John Adams, PhD, Professor, Department of Global Health, USF College of Public Health

Dr. Adams' research lab focuses on the biology of malaria parasites and its remarkable ability to infect human populations. His research studies the function of these parasite ligands in the blood and mosquito stages and how they can be used for anti-malarial therapies. His lab expects that a better understanding of Plasmodium's biology will enable the development of new methods of malaria control through vaccines and other prevention strategies. Major questions of his lab's research include: a) how does allelic variation in the ligands help the parasite evade inhibitory immunity; b) what are the molecular interactions of the malarial ligand that are important to its function; and c) what mechanisms control expression of the invasion-related genes. Incorporated into the lab-based studies are research links to laboratories in tropical regions endemic for malaria. Currently, we are studying malaria in endemic regions with collaborators in Papua New Guinea, southern Africa, and South America.

Phillip Amuso, PhD, Associate Bureau Chief, Research Director and Laboratory Director, Florida Department of Health Bureau of Laboratories, Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Disease and International Medicine

Dr. Amuso is an Assistant Professor with the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of South Florida. He obtained his PhD in Tropical Public Health and Communicable Disease from the University of South Florida.  He also holds a position as Laboratory Director and Co-Principal Investigator for the Center for Biological Defense at USF.  He is currently a member of the Dean's Advisory Committee, College of Public Health at USF, a member of the USF Health Development Advisory Committee, and a member of the USF Health Center Infectious Disease Work Group.

On a state and regional level, Dr. Amuso is Associate Bureau Chief, Research Director and Laboratory Director of the Florida Department of Health, Bureau of Laboratories.  He is a member of the Hillsborough Metropolitan Medical Response System Work Group and the State Working Group for Public Health Preparedness, Health and Medical Committee.

Beata C. Casanas, D.O., Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Disease & International Medicine, Executive Medical Director at the Hillsborough County Health Department

Beata Casanas earned her DO at Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed her residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Infectious Disease at the University of South Florida. Dr. Casanas has served in various international and administrative academic roles. She has participated in various projects in India including the development of transplant tissue banking, and as a part of the faculty group of annual Indian HIV conferences sponsored by the University of South Florida CHART-India program. She has worked extensively with Poland and the Central Asian Republics in the area of infectious diseases. She also has worked with medical students from USF to deliver free medical care for underserved populations in the Dominican Republic. Dr. Casanas participates in numerous research projects involving HIV and sexually transmitted diseases.

Martha Coulter, (Marti) DrPH, Professor of Public Health

Martha Coulter received her MSW from Tulane University in 1970, her MPH from the University of California at Berkeley in 1976 and her DrPH from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1985. She served as director of the North Carolina State Health Dept. Director of Developmental Evaluation Center Programs in the Maternal and Child Health Division prior to returning for her doctorate.  Since 1985 she has been on the faculty at USF, though she spent one year on loan to the Florida Division of Health Services as a deputy health director to assist the state in setting up their Part C programs in early intervention. Marti currently directs the James and Jennifer Harrell Center for the Study of Family Violence.  Her research expertise is focused in the areas of Maternal and Child Health and Family and Community Violence both in the United States and Latin America with particular interest in child maltreatment and intimate partner violence. She has numerous publications and presentations in this field.  She teaches courses in family violence at the College of Public Health and is co-director of a certificate program in Violence and Injury Prevention directed at Community professionals and graduate students desiring specialty training in this area.  

Ann DeBaldo, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Global Health, College of Public Health, Associate Vice President for International Programs, USF Health, Associate Dean for International Programs, College of Public Health

Ann DeBaldo has a background in Microbiology and a Ph.D. in Medical Science with a specialty in Immunology of Parasitic Disease. She has extensive research expertise in the field as well as with lab-based murine models of gastrointestinal nematode and lymphatic filariasis; her research has been extensively supported by NIH and the TDR-WHO. Dr. DeBaldo has traveled and worked extensively throughout Asia, India, Central and South America and was a Fulbright scholar 2004-2005 in India where she has worked in global public health.  In her present capacity as Associate Dean for International Programs, College of Public Health, as well as Associate Vice President for International Programs, USF Health, she is in a position to identify and to facilitate opportunities for research and other collaborative programs throughout the developing world. 

Michael Flannery, MD, Professor, Department of Internal Medicine

Michael Flannery is the Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency at the University of South Florida. He has worked with residents who wish to pursue international rotations as part of their training. This international experience has involved research and especially infectious diseases in the past. Internal Medicine residents have participated in clinical rotations in many locations including Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Our division of Infectious Disease has actively promoted international medicine since my beginnings here as a faculty member. I look forward to working with any student interested in International Medicine.

