February 2012 VSTH Meeting Speakers

Back to Event Home Page

Speakers' Biographies

Mary Edmonds Cogswell, RN, DrPH

Senior Scientist, Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch, Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Mary Edmonds Cogswell, RN, DrPH, is a senior scientisMay 2016 VSTH Meeting Speakerst with the Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention.

Dr. Cogswell’s current research interests are optimizing nutrition, sodium reduction, and nutrition and cardiovascular disease. Dr. Cogswell has presented data on nutrition and obesity, both nationally and internationally; authored more than 90 publications, including more than 75 published in peer-reviewed journals; and served as an editorial board member for the Journal of Nutrition. She has mentored award-winning students and fellows and provided technical assistant on public health nutrition research and surveillance to states, localities, and national and international organizations.

Dr. Cogswell received a masters of public health in health services research and a doctorate in nutritional epidemiology from Johns Hopkins University, School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.

  Top of Page

Susan H. Svencer, MPH

Sodium Reduction Specialist, Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention and Control Program, Massachusetts Department of Public Health

Susan H. Svencer, MPH, is the sodium reduction specialist with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s (MDPH) Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention and Control Program. In this capacity, she leads the program’s efforts to reduce the sodium intake of the state’s population by managing communications and campaign development, integrating sodium messaging into all MDPH programs, and collaborating with the Massachusetts-based food industry to support and encourage sodium reduction initiatives.

Previously, Svencer worked with a community-level drug and alcohol prevention coalition in Arlington, MA on strategic planning and program implementation. In addition, she has more than 12 years of experience in healthcare market research. Svencer is a skilled qualitative moderator, having conducted hundreds of in-depth interviews and focus groups with a variety of healthcare professionals and patients. She has also designed, implemented, and managed countless primary quantitative research studies across multiple therapeutic areas, with particular interest in cardiovascular disease.

Svencer received her master of public health degree from Boston University School of Public Health and bachelor of arts from Tufts University.

  Top of Page

Glynnis Hunt, MS

Sodium Reduction in Communities Project Director, Schenectady County Public Health Services

Glynnis Hunt, MS, is the Sodium Reduction in Communities project director for Schenectady County Public Health Services in Schenectady County, New York. Hunt also directs the Healthy Communities Strategic Alliance for Health, which is focused on improving nutrition, increasing physical activity, and reducing tobacco use and exposure in the most poverty-stricken areas in Schenectady County.

Hunt has worked in diverse roles during her 12 years in public health. She spearheaded a variety of public health programs, including lead-free neighborhoods, HIV partner notification, teen pregnancy prevention initiatives, H1N1 volunteer coordination and public relations, STD prevention programs, and community health assessments. This varied background has lent itself well to leveraging resources, building synergy, and facilitating community change at the ground level in Schenectady County around chronic disease prevention.

Hunt holds a masters degree in health education.

 Top of Page