In September 2000, CDC partnered with the Association of Schools of Public Health, state and local public health agencies and other academic and community partners to develop a national network of Centers for Public Health Preparedness.

Edward Waltz, Ph.D.
Center Director
University at Albany School of Public Health (SUNY)

Dr. Waltz is a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Health Policy, Management & Behavior and Associate Director of the University at Albany Prevention Research Center. He and his staff are responsible for evaluation of CPHP training activities and for a research/technical assistance project in which they work with the seven county Hudson Valley Regional Health Officials’ Network (HVRHON). He holds a Ph.D. from the College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY) and conducted Postdoctoral work at Syracuse University. He has worked in public health for over fifteen years. Prior to joining the School, he held a management position at the Onondaga County Health Department where he developed the Surveillance and Statistics Program.
(518) 486-7921
email

Margaret Watson
Project Coordinator

Margaret has 14 years of experience in higher education administration and project management. She worked at Harvard Business School, John F. Kennedy School of Government and the Harvard School of Public Health between 1989-2000. The following two years she served as Director of Administration for a recruiting firm in Boston, MA. She holds a BA in Psychology from Allegheny College.
(518) 402-4659
email

Cheryl Reeves, M.S., M.L.S.
Director of Continuing Education
Continuing and Preparedness Education
University at Albany School of Public Health (SUNY)

Cheryl has had a 20-year career in curriculum development, technical writing, and training. She has been part of the development team for five web-based courses funded by the New York-New Jersey Public Health Training Center including Orientation to Public Health and the Communicate to Make a Difference series. She has been part of development teams for several web-based emergency preparedness courses including “Working in a POD” and “Personal Preparedness.” Cheryl is also curriculum development consultant for the MDS 2.0 training project. In the past she had major responsibility for a number of satellite broadcasts including a number in the Women's Health Grand Rounds series and Third Thursday Breakfast Broadcasts. She holds a Masters degree in Library and Information Science from the University at Albany and a Masters in Therapeutic Recreation from the University of Illinois.
(518) 402-0335
email

Colleen Signer
Administrative Officer

Colleen holds more than 15 years of administrative service background. Previously, she worked for the Bureau Director of New York State Department of Health Bureau of Communicable Disease Control. Prior to her NYS DOH position, she served as administrator in the Dean's Office of the Albany Medical College.
(518) 486-7921
email

Mark Hammer, MS
Research Scientist

Mark joined the Center in January 2005. He holds master’s degrees in Biology and Public Administration, with a concentration in health administration. Prior to joining the Center, he worked for the Institute for Traffic Safety (affiliated with the Research Foundation) for 17 years, performing research and program evaluation, and before that supervised the Infectious Disease Research Laboratory at the Albany VA Medical Center. His current position in the Evaluation Unit allows him to utilize both his background in program evaluation and his love of infectious disease. He is responsible for performing evaluation of all of the Center’s educational programs.
(518) 402-2066
email

Shadi S. Saleh, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Shadi S Saleh is an assistant professor of Health Policy and Management at the University at Albany 's School of Public Health and the coordinator for the Certificate Programs in Public Health Fundamentals & Principles and Public Health Surveillance and Preparedness. He also serves as the instructor for a center-sponsored course, Topics in Public Health Preparedness.' One of his research areas focuses on e valuating the effect of public health interventions on access to, costs and outcomes of health care services. Dr. Saleh received his PhD from the University of Iowa and MPH and BS degrees from the American University of Beirut.
(518) 402-0299
email

Christine McCrary
Research Administrator, The Research Foundation (SUNY)

(518) 437-4563
email

Professional Development Program (PDP) of the Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, University at Albany

Our website and online courses are developed in partnership with PDP 's Instructional Technologies Unit. For more information about PDP services and staff, please visit their website at http://www.pdp.albany.edu