Officers
President
José Thier Montero, MD, MPH
Director, Division of Public Health Services, New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services
José Thier Montero received his Doctor of Medicine and Surgery from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in 1986. In 1990 he received an International Fellowship in Family Medicine from the University of Texas, in Galveston. In 1992 he earned a Specialist in Family Medicine Degree from the Universidad del Valle in Cali, Colombia. Dr. Montero also earned an International Fellowship in Preventive Medicine in 1993 from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and earned an Epidemiologist Degree in 1992 from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogota, Colombia.
Dr. Montero began his medical career in Putumayo, Colombia. During 1995 to 1999 Dr. Montero served as Colombia’s Public Health Director, Consultant in Family Medicine, HIV Surveillance and Prevention Project Director, and Advisor to both the Vice-President of the Social Security Institute of Colombia and the Director of Juan XXIII local health system in Bogota, Colombia.
In 1999 Dr. Montero served as Behavioral Health Specialist at the WCA Hospital in Jamestown, New York. He began his New Hampshire service in 1999 as Chief of the New Hampshire Communicable Disease Section within the Division of Public Health. From July 2005 until April 2008, he held the position of the Department of Health and Human Services, State Epidemiologist. Currently, Dr. Montero is the Director of the Division of Public Health Services within the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services.
President-Elect
Terry L. Cline, Ph.D.
Commissioner, Oklahoma State Department of Health
Terry L. Cline, Ph.D., began his tenure as Oklahoma’s Commissioner of Health effective June 30, 2009. Dr. Cline was appointed to this position by the Oklahoma State Board of Health and he is the 20th State Health Commissioner to serve since the position was first created in 1907. In February 2011, Gov. Mary Fallin appointed him to serve concurrently as Oklahoma’s Cabinet Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Dr. Cline previously completed a post as Health Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, where he advised the U.S. Ambassador, the Iraqi Minister of Health, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on health-related challenges in Iraq. Dr. Cline served in this capacity under the Administrations of both President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama.
Prior to that position, Dr. Cline served as Administrator for the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) from 2006-2008, a position for which he was nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. As SAMHSA Administrator, Dr. Cline directed the $3.3 billion agency that is responsible for improving the accountability, capacity and effectiveness of the nation’s substance abuse prevention, addictions treatment, and mental health service delivery systems.
Dr. Cline has extensive experience in overseeing health and human services at the state level as well. In 2004, he was appointed by Gov. Brad Henry as Oklahoma’s Secretary of Health. At the same time, he served as Oklahoma’s Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, a position he held since January 2001.
Dr. Cline has also served as a local provider through an earlier post as the Clinical Director of the Cambridge Youth Guidance Center in Cambridge, Mass., and as a Staff Psychologist at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass. In addition, his professional history includes a six-year appointment as a Clinical Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Chairman of the governing board for a Harvard teaching hospital in Cambridge, Mass.
A native of Ardmore, OK, Dr. Cline attended the University of Oklahoma where he earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1980. He then received both a master’s degree and a doctorate in clinical psychology from Oklahoma State University. Dr. Cline has involved himself in community service, including membership on a number of local, state and national committees and boards with a focus on improving the overall health of the community and the nation.
Immediate Past President
David Lakey, MD
Commissioner, Texas Department of State Health Services
Dr. Lakey leads one of the Texas’ largest agencies with a staff of 11,500 and an annual budget of $2.5 billion. As Commissioner, Dr. Lakey oversees programs such as disease prevention and bioterrorism preparedness, family and community health services, environmental and consumer safety, regulatory programs, and mental health and substance abuse prevention and treatment programs. Dr. Lakey became Commissioner on January 2, 2007. Prior to becoming Commissioner, Dr. Lakey served as an associate professor of medicine, chief of the Division of Clinical Infectious Disease and medical director of the Center for Pulmonary and Infectious Disease Control at the University of Texas Health Center in Tyler. He had been a faculty member there since 1998. At the UT Center for Biosecurity and Public Health Preparedness, Dr. Lakey served as associate director for infectious disease and biosecurity. He also chaired a bioterrorism preparedness committee for 34 hospitals in East Texas and led the development of the Public Health Laboratory of East Texas in 2002.
