July 2012 VSTH Meeting Speakers

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Speakers' Biographies

Christina (Christy) Porucznik, PhD, MSPH

Assistant Professor, Division of Public Health, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of Utah

Dr. Porucznik’s research area of interest is in appropriately timing measurement of exposures. In 2004, she began working on the issue of prescription drug abuse as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer serving at the Utah Department of Health, and has since used various data sources to define the problem and evaluate the impact of interventions.

Dr. Porucznik is presently the principal investigator for two grants, “Peri-Conceptional Exposure Assessment” (NIEHS R01), and “Identifying the Impact of a Regulatory Change on Controlled Substance Prescribing” (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation—Public Health Law Research). Dr. Porucznik teaches in the Division of Public Health and serves on numerous graduate student committees (MPH, MSPH, and PhD). She is the co-director of the Salt Lake Mothers’ Milk Donation Center and faculty advisor for the Public Health Student Advisory Committee.

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Leonard J. Paulozzi, MD, MPH

Medical Epidemiologist, Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Dr. Paulozzi began his career at CDC in the Epidemic Intelligence Service in 1983 as a field officer assigned to Washington State to work on injuries and chronic diseases. He subsequently worked in the state health departments of Washington and Vermont for 10 years before returning to the CDC. He joined CDC’s injury center in 2000, where he had a leading role in the design and startup of the National Violent Death Reporting System and other surveillance systems. He has been concentrating on the problem of drug overdose, especially those due to prescription drugs, since 2005.

Dr. Paulozzi has authored and coauthored more than 90 publications during his 27 years working in public health. He has testified at Senate and House hearings related to prescription drug use, and his work is frequently cited in both the popular press and scientific literature.

Dr. Paulozzi received his bachelor’s degree from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1974, and his medical degree from Ohio State University in 1979. He also received a master’s degree in public health from the University of Washington in 1981. He is board certified in preventive medicine.

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J. Timothy Whitmire, PhD

Social/Clinical Research Specialist, State Center for Health Statistics, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services

Dr. Whitmire has served as a social/clinical research specialist for the North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics for over 18 years. He provides public health agencies and university-based researchers with timely statistical information related to a wide range of public health topics, such as diabetes, asthma, breast cancer, childhood obesity, and unintentional drug poisoning. This information helps inform decisions by program and policy makers about the health management of populations, cost-effectiveness of programs, quality of care, and accountability.

Dr. Whitmire holds a doctorate degree in sociology from North Carolina State University and has authored and co-authored many research articles in North Carolina government publications and peer-reviewed journals.

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