2022 Communicable Disease and PrEP Summit

On December 12, 2022, the Immunization Coalition of Delaware, the Delaware HIV Consortium, and the Delaware Division of Public Health combined the Communicable Disease and PrEP Summits for the first time. The morning sessions were moderated by Kate Smith, MD, MPH; program manager of the Immunization Coalition of Delaware. The afternoon sessions were moderated by Suzan Abdallah, program manager of the Delaware HIV Consortium. 

Morning Sessions

DPH Update on Delaware Health (slides | recording)

Rick Hong, MD has been part of Delaware’s Division of Public Health (DPH) team since 2005 as the Office of Preparedness Medical Director. In this role, he has provided medical expertise to fulfill the mission of statewide healthcare preparedness in the setting of mass-casualty incidents, including chemical, biological, radiation, nuclear, traumatic, and natural hazards; served as the Medical Director of the Delaware Medical Reserve Corp; acted as the Medical Liaison Officer in the Incident Command of the State Health Operations Center; and has chaired the Delaware Ethics Advisory Group.

Dr. Hong also has been an attending emergency medicine physician at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, NJ, since 2007, and was appointed as the State Medical Director of DPH in November 2018. His role was critical during the COVID-19 pandemic response. He was then appointed Interim Director of Public Health on August 1, 2022.

Mpox Update (slides | recording)

Jamie Ahlers is an epidemiologist with the Delaware Division of Public Health. Doug Riley, DVM, is a veterinarian with the Delaware Division of Public Health.

Disasters of Human Health – Communicable Disease (slides | recording)

Jennifer Horney, PhD is Professor and Founding Director of the Epidemiology Program and Core Faculty at the Disaster Research Center at the University of Delaware. Her research focuses on measuring the health impacts of disasters.

She is currently a member of several boards, including the Board of Scientific Counselors for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Center for Preparedness and Response. Dr. Horney has led interdisciplinary research projects funded by many federal agencies and was part of the public health response to Hurricanes Isabel, Charley, Katrina, Wilma, Irene, and Harvey where she conducted rapid assessments of disaster impacts on individual and community health. She has also provided technical assistance to public health agencies globally around disasters, emerging infectious disease outbreaks, and pandemic influenza planning and response. 

Adult Immunizations (slides | recording)

John O’Neill, Jr., DO is a hospitalist at ChristianaCare, and Co-Chair of the Immunization Coalition of Delaware. He completed his residency at Albert Einstein Medical Center, and is board certified in Internal Medicine.

Afternoon Sessions

HIV/AIDS Panel (recording)

Moderator: Arlene Bincsik, RN, MS, CCRC, ACRN (William J. Holloway Program)

Speakers:

Brian Wharton, MSN, RN, CPEN, CPST; Regional Coordinator, AIDS Education & Training Center Program
Tyler Berl, MA; Executive Director, Delaware HIV Consortium
Deborah Kahal, MD; William J. Holloway Program

2022 HIV Epidemiologic Profile (slides | recording)

James Dowling, MPH is the HIV Prevention Program Administrator at the Division of Public Health, Delaware Department of Health and Human Services.

PrEParing Primary Care (slides | recording)

Adam Skrzynski, MD is the director of the Delaware Regional Partner of the MidAtlantic AIDS Education and Training Center, was born and raised in the Detroit suburbs, and completed both a residency in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in Infectious Diseases there.  He currently practices at the ChristianaCare William J. Holloway Community Program in Wilmington, Delaware, specializing in HIV and Hepatitis C treatment, as well as PrEP.  Aside from spending time with his family and following the Detroit Tigers, he is an MPH candidate at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College..

New in the World of PrEP (slides | recording)

Angela Scott, BSN, RN, ACRN is the Clinical Programs Manager at Beebe Healthcare where her job role focuses on quality and performance improvement. She is also the Manager of School-Based Wellness and the Coordinator and Co-creator of Beebe Medical Group’s Safety Ambassador Program. Angie’s primary focus prior to her current role was as an Infectious Disease & Travel Medicine with a specialized certification and passion for HIV/AIDS care. Angie has a passion for serving and providing quality care within the community. Bridging gaps of equality for the underserved and addressing stigmatized health issues with a humanized approach are her specialties.