Secretary-Treasurer
Mary Currier, MD, MPH
State Health Officer, Mississippi State Department of Health
Currier began her Mississippi State Department of Health tenure in 1984 and has served in various capacities including two terms as State Epidemiologist, from 1993 to 2003, and again since 2007. Currier has 25 years of state service experience and 20 years serving in public health. Prior to serving as State Epidemiologist, Dr. Currier was a medical consultant with the Mississippi State Department of Health, where she began her career as a staff physician for the prenatal care, family planning, STD, and pediatrics programs.
A graduate of the University of Mississippi, School of Medicine, Dr. Currier received her master's degree and preventive medicine residency training in public health from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. Currier's bachelor's degree is from Rice University, and she attended Trinity College in Dublin. Currier is a member of the American Medical Association, the Mississippi Central Medical Society, the American Public Health Association, and is board certified in general preventive medicine and public health.
Regional Representatives
Representative, Region I [Map]
Jewel Mullen, MD, MPH, MPA
Commissioner, Connecticut Department of Public Health
Prior to joining the department in 2010, Dr. Mullen was Director of the Bureau of Community Health and Prevention at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, leading the department’s divisions of Prevention and Wellness, Violence and Injury Prevention, and Primary Care and Health Access, and an Office of Statistics and Evaluation. While there, Dr. Mullen served as the state’s chronic disease director and was the principal investigator for a Chronic Disease Integration Demonstration project funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
With a professional focus on the intersection of public health and primary care, Dr. Mullen began her clinical career as a member of the National Health Service Corps at Bellevue Hospital in New York. She also is the former medical director of Baystate Mason Square Neighborhood Health Center in Springfield, Massachusetts. As a clinician educator, she has served on the medical school faculty at New York University, The University of Virginia, Yale and Tufts. Recently, she was appointed to the Advisory Committee on Breast Cancer Young Women.
Board certified in internal medicine, Dr. Mullen received her Bachelor and Master of Public Health degrees from Yale University where she also completed a post-doctoral fellowship in psychosocial epidemiology. A graduate of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, she completed her residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She also holds a Master in Public Administration degree from the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Representative, Region II [Map]
Nirav R. Shah, MD, MPH
Commissioner of Health, New York State Department of Health
Nirav R. Shah, MD, MPH took office in January 2011, making him the first Indian-American to serve as State Commissioner of Health, as well as the youngest person named to the post.
Before his government service, Dr. Shah was attending physician at Bellevue Hospital Center in Manhattan, associate investigator at the Geisinger Center for Health Research in central Pennsylvania, and assistant professor at the New York University School of Medicine in value and comparative effectiveness.
A native of Buffalo, Dr. Shah is an honors graduate of Harvard College and received his medical degree and master's degree in public health from the Yale School of Medicine. He was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at UCLA and a National Research Service Award Fellow at New York University.
Dr. Shah is a fellow of American College of Physicians and the New York Academy of Medicine. He has served on the editorial boards of medical journals, has published more than 90 peer-reviewed articles, and has received more than $4.5 million in research funding. He is certified in internal medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine.
Representative, Region III [Map]
Karyl Thomas Rattay, MD, MS
Director, Delaware Division of Public Health
Rita M. Landgraf, Secretary of the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, appointed Dr. Rattay on May 2, 2009. Dr. Rattay is board-certified in Pediatrics and Preventive Medicine. Prior to her appointment, she worked at Nemours Health & Prevention Services, where since 2004 she led their childhood obesity initiative and efforts to prevent overweight in primary care settings. Dr. Rattay also provided weight management clinical care at the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware. Between September 2001 and June 2004, Dr. Rattay served as a Senior Public Health Advisor to the Surgeon General and Assistant Secretary of Health in the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, HHS in Washington, D.C. She provided briefings, speeches, and presentations and supported congressional testimony related to overweight and obesity, physical activity and nutrition, specifically in children. Dr. Rattay staffed the U.S. Department of Agriculture/HHS Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee to revise the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. She had a leadership role on the President’s Healthier U.S. Initiative. As a board-certified pediatrician, Dr. Rattay has practiced pediatrics for nearly 14 years. She has published multiple articles in the field of childhood obesity and is an associate professor in the Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Rattay served as Initiative Chair of the Delaware Primary Care Initiative on Childhood Overweight, a Nemours quality improvement initiative. Dr. Rattay earned her MD from the Medical University of Ohio, completed her pediatric residency at Georgetown University and a preventive medicine residency at the University of Maryland. Dr. Rattay earned a Master’s of Science in Epidemiology from the University of Maryland in 2001. She holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in Zoology and Pre-Medicine, which she received in 1987 from Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio.