M. Rony Francois, MD, MA, MSPH, PhD

M. Rony Francois, MD, MA, MSPH, PhD, is currently an Assistant Professor in the Colleges of Medicine and Public Health.  Dr. Francois is a Clinician Educator and serves as the Course Director for Clinical Problem Solving and Co-Director for the Public Health Scholarly Concentration.  He is the Principal Investigator for the Speculum Sheath Study and participates in leadership meetings for USF Health as a Senior Advisor on Vice President Klasko's USF Health Administrative Staff.  Dr. Francois is an academic advisor for public health students and Occupational Medicine residents and serves on dissertation and thesis committees.

Dr. François is also the immediate past Secretary of Health for the State of Florida, serving from 2005-2007.  Prior to his appointment, Dr. François held the position of Assistant Professor and Director of the Public Health Practice Program at the University Of South Florida College Of Public Health, and worked as a Site Medical Director for Corporate Health Dimensions at Citigroup in Tampa. In addition, he has served on several state and federal scientific panels contributing to important policy decisions that addressed public health issues.

With an extensive academic background including a Master of Arts in Exercise Physiology from the University of Central Florida, a Doctor of Medicine degree, a Master of Science in Public Health, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Toxicology/Public Health degree all from USF, Dr. François "has a depth of knowledge about public health policy and remains a strong advocate for the provision of quality health services for Floridians," said former Governor Jeb Bush.  Fluent in French, Creole, and limited Spanish, Dr. François has worked as a teacher, cardiac rehab exercise physiologist, and played professional soccer.  He was inducted into the UCF Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005 and into the Tallahassee Community College Alumni Hall of Fame in 2006.  He is also an inventor of two medical devices.

Dr. Francois' interests include prevention, toxic exposures from the workplace and the environment, public health policy, electronic medical records, and medical education.   

 Sandra Gompf, M.D., Associate Professor, Infectious Disease & International Medicine, Section Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases, James A. Haley Veterans Hospital

Sandra Gompf earned her MD and completed her training in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the University of South Florida. Her chief interests include HIV disease and chronic hepatitis. As Chief of Infectious Diseases at the Veterans Hospital, she directs one of the busiest infectious disease services in the nation. She regularly treats community-acquired and nosocomial resistant organisms, severe skin/soft-tissue infection, endocarditis/complicated bacteremias, device-related infections, and infection related to various immune deficiency states. Since 2003, Dr. Gompf has been actively involved in the Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center, seeing survivors of blast-related and other injuries sustained during active military duty. These patients sustain complicated infections in conjunction with craniofacial and orthopedic injuries, brain trauma, and burns. Dr. Gompf's teaching strengths include bedside teaching and syndrome-based didactics, as well as the differing learning styles of the visually-oriented vs. the auditory-oriented learner ("right-brain vs. left-brain learning").

Frederick Heinzel, M.D., Associate Professor, Division of Infectious Disease & International Medicine

Frederick Heinzel earned his MD at the University of California, Irvine and completed his Internal Medicine and Infectious Disease training at the University of Washington and was on faculty at the University of California, San Francisco and Case Western Reserve University before joining USF. Dr. Heinzel has extensive experience in basic immunology and clinical studies of leishmaniasis, T-cell differentiation and the immunobiology of infection and trauma. He provides in-depth knowledge of basic management, epidemiology and pathophysiology of parasitic and bacterial infections of global importance. Areas of special interest are: (1) Human leishmaniasis including distinct cutaneous, disseminated cutaneous, mucocutaneous and visceral disease presentations, (2) Leprosy, including a special emphasis on the immunologic basis for the spectral presentations of tuberculoid and lepromatous forms of disease, its epidemiology, clinical presentation and management, and (3) Trypanosomiasis, including African and American forms, with discussion of epidemiology, diagnosis, the immune pathogenesis of this disease and emerging therapeutic options.

Dennis E. Kyle, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Global Health, College of Public Health

Dennis Kyle earned his PhD at Clemson University, completed postdoctoral training at the University of Georgia, and has over 20 years of experience in drug discovery at development at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR). The Kyle laboratory focuses on discovery, lead optimization, and development of drugs for the treatment of human parasitic diseases, primarily malaria and leishmaniasis. The lab is housed in the Interdisciplinary Research Building, USF Research Park, and they conduct in vitro and in vivo models for evaluating antiparasitic drugs. In addition the Kyle lab uses cell, molecular, and chemical biology approaches to understand antimalarial drug resistance mechanisms. Research in the Kyle lab is funded by NIH, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Medicine for Malaria Venture.

