Town Hall Meeting Speakers

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Speakers' Biographies

Dafna Kanny, PhD

Senior Scientist, Alcohol Program, Division of Population Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC

Dafna Kanny, PhD, is a senior scientist with the Alcohol Program in CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. In this position, she helps lead the program’s work to improve public health surveillance on underage and binge drinking, provides technical assistance to state alcohol epidemiologists, and collaborates on national initiatives to prevent excessive drinking.

Prior to assuming her current position, Dr. Kanny worked for more than eight years at the Georgia Division of Public Health as chief epidemiologist and as senior director for the Office of Epidemiology, Evaluation, and Health Information. She also served as an officer for the Epidemic Intelligence Service in CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

Dr. Kanny holds master and doctoral degrees in medical sociology and an undergraduate degree in political science from Bar Ilan University in Israel.

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Timothy Naimi, MD, MPH

Associate Professor of Medicine, School of Medicine and School of Public Health, Boston University; Pediatrician, Boston Medical Center

Timothy Naimi, MD, MPH, is a physician who is board certified in internal medicine, pediatrics, and preventive medicine. He did his epidemiology training with CDC and was a senior epidemiologist with CDC’s Alcohol Team from 2002–2009.

Dr. Naimi is currently an associate professor with the Boston University Schools of Public Health and Medicine and is a physician at Boston Medical Center. His areas of interest in alcohol include binge drinking, youth drinking, and alcohol control policy.

Dr. Naimi received his undergraduate degree in history and science, his masters in public health from Harvard University and a medical doctorate from the University of Massachusetts. He completed his internal medicine and pediatric residency at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, as well as a preventive medicine residency with CDC.

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Laura Tomedi, PhD, MPH

Alcohol Epidemiologist, Substance Abuse Epidemiology Section, Epidemiology and Response Division, New Mexico Department of Health

Laura Tomedi, PhD, MPH, is a CDC-funded alcohol epidemiologist with the New Mexico Department of Health. Dr. Tomedi currently chairs the Alcohol Subcommittee of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) and is a member of the New Mexico State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup. Her current interests include alcohol-related epidemiology, policy, and programmatic support.

Prior to joining the New Mexico Department of Health, Dr. Tomedi was a CDC/CSTE Applied Epidemiology Fellow in chronic disease. She received a masters of public health degree from the University of New Mexico and her doctoral degree in epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh.

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