Representative, Region IV [Map]
Donald E. Williamson, MD
State Health Officer, Alabama Department of Public Health
Dr. Donald E. Williamson was appointed state health officer of the Alabama Department of Public Health in 1992 after serving as its director, Bureau of Preventive Health Services from 1988 to 1992 and prior to that as its director, Division of Disease Control form 1986 to 1988. Prior to joining the Alabama Department of Public Health, Dr. Williamson served as state tuberculosis control officer at the Mississippi State Department of Health. Dr. Williamson has been the recipient of a number of awards; most recently he received the 1999 Theodore R. Ervin Award from the Public Health Foundation and the 1999 AAP Child Health Advocate Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Williamson served as President of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials from 1997 to 1998. Among others, he has also served as a member of the Board of Directors from 1996 to 1999 of the Public Health Foundation and as a member of the Steering Committee on Access for the Uninsured of the National Academy for State Health Policy from 1998 to 2000. Dr. Williamson received his medical degree, cum laude, from the University of Mississippi, School of Medicine in 1979.
Representative, Region V [Map]
Edward Ehlinger, MD, MSPH
Commissioner of Health, Minnesota Department of Health
Prior to being appointed commissioner in January of 2011, Ehlinger served as director and chief health officer for Boynton Health Service at the University of Minnesota, from 1995 - 2011. He has also served as an adjunct professor in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health at the U of M School of Public Health. From 1980 to 1995, Ehlinger served as director of Personal Health Services for the Minneapolis Health Departent. Ehlinger holds a MD from the University of Wisconsin, Madison; a MSPH from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; and a BA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He has been honored with the Albert Justus Chesely Award from the Minnesota Public Health Association, the Advancement of Justice Award from the Hennepin County Bar Association, the first Ed Ehlinger Award from CityMatCH (urban maternal and child health directors), and the Physician Communicator Award from the Minnesota Medical Association.
Representative, Region VI [Map]
J.T. Lane
Assistant Secretary, Public Health, Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals
J.T. Lane oversees the Office of Public Health (OPH) within Louisiana’s Department of Health and Hospitals, Louisiana’s chief body concerned with protecting and promoting the health of all residents. OPH has six primary agencies: Center for Community and Preventive Health, Center for Records and Statistics, Bureau of Primary Care and Rural Health, Bureau of Emergency Medical Services, Center for Community Preparedness, and Center for Environmental Health. OPH provides services, manages programs, and oversees policy in personal health services, infectious disease surveillance and prevention, restaurant and food safety, plan review and inspection of public facilities, emergency medical services and preparedness, safe drinking water, and vital records.
Prior to his current appointment, Lane served as Chief of Staff for the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. He oversaw key functions of the agency and guided policy development, budget, planning, and management functions of the entire department. In that capacity, he also served as the Secretary’s primary advisor and oversaw operations of the Office of the Secretary.
Lane has also served in consulting and full-time roles for a variety of organizations, including Fortune 500s, internet technology start-ups, nonprofits, and government organizations across the country. He received his bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University.
Representative, Region VII [Map]
Joann Schaefer, MD
Chief Medical Officer, Director – Division of Public Health, Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services
At the time of her appointment in 2005, Dr. Schaefer was Deputy Chief Medical Officer of the Nebraska Health and Human Services System. She has also been involved in the state's pandemic flu planning effort. Dr. Schaefer helped develop Nebraska's nationally recognized smallpox vaccination plan as well as an accountability plan for the state's Child Protective Services.
Dr. Schaefer practiced family medicine in Omaha since her graduation from Creighton University Medical School in 1995 and was an associate professor there. Board-certified in family practice, she has been honored by the American Medical Women's Association as a Local Legend for her contributions to medicine and has served as an advocate on domestic violence prevention issues. She was honored by the Nebraska Medical Association as Physician of the Year in 2004.