Jennifer L. Logan, M.D., Instructor, Division of Infectious Disease & International Medicine

Jennifer Logan earned her MD at the University of South Florida, College of Medicine and completed her internship in Internal Medicine at the University of South Florida. She joined the Division of Infectious Disease and International Medicine at USF in 2006 as Instructor. Dr. Logan is currently pursuing her Master of Public Health degree in Global Communicable Diseases through the University of South Florida, College of Public Health. Dr. Logan divides her time between International Program initiatives and domestic epidemiologic research. Her main areas of interest are in infectious diseases (particularly viral infections such as HIV/AIDS, HPV, herpes viruses and hepatitis) and health disparities as they pertain to public health problems both in the United States and in developing countries. In addition to research, she enjoys teaching and writing. 

Lynette Menezes, Ph.D. Director, International Programs, Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Disease & International Medicine

Lynette Menezes earned her PhD in Public Health from the University of South Florida. She serves as the Director of International Programs for the Division of Infectious Diseases. In addition to managing the International Programs operations for the Division, Dr. Menezes assists the College of Medicine, Associate Dean of International Affairs in initiating collaborations and establishing networks between USF-COM and academic institutions and non-profit organizations in several countries including India, China, Dominican Republic, Malaysia and Panama. Dr. Menezes has coordinated several training programs for health care providers and public health administrators from India.

Her interests are Infectious diseases and women's health and she is experienced in conducting both qualitative and quantitative research. As a faculty mentor, Dr. Menezes will assist students in increasing their understanding of how social and cultural factors and health disparities influence infectious diseases and their impact on population health outcomes.

Wilbur Milhous, PhD, Associate Dean for Research, USF College of Public Health, Professor, Global Health

In his role as associate dean for research, Dr. Milhous leads a team of more than 100 public health researchers and general faculty members and oversees the college's multi-million dollar research and training centers. While Dr. Milhous is new to USF, he brings 26 years of global health experience.  Prior to joining the USF College of Public Health, Dr. Milhous served as Research Coordinator for the Military Infectious Disease Research Program and Chief Science Officer at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) in Maryland and the overseas labs in Thailand, Kenya, Peru, Ghana, and Australia.   At WRAIR, the nation's oldest school of public health and preventive medicine and the largest biomedical research facility in the DoD, he directed translational research and became an internationally recognized leader in the field of malaria chemotherapy.  He has made a name for himself in translational research with his ability to move drugs from the early stages of research into clinical trials in the field and final regulatory approval.  While assigned to Brazil he directed clinical trials for Malarone-Malaria and Sitamoquine-Leishmaniasis and his team has recently filed an IND for intravenous artesunate and made it available for compassionate use at the CDC.

Dr. Milhous is a Fellow of the Academy and Diplomate of American Board of Medical Microbiology. With appointments in Preventive Medicine and Microbiology & Immunology at Uniformed Services University, he served as an instructor for medical students, graduate students, clinical pharmacology & infectious disease fellows. As a senior National Research Council advisor, he has a robust research and publication record (8 patents, 120 manuscripts & 12 book chapters).  He has served as PI, Co-PI or senior advisor of multiple research grant awards from the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), World Health Organization (WHO), and the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV).

Dr. Milhous is an advisory board member to numerous international organizations and his research awards include the Gorgas Medal for Distinguished Work in Preventive Medicine, the Ashford Medal for Distinguished Work in Tropical Medicine and two USA R&D Achievement Awards for novel therapeutics. He obtained his PhD from the University of North Carolina & received the Greenberg Award in a school-wide competition for doctoral research. Dr. Milhous began his public health career as a registered specialist in Public Health and Medical Microbiology at military hospitals in Louisiana and North Carolina, and underwent post graduate specialty training at National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Duke University.

Shyam Mohapatra, PhD, Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics and Molecular Medicine, USF Health

Dr. Mohapatra is a molecular biologist and nanotechnologist with more than 20 years experience in biotechnology and drug discovery. He has recently been appointed to the Mabel and Ellsworth Simmons Endowed Professorship in Allergy and Immunology.  Dr. Mohapatra directs Basic Research for the Division of Allergy and Immunology and the Joy McCann Culverhouse Airway Disease Center at the USF College of Medicine and James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital. He is also director (basic science) of the USF Health Signature Research Program in Allergy, Immunology and Infectious Disease. He has adjunct appointments in pediatrics and molecular medicine at USF and in thoracic oncology at Moffitt Cancer Center.  Dr. Mohapatra is editor-in-chief of the online journal Genetic Vaccines & Therapy and serves as a peer review panelist for several major national and international grant agencies, including the National Institutes of Health. Co-founder and a member of the scientific advisory board of TransGenex Nanobiotech Inc. in Tampa, he recently received the 2006 Technology Professional Leader of the Year Award from the Tampa Bay Technology Forum.

