Region IV Public Health Training Center

Note: This is a recording of a webinar held on October 16, 2014. Training Overview Health communication is a critical piece of keeping the public safe during a public health emergency. During this two hour interactive session, the audience will learn the principles behind crisis and emergency risk communication. Because each emergency is different, we will discuss ways to tailor messages for the crisis and emergency risk communication. During times of crisis, developing partnerships with stakeholders to disseminate messages is very important. Participants will learn about ways to develop these relationships for successful health communication. 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 105 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 Molly Gaines-McCollom has also completed two deployments to West Africa for Ebola. She has written, adapted, and disseminated critical health information for a range of audiences, including clinicians, community and faith-based organizations, epidemiologists, international populations, state and territorial health departments, vulnerable populations, and the general public. Prior to her work at CDC, Ms. Gaines-McCollom served over three years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mauritania, West Africa, where she coordinated a center for severely malnourished children and provided technical assistance to the country’s only association of HIV-positive persons. Ms. Gaines-McCollom earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from Haverford College, and her Masters of Public Health from the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University. She is currently pursuing a PhD in post-secondary and adult education. 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 July 2, 2020. Training Overview Preparing for hurricane season can be stressful especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this webinar, CDC experts will discuss special considerations for general population hurricane shelters during the COVID-19 pandemic and how community leaders, nonprofit organizations, and public health professionals can effectively communicate messages. They will also share hurricane resources and educational materials you can use and distribute within your own 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 Mollie Mahany, MPH and Sabrina Riera, MPH Mollie Mahany, MPH is a Senior Public Health Advisor at CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health.  Ms. Mahany has over 20 years of experience in disaster risk management, both domestically and abroad.  She has served on more than a dozen technical consultancies for the WHO, and has provides technical assistance to state, territorial and international governments and organizations on a broad range of public health issues including disaster risk reduction,  and emergency management. She is currently supporting the COVID-19 response as the co-lead COVID-19 Environmental Health Task Force and as a member of the CDC Hurricane Planning Workgroup. Sabrina Riera, MPH is a Digital Content Specialist with Tanaq Support Services supporting CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health. Since 2016, she has been actively involved in emergency preparedness and response efforts for natural, radiation, and chemical disasters. 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 February 25, 2019. Training Overview Forward-thinking public health professionals are reaching across sectors to build healthier communities. Many leaders in other sectors do not understand the value of collaborating with public health. PHRASES (Public Health Reaching Across Sectors) is designing the PHRASES Toolkit to provide evidence-based framing tools and resources to help public health professionals communicate and collaborate more effectively with other sectors. During this webinar, Maureen Byrnes of PHRASES and Melissa Monbouquette of the de Beaumont Foundation will share information about this upcoming toolkit and how public health practitioners will be better equipped to successfully advance partnerships with hospitals, housing, education, and the business sectors. 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 Maureen Byrnes, MPA and Melissa Monbouquette Maureen Byrnes is a Lead Research Scientist and Lecturer in the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University. Ms. Byrnes also serves as the Project Director of the de Beaumont Foundation/Aspen Institute PHRASES project. With over 30 years of experience Ms. Byrnes previously served as Director of the Health and Human Services program at The Pew Charitable Trusts as well as the Executive Director of the National Commission on AIDS. Melissa Monbouquette is a Program Officer at the de Beaumont Foundation. She provides grant management and technical assistance focusing on cross-sector collaboration, social determinants of health and upstream approaches to health improvement, and workforce development in the public health sector. She serves on the Executive Steering Committee and as coordinator of the BUILD Health Challenge, a national initiative working to reduce health disparities. 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 18, 2017. Training Overview This webinar will describe East Tennessee State University’s efforts to curb the opioid epidemic along the continuum of addiction. ETSU’s Academic Health Science Center has engaged multiple constituents to conduct federally funded research, community based practice and more importantly, to foster cross-sector engagement and education. The team hosts monthly meetings to facilitate partnerships across sectors with multiple aims. These aims include regional health improvement, research capacity development and community outreach. 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 Nick Hagemeier and Robert Pack Dr. Hagemeier earned a PharmD, MS, and PhD from Purdue University. With 9 years in community pharmacy settings, he is PI for a prescription drug abuse communication project.  He is Research Director of the Center for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment and Director of a Pharmacy Practice Research Fellowship. He’s obtained $2.3+M to conduct prescription drug abuse research. He received the 2016 TN Pharmacists Association GenerationRx Champions Award for engaging community pharmacists in prescription drug abuse prevention. Dr. Pack is PI of the NIH/NIDA-funded Diversity Promoting Institutions Drug Abuse Research Program, including a set of studies titled Inter-professional Communication to Prevent Prescription Drug Abuse and Misuse.  He trained in health education/promotion at the UAB SPH, did a post-doctoral fellowship at Emory Rollins SPH. He completed the NIH-funded Training Institute for Dissemination and Implementation Research in 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

Note: This is a recording of a webinar held on April 16, 2016. Training Overview As the nation continues to become increasingly diverse, public health professionals and health care providers must become culturally competent in their knowledge, development and implementation of practices informed by differing cultures, beliefs and attitudes. The social, cultural, and linguistic needs of patients, and the community at large, are critical in ensuring positive health outcomes, particularly for the nation’s poor and underserved. Participants will learn about significant disparate health factors that contribute to the need for cultural competence in the health workforce, identify barriers and challenges in developing, implementing, and sustaining a cultural competent environment, and understand principles, strategies, and best practices for the development of a culturally competent public health and health care workforce. 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 Cynthia M. Owens Harris, PhD, DABT Dr. Cynthia M. Harris is Director and Professor of the Institute of Public Health of Florida A&M University. Dr. Harris holds a BA (Honors) in Biology and an MA in Genetics from the Univ. of Kansas, as well as PhD in Biomedical Sciences from Meharry Medical College with concentration in the areas of nutritional biochemistry and toxicology. Dr. Harris was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship in the Interdisciplinary Programs in Health of the Harvard SPH. From 1990-1996, Dr. Harris served as a staff toxicologist and branch chief of the Community Health Branch at the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, where she was the first African American branch chief at ATSDR. Since her tenure at FAMU, she has been actively engaged in the general planning and development of the public health program. FAMU is the only HBCU that now also offers the MPH degree online. Dr. Harris is the Director of the FL Local Performance Site of the R-IV PHTC. 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 June 12, 2017. Training Overview In order to strive to eliminate health disparities, public health practitioners must go beyond cultural competency which is part of the process rather than an end goal. This webinar will discuss concepts of cultural humility such as maintaining a lifelong commitment to self-evaluation and self-critique, helping fix power imbalances where none ought to exist, and striving to develop partnerships with people and groups who advocate for others. Dr. Murray-Garcia will also share practical tools and resources to promote positive change through leadership and systems-level partnerships in communities to eliminate health disparities. 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 Jann Murray-García, MD, MPH, is a founding faculty member and assistant adjunct professor at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at University of California, Davis. With Melanie Tervalon, Murray-García coined and developed the concept of Cultural Humility in her most-oft cited publication, “Cultural Humility versus Cultural Competency: A Critical Distinction in Defining Physician Training Outcomes in Multicultural Education” (Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved). Dr. Murray-García teaches nurses in the master’s-degree Community Connections course about systems-level leadership. A pediatrician, she received an undergraduate degree from Stanford University, medical degree from UCSF, and master’s degree in Public Health from UC Berkeley. Her publications on race, health care and child development have appeared in journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine, Medical Care, and Academic 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