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Representative, Region VIII [Map]
Wendy E. Braund, MD, MPH, MSEd, FACPM
State Health Officer, Wyoming Department of Health
On October 10, 2011, Dr. Wendy E. Braund became the Senior Administrator of the Public Health Division and the Wyoming State Health Officer in the Wyoming Department of Health. Previously, Dr. Braund was employed by the US Department of Health and Human Services for four years, most recently as Public Health Branch Chief in the Division of Public Health and Interdisciplinary Education, Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and Services Administration.
Dr. Braund is a 2007 graduate of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Preventive Medicine Residency Program and is board certified in General Preventive Medicine and Public Health. Her degrees include a BA from Duke University, MSEd from the University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education, MD from the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, and MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she is an Honorary Associate in the Department of Health Policy and Management.
Representative, Region IX [Map]
James W. Gillan, MS, HSA
Director, Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services
On April 4, 2011, James W. Gillan was appointed by the Governor of Guam and confirmed by the Guam Legislature to direct the activities of a multi-million dollar Health, Welfare, Environmental Health, and Aging Services Agency, the Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services.
Prior to his appointment as the Director of the Guam DPHSS, Mr. Gillan worked as a consultant, engaged by a branch of Tokio Marine Nichido Fire Insurance Company to review selected documents relative to their Health Insurance Branch, Nichido Insurance Company Pacific. These documents involved their relationship with their General Agent in Guam. As a consultant for PMC Isla Health System, he was responsible for reviewing the overall operations of a multi-specialty Medical Group Practice with approximately 20,000 patients. Since 2001, the major activity has been in the development of a fee structure, which enabled the practice to move from a majority of capitation service to a fee for service operation. This required the renegotiation of third party payer agreements that resulted in increased fees. More recent activity has been the development of MIS elements and Clinic Policies to comply with the Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). These policies and data elements safeguard patient encounter confidentiality.
As COO for the GMHP Health Insurance, Ltd, Mr. Gillan was in charge of the daily operations of this 45,000-member indemnity health insurance company. The company provided Medical and Supplemental Dental plans to Commercial/Private, Government of Guam, and Federal Government Accounts. Mr. Gillan assisted the President/CEO in the development of innovative medical insurance coverage products which were successfully marketed to the Island of Guam, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, and the Republic of Palau. In June 1999, this company absorbed the operations and employees of its sister company, GMHP Associates.
Additionally, he was responsible to the President/CEO for the operations of this 30,000 member Health Maintenance Organization. This company was formerly a Government owned hospital based HMO that was converted to a not-for-profit company. In 1997, he assisted the corporation in the conversion of the company to private for- profit status. Major duties during the period of employment included: participation in the development of a Management Information System (MIS), daily operations, and product development. An additional responsibility was to serve as the principal negotiator for the Government of Guam and U.S. Federal Government Health Benefit Plans. He also assisted in the development of Third Party Administrative Agreements with several former US Trust territories (see first item above) in which GMHP Associates provided for medical services in Guam, Hawaii, and the Philippines.
Representative, Region X [Map]
Past President
Mary C. Selecky
Secretary, Washington State Department of Health
Mary C. Selecky was appointed Secretary of the Washington State Department of Health by Gov. Gary Locke in March 1999. Before her appointment, Secretary Selecky served for 20 years as administrator of the Northeast Tri-County Health District in Colville, Washington. Throughout her career, she has been a leader in developing local, state and national public health policies. Secretary Selecky served an unprecedented two terms as ASTHO President. She served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of City and County Health Officials, the Legislative Committee of the Washington Rural Health Association, and is past president of the Washington State Association of Local Public Health Officials. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in political science and history and has been a resident of Washington State for 35 years.
Ex Officio Members
Paul E. Jarris, MD, MBA
Executive Director, ASTHO
Paul E. Jarris, MD, MBA was appointed Executive Director of ASTHO effective June 19, 2006. Prior to his appointment, Dr. Jarris served as State Health Official of the Vermont Department of Health from 2003 to 2006.
