Town Hall Meeting Speakers

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Speakers' Biographies

Heather Bradley, PhD

Epidemiologist, Behavioral and Clinical Surveillance Branch, Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, CDC

Dr. Bradley is an epidemiologist in CDC’s Behavioral and Clinical Surveillance Branch and works on the Medical Monitoring Project, a national surveillance system of HIV-infected adults in medical care.

Dr. Bradley graduated from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2009 with a doctorate in epidemiology. Following graduate school, she worked as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer for CDC in the Division of STD Prevention.

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Karalee Poschman, MPH

Epidemiologist, HIV Incidence and Case Surveillance Branch, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, CDC; Direct Assignee to the Florida Department of Health

Karalee is an epidemiologist in the HIV Incidence and Case Surveillance Branch, assigned to the Florida Department of Health in Tallahassee.

Karalee graduated from the Yale School of Public Health in 2002 with a master’s degree in public health in biostatistics. Following graduate school, she worked as a statistician and data manager for the PMS and Peripartum Research Program and Center for Perinatal, Pediatric and Environmental Epidemiology at Yale University. Prior to working for CDC, Karalee spent almost five years as an epidemiologist in the HIV/STD/TB/Viral Hepatitis Unit at the Texas Department of State Health Services, managing and analyzing data for the Routine HIV Testing Initiative and other HIV prevention activities.

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Venus Vacharakitja, MA

Director, Support Services, Apicha Community Health Center

Venus Vacharakitja is the director of Support Services at the Apicha Community Health Center in lower Manhattan, New York City. She provides oversight of program implementation within the department, including staff supervision, clinical oversight, quality control, and development of budgets and work plans.

Venus has more than 10 years of experience providing and managing case management-related services to clients who are underserved, such as individuals living with mental illness or HIV/AIDS. She has a master’s degree in social science and is pursuing a doctorate in clinical psychology.

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