2023 Immunization Summit – Immunization Coalition of Delaware

The Immunization Coalition of Delaware, in partnership with the Delaware Division of Public Health, are pleased to invite you to the 2023 Immunization Summit. This year, we are holding the Summit LIVE at Bally’s Dover Casino Resort (1131 N. Dupont Highway, Dover, DE)!

Thursday, December 7, 2023
1:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Presentations

Update on Delaware Health
Awele Maduka-Ezeh, MD, MPH, PhD, CCHP
State Medical Director, Division of Public Health, Delaware Department of Health and Social Services

Awele Maduka-Ezeh, MD, MPH, PhD, CCHP is a public health physician with expertise in surveillance, prevention, and control of infectious diseases of public health signficance. She was named Medical Director of the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Public Health in November 2023. She previously worked for DPH as State Medical Director and Chief of the Infectious Disease Prevention Section, and Director of the Delaware Public Health Library. Dr. Maduka-Ezeh earned her Medical Doctorate from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria in 2000. She recieved a Master of Public Health from Harvard University in 2005 and completed her Internal Medicine residency at the Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia in 2009. In 2011, she completed a clinical fellowship in infectious diseases at the Mayo Clinic. She earned a PhD in Disaster Science & Management from the University of Delaware in 2020.

The Emerging Vaccine Pipeline
Jennifer Vodzak, MD
Medical Director, Antimicrobial Stewardship Program, Nemours Children’s Health

Jennifer Vodzak, MD graduated Summa cum laude from from Wilkes University in 2002, and went on to earn her medical degree from Drexel University in 2006. She completed her residency in pediatrics and her fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. She has held mutliple faculty appointments since that time, and has recently joined the faculty of Nemours Children’s Hospital in Wilmington Delaware as the Medical Director of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program. She is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Infectious Disease Society of America, and the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society.

Delaware Updates

Training Medical Providers on Best Practices for HPV Vaccination
Sarah Toborowski
Practice Transformation Specialist, Quality Insights

Sarah Toborowski is a Practice Transformation Project Lead with 10 years of health care industry experience, including performing workflow analysis, medical billing, and engaging health care providers in quality improvement projects. She has specialized in evidence-based intervention implementation of quality improvement focused initiatives for human papillomavirus, asthma, and cancer screening including breast, cervical, colorectal and lung in both Delaware and Pennsylvania. She has more than 6 years of experience engaging organizations that treat vulnerable populations such as Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) and FQHC-like organizations, as well as health systems and privately owned practices.

Delaware’s Respiratory Overview
Sarah Czukiewski, MPH
Epidemiologist II, Division of Public Health, Delaware Department of Health and Social Services

Sarah Czukiewski, MPH works at Delaware Department of Public Health in the Office of Infectious Disease Epidemiology as an Epidemiologist II for Long Term Care COVID-19 and Influenza/Respiratory Programs. She began her career at Delaware Department of Health in 2021 as a COVID-19 epidemiologist. Sarah has completed a Bachelor of Science in Biology, a Master of Public Health in Global Health, and is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Public Administration

Immunization Program Updates
Jim Talbott, MPA
Director, Immunization and Vaccines for Children Programs, Division of Public Health, Delaware Department of Health and Social Services

Jim Talbott is the Director of the Delaware Division of Public Health’s Immunization and Vaccines for Children Program. Jim holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Wilmington University. He has been the Director of the Immunization Program since 2012, and has been with the Division of Public Health since 2003, serving as a Management Analyst with the Bureau of
Communicable Disease, Child Development Watch, and the Office of Primary Care and Rural Health. Jim is also a veteran, having served 23 years in the Air Force prior to joining the Delaware Division of Public Health in 2003

Vaccine Hesitancy
Back to the Vax

Lydia Greene was an antivaxxer for twelve years and wrote a story on her journey to changing her mind, and bringing her three children up to date. She has just graduated nursing school as a licenced practical nurse, and wants to deal with vaccine hesitancy on the front lines.

Heather Simpson is a mom who was popular in the antivax community as the mom who dressed as measles for Halloween, the least scary thing she could think of. She also made multiple viral antivax polls on facebook.

Together, they share their story with anyone who will listen, and give support and a platform to those like them to share their experience with returning to vaccinations.

Hepatitis A&B
Capt. Sarah Schillie, MD
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Sarah Schillie, MD, MPH, MBA is the Team Lead for the Professional Education and Training Team within CDC’s Immunization Services Division. She previously served as a medical epidemiologist with the CDC’s Division of Viral Hepatitis, Vaccine Research and Policy Unit. Dr. Schillie is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Medicine. She completed her pediatrics residency training at Pennsylvania State University and her preventive medicine residency training at SUNY-Stony Brook. She received her MPH from Columbia University and her MBA from Long Island University. Dr. Schillie’s public health career began as the Director of Performance Improvement for the Suffolk County Department of Health Services in New York.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus
Stephen Eppes, MD
Infectious Disease, ChristianaCare

Stephen C. Eppes, MD earned his medical degree from the University of South Florida in Tampa and completed his internship and residency in pediatrics at Wake Forest University Bowman Gray School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He then completed a fellowship in pediatric infectious disease at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.
Dr. Eppes specializes in pediatric infectious diseases at ChristianaCare Health System. He is active on many ChristianaCare committees, and serves as the Vice Chair of the Department of Pediatrics, the Director of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, and the Associate Infection Prevention Officer. He serves on the emritus staff at Nemours Children’s Hospital – Delaware, and has received numerous teaching wards. Dr. Eppes is co-Chair of the Immunization Coalition of Delaware.