Dr. Jarris served as Medical Director for Vermont's largest nonprofit HMO, Community Health Plan, from 1992-1996. He was President and CEO of Vermont Permanente Medical Group from 1998-2000 as well as CEO of Primary Care Health Partners, Vermont's largest statewide primary care medical group, from 1999-2000. Throughout his career, Dr. Jarris has maintained an active clinical family practice, including work in federally qualified health centers and a shelter for homeless adolescent youth. He is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and the American Board of Medical Management.
Dr. Jarris graduated from the University of Vermont and received his MD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1984. He interned at Duke-Watts Family Medicine Residency Program in Durham, N.C. and completed his residency at the Swedish Family Practice Residency Program in Seattle, Washington. Following residency training, he received a Master's in Business Administration from the University of Washington.
Arvy Smith
Chair, Senior Deputies Committee
Deputy State Health Officer, North Dakota Department of Health
Arvy Smith was appointed deputy state health officer by Governor John Hoeven in November 2001. She has over 30 years of experience in state government, including 12 years as a management and fiscal analyst for the North Dakota Office of Management and Budget. In addition, Arvy worked in the auditing area for 10 years with the Department of Human Services and the State Auditor’s Office. A certified public accountant and a certified manager, Arvy earned a master’s degree in public administration with a healthcare certificate in 2008. In 1996, she received the George A. Bell Service Award from the National Association of State Budget Officers for her work on government performance measures. Arvy has served on various committees for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials and in 2011 received the Noble J. Swearingen Award for excellence in public health administration. She served as president and chair of the board for the Dakota West Chapter of the National Management Association. Arvy is a native of Bismarck and New England, N.D.
Amber Norris Williams
Chair, Affiliate Council
Executive Director, Safe States Alliance
Amber Norris Williams is Executive Director of the Safe States Alliance (formerly STIPDA). Amber was instrumental in providing leadership and support to the organization’s board of directors in examining and broadening its mission to include all professionals working to prevent injuries and violence and through an organizational name change in 2010. During her tenure, the Safe States Alliance has been nationally recognized for its leadership, including an Associations Advance America Award from ASAE and for service to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control’s Advisory Committee.
Amber is an active member of ASAE and the Center, most recently serving as the Chair of the Innovation Workgroup of the Small Staff Association Committee; the ASTHO Affiliate Council; and the American Public Health Association Injury Control and Emergency Medical Services Section.
Amber began her career in injury prevention at a local health department in the metro Atlanta area. She joined Safe States Alliance’s staff in 2003 and served as the Acting Executive Director between 2006 and 2007. Ms. Williams has a B.S. Ed in Health Promotion & Education from the University of Georgia and attended the Johns Hopkins Summer Institute on Injury Prevention in 2002.
Jay Clarence Butler, MD, CPE, FAAP, FACP, FIDSA
Alumni Board Member
Senior Director, Division of Community Health Services
Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium
Jay C. Butler, MD is Senior Director of the Division of Community Health Services at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium in Anchorage. Prior to joining the Consortium in April 2010, he was Director of the H1N1 Vaccine Task Force at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, and he was Chief Medical Officer of Alaska from 2007 to 2009. Earlier assignments have included serving as Alaska State Epidemiologist, 2005-07, Director of CDC’s Arctic Investigations Program, 1998-2005, and medical epidemiologist in CDC’s National Center for Infectious Diseases, 1991-98. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina Medical School, has completed clinical training at Vanderbilt and Emory Universities, and is board certified in infectious diseases, internal medical, and pediatrics. He has authored or co-authored over 100 scientific papers and medical textbook chapters on infectious diseases and emergency preparedness. His varied professional experiences include working as a physician for two months at a mission hospital in Kenya, leading the CDC field response to the initial Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome outbreak in the US in 1993, and serving as the CDC liaison to FBI Headquarters in Washington, DC during in the investigation of the anthrax attacks in the fall of 2001. He was a team co-leader during the CDC responses to the SARS outbreak of 2003, avian influenza in 2004, and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. He was governor of the Alaska chapter of the American College of Physicians from 2005 to 2009 and chair of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials Infectious Diseases Policy Committee 2008 to 2009.