(Displayed in chronological order by presentation slot.)

Dr. John T. Brooks is an internist and clinical infectious diseases expert who serves as the Chief Medical Officer to the CDC’s Division of HIV Prevention where he coordinates the division’s activities related to the national “Ending the HIV Epidemic” initiative. Dr. Brooks is a widely recognized expert in the clinical epidemiology of HIV. He has published greater than 200 peer-reviewed papers and participates in multiple HIV-related national guidelines. Dr. Brooks recently served voluntarily as the Chief Medical Officer the CDC’s COVID-19 Response and then Chief Medical Officer for the CDC Monkeypox Response. Dr. Brooks has led teams during CDC emergency responses to anthrax, SARS, Ebola, and Zika. Dr. Brooks came to CDC as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer in 1998 after completing medical school, residency in internal medicine, and a fellowship in infectious diseases through Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Krystle A. Lang Kuhs, PhD, MPH is an Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health. Dr. Kuhs is also Co-Leader of the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program at the Markey Cancer Center.  Dr. Kuhs is a molecular epidemiologist. Her program focuses on developing novel molecular predictors of head and neck cancer risk, response to treatment and risk of recurrence, with a particular focus on head and neck cancers caused by infections such as human papillomavirus (HPV).  Dr. Kuhs received her PhD in biomedical sciences from the University of Pennsylvania in 2011. Her thesis focused on the development of novel cancer vaccines to prevent hepatitis C infection which resulted in 4 patented vaccines. Following her PhD, Dr. Kuhs was selected for the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program. Through this program, Dr. Kuhs received a Master of Public Health in 2012 from Johns Hopkins University where she concentrated in Epidemiology and Biostatistics. In 2012, Dr. Kuhs joined the NCI Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, Infections, and Immunoepidemiology Branch where she conducted her post-doctoral research focused on human papillomavirus (HPV). Dr. Kuhs has earned several awards for research excellence including the NIH Fellows Award for Research Excellence, American Society of Prevention Oncology New Investigator Award, NIH Intramural Research Award and the Markey Women Strong Research Award.  Dr. Kuhs previously held an NCI K07 Mentored Career Development Award and currently serves as principle investigator on an R01 from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) and R21 from NCI. 

Maroya Spalding Walters, PhD, ScM is a CDR in the USPHS and an Epidemiologist who has led the Antimicrobial Resistance Team in the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) ~7 years. Dr. Walters completed a B.A. in Chemistry at Carleton College, and a ScM. in Epidemiology and Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, both from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.  She joined the Epidemic Intelligence Service at the CDC in 2011, and continued at CDC as a staff epidemiologist, joining the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion in 2014. Dr. Walters and her team prevent the spread of antimicrobial resistance through public health prevention and response activities.

Tim Uyeki, MD, MPH, MPP, is the Chief Medical Officer in the Influenza Division, CDC, and has worked at CDC on the epidemiology, clinical aspects, prevention, and control of seasonal, zoonotic, and pandemic influenza in the U.S. and worldwide since 1998. He co-chaired the IDSA Influenza Clinical Practice Guidelines published in 2019 and has been a consultant to the World Health Organization on seasonal, avian, and pandemic influenza, Ebola, SARS, MERS, and COVID-19. Dr. Uyeki is also a member of the NIH COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel, and the WHO Guidelines Development Group on Therapeutics and COVID-19.

Dr. Ritu Banerjee is Professor in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She is the Director of the Pediatric Antimicrobial Stewardship Program and Interim Director of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt. She received her MD and Ph.D degrees from Washington University in St. Louis and then completed Pediatrics residency and Pediatric Infectious Disease fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco.  She is a member of many national committees through the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and the Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group. Dr. Banerjee conducts clinical research about antibiotic stewardship, implementation and outcomes of rapid blood culture diagnostics, and enhanced detection of carbapenem-resistant organisms.

Caitlin N. Newhouse is the medical director for the Vaccine-Preventable Diseases and Immunization Program in the Tennessee Department of Health where she works to improve access to life-saving vaccines for all Tennesseans. She is a pediatrician and Preventive Medicine physician. She received her MD from Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, DC and her Master of Public Health from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her areas of focus include disease prevention, health equity, and epidemiology & surveillance of vaccine-preventable diseases.

 Christine Thomas, DO, MPH, is an infectious diseases physician and CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officer assigned to the Tennessee Department of Health. Her professional aspirations include strengthening collaboration between healthcare and public health agencies to increase access to quality medical care in communities disproportionately affected by communicable diseases. She graduated from Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed an internal medicine residency at Loyola University Medical Center followed by an infectious diseases fellowship at the University of Minnesota.

Jane Yackley, MPH is a Senior Epidemiologist at the Tennessee Department of Health. She directs the Waterborne and Zoonotic Disease Surveillance Program and has been involved in Legionella surveillance and response activities since a dedicated program was established at TDH in 2017.

Dilani Goonewardene, MPH serves as a lead epidemiologist at the Tennessee Department of Health, where she oversees surveillance and outbreak response for waterborne and zoonotic diseases. Dilani was assigned to TDH in 2018 as part of the CDC Public Health Associate Program, where she was first trained on legionellosis investigations, and has grown with the Waterborne and Zoonotic Disease Surveillance Program ever since.

Poster presentations are submitted and approved in advance by the EIP Team. Click each image to view a high-resolution version.

SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH AND RECURRENT CERVICAL DYSPLASIA AMONG WOMEN IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE, 2008-2020

An Examination of Broadband Internet Access in Tennessee

Below you will find individual slide presentations from the speakers at the 2023 Emerging Infections Program Scientific Presentation Day. 

Invasive Group A Streptococcal Infections in Children post COVID-19 (Banjeree)

Incidental Detection of Measles Following Vaccination (Newhouse/Thomas)

Recent Advances Toward Developing Screening for Oropharyngeal Cancer (Kuhs)

Responding to Novel and Targeted Multidrug-Resistant Organisms (MDROs): National and Local Perspectives (Cincotta)

Mpox 101: What Clinicians Need to Know (Brooks)