Georgia’s health priorities.  This presentation will focus on tobacco in Georgia. Dr. Tim McAfee, Director of CDC's Office of Smoking and Health presents the national perspective on tobacco control, including on the recently released Surgeon General's Report and newly revised evidence-based best practices.  Dr. Jean O'Connor, Director of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) discusses progress on Georgia's continuing and emerging strategies to prevent tobacco use and help people in Georgia to quit, including data on the efficacy of and opportunities around expansion of Georgia's Tobacco Quitline; progress toward tobacco-free schools; and, tools and resources for tobacco-free colleges and universities The Models of Excellence lecture series highlights current public health issues or topics. The goal of the series is to explore the connection between innovation and public health practice as well as identify ways in which public health practitioners and health science faculty can facilitate the translation of innovation into practice.  The course contains two modules: a content module and a resources and evaluation module. After accessing both modules, learners will earn a certificate of completion. When the certificate is available, learners will see a Certificate button on their dashboard. This recording is approximately 90 minutes. There are no prerequisites. Participants will need a broadband internet connection (Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred browsers) and computer speakers. For technical support, please contact emoryphtc@emory.edu. About the Trainer Before coming to CDC in 2010, Dr. McAfee served as Chief Medical Officer for Free & Clear, a company that specializes in telephone- and Web-based programs to help improve health.Dr. McAfee also served as Executive Director and Medical Director of the Group Health Center for Health Promotion from 1997 to November 2003. He was a practicing family physician for more than a decade and a clinical faculty member at the University of Washington Family Medicine and School of Public Health. Dr. O'Connor served as the Deputy Director of Oregon Public Health. Prior to that, she worked in a number of scientific and policy roles at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Her work has focused on public health policy development, strategy, policy impact analysis and evaluation, and building the evidence base for policy change to improve chronic disease prevention, promote access to healthcare, and create prepared public health systems. This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UB6HP31680, Public Health Training Centers for $4,348,992. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government. Read More

Note: This is a recording of a webinar held on October 2, 2017. Training Overview Unconscious Bias refers to the biases we hold that are not in our conscious control. Research shows that these biases can adversely affect key decisions in the workplace. The session will enable you to work towards reducing the effects of unconscious bias for yourself and within your organization.  Using examples from gender bias in workplace hiring processes, it will help you to explore the link between implicit bias and the impact on the organization. The overall aim of the session is to provide participants with an understanding of the nature of Unconscious Bias and how it impacts on individual and group attitudes, behaviors and decision-making processes. The course contains two modules: a content module and a resources and evaluation module. After accessing both modules, learners will earn a certificate of completion. When the certificate is available, learners will see a Certificate button on their dashboard. This recording is approximately 90 minutes. There are no prerequisites. Participants will need a broadband internet connection (Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred browsers) and computer speakers. For technical support, please contact emoryphtc@emory.edu. About the Trainer Initially she was invited by leadership of the Advancement Recruitment and Retention of Women at MUSC to create a presentation on Unconscious Bias using concrete data and present it to leadership, faculty and search committees. She has now given over 20 of these presentations. She tries to educate the audience in a non-threatening way and hopes that her presentations will help reduce the glaring, obvious imbalances in diversity of the workplace. Recently, she formed the SNMMI committee for Women in Nuclear Medicine which encourage women physicians, pharmacists, physicists and scientists to become leaders and decision makers in nuclear medicine field.  This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UB6HP31680, Public Health Training Centers for $4,348,992. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government. Read More

Note: This is a recording of a webinar held on May 13, 2020. Training Overview This webinar was recorded live on May 13, 2020. In this presentation, we will discuss how models predict viral spread including the spread of COVID-19 as well as the impact it has on the community. We will review three modeling strategies used to model viral spread and how assumptions in models impact decisions made from various model outputs. We will also explore how models are used in public health policy to control infectious disease spread.  The course contains two modules: a content module and a resources and evaluation module. After accessing both modules, learners will earn a certificate of completion. When the certificate is available, learners will see a Certificate button on their dashboard. This recording is approximately 90 minutes. There are no prerequisites. Participants will need a broadband internet connection (Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred browsers) and computer speakers. For technical support, please contact emoryphtc@emory.edu. About the Trainer Dr. Suzanne Judd is the Director of the Lister Hill Center for Health Policy and a Professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  She received her MPH in Epidemiology and PhD in Nutrition Sciences from Emory University where she led two vitamin D clinical trials.  Dr. Judd is multiple PI on both the REGARDS and RURAL cohort studies and has worked with cohort studies in France through the Fulbright Scholar Program.  Dr. Judd’s research focuses on the role of diet and the environment as mediators of racial disparities in the risk of hypertension, kidney disease, and stroke. This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UB6HP31680, Public Health Training Centers for $4,348,992. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government. Read More

Note: This is a recording of a webinar held on January 29, 2018. Training Overview This webinar is an opportunity to address what works to reduce disparities in rural communities and what’s needed in future research and practice. It will provide information about existing tools and an upcoming launch of a compendium of resources and that can be helpful when adapting interventions to the needs of rural communities. The course contains two modules: a content module and a resources and evaluation module. After accessing both modules, learners will earn a certificate of completion. When the certificate is available, learners will see a Certificate button on their dashboard. This recording is approximately 90 minutes. There are no prerequisites. Participants will need a broadband internet connection (Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred browsers) and computer speakers. For technical support, please contact emoryphtc@emory.edu. About the Trainer Adimu has specialized experience in developing, administrating, and evaluating community health interventions designed to improve chronic care management practices and prevention strategies. Ms. Adimu provides technical assistance to grantees of the Health Resources and Services Administration including program and partnership development, evaluation design, and sustainability planning. She also provides technical assistance to selected sites participating in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded Bridging for Health: Improving Community Health Through Innovations in Financing. As a community coach for Spreading Community Accelerators through Learning and Evaluation (SCALE), she mentors community collaboratives that are implementing programs designed to achieve improved health and well-being of people, populations, and the community. She also works on a team established to assist Regional Health Ministries of the Trinity Health in attaining excellence in population health. This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UB6HP31680, Public Health Training Centers for $4,348,992. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government. Read More