José A. Montero, M.D., Associate Professor, Division of Infectious Disease & International Medicine

José Montero earned his MD from the University of South Florida College of Medicine and completed training in Internal Medicine at Duke University, and Infectious Disease at the University of South Florida. He is a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) which focuses on advising the President of the United States regarding HIV policies both domestically and globally.  He is also a faculty member for the Florida-Caribbean AIDS Education Training Center (AETC).  He has taken part in HIV training of providers from India as part of the USF-India Center for Health, HIV/AIDS Research and Training (CHART).  He has had brief international experiences in the Amazon basin, Dominican Republic, and India in the capacity of medical missions and medical training of providers.  His international interest includes how US global policy issues affect medical delivery in other countries, especially regarding HIV care.

Richard L. Oehler, M.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Disease & International Medicine

Richard L. Oehler earned his MD from the University of South Florida College of Medicine and completed training in Internal Medicine at Emory University and Infectious Disease at the University of South Florida. Dr. Oehler currently serves as an attending at the Veterans Hospital as well as at the USF Medical Clinics, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa General Hospital, Shriner's Hospital and Kindred Hospital. Since returning to USF from private practice in 2002, He has received national recognition for his research in infections in returning soldiers. He was also the first clinician in the Tampa Bay area to document the presence of Community-acquired MRSA strains in a local hospital. As of the Infectious Disease Director of Clinical Education, Dr. Oehler has been instrumental in creating numerous educational programs and conferences for medical students and fellows. His main interests include emerging infectious diseases, Methicillin-Resistent Staphylococcus Aureus infections and diabetic foot infections.

 Donna J. Petersen, MHS, ScD

Dr. Donna Petersen is Dean of the College of Public Health and Professor of Global Health at the University of South Florida.  She earned her masters and doctoral degrees from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.  She has held faculty and senior leadership positions at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and at the Minnesota Department of Health.  She is the author of numerous publications, book chapters and a textbook on needs assessment in public health.  She is a frequent lecturer on topics related to maternal and child health, health care reform, and systems change and leadership, and has provided extensive technical assistance and training to state health departments in the areas of needs assessment, data system development, systems level accountability and the development of population-based indicators.  She is currently President of the Delta Omega National Public Health Honor Society and the President of the National Board of Public Health Examiners.  Locally she is serving as Chair of the Tampa Bay Partnership's Health Task Force and is a member of the Hillsborough County Health Care Advisory Board.

Hamisu Salihu, MD, PhD

Dr. Hamisu Salihu is Tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of South Florida. Dr. Salihu received his medical training in Obstetrics and Gynecology in Germany, where he subsequently received a PhD in perinatology. He then came to the US and obtained another PhD in epidemiology. Dr. Salihu has recently completed his residency in the US in Preventive Medicine at Emory University, and is Board eligible.
Dr. Salihu has mentored dozens of medical students, residents and fellows. He currently has several post-graduate and graduate students working on his projects in the area of Maternal and Child health. Dr. Salihu is author of more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, and is reviewer to prestigious journals like the Lancet and JAMA. His special areas of interest include stillbirth, multiple pregnancies and racial/ethnic disparities in birth outcomes.

Andreas Seyfang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular Medicine and Neurosurgery

Andreas Seyfang earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University of Tübingen, Germany and has held positions at Duke University, the University of Bordeaux, France, Oregon Health Sciences University and the Medical College of Georgia. He heads the Medical Microbiology and Molecular Parasitology laboratories, where he studies membrane permeases (transporters) and receptors in opportunistic pathogens including protozoan parasites (trypanosomes, Leishmania), nosocomial and neuro-pathogenic fungi (Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans), and mycobacteria. Medical students working with Dr. Seyfang would benefit from diverse technical expertise in molecular microbiology, a multi-disciplinary approach of biochemistry, proteomics, molecular pharmacology and genetics to investigate the structure-function relationship, substrate/drug selectivity, protein-protein interaction, and significance for microbial pathogenicity of these membrane proteins at the molecular level in in-vitro culture and animal models. Dr. Seyfang has extensive international travel experience and holds joint appointments in the Division of Infectious Disease & International Medicine and the Department of Global Health at the College of Public Health.

Charurut Somboonwit, MD, Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Disease & International Medicine

Charurut Somboonwit received her Doctor of Medicine degree from Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok, Thailand. Her postgraduate studies were completed as an intern in internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics and gynecology at Choa Praya Yomaraj Hospital, Suphan Buri, Thailand, as a resident in Internal Medicine at the State University of New York and Fellow in Infectious Diseases at the University of South Florida. Dr. Somboonwit's research and teaching activities have been primarily in the area of HIV/AIDS. She has been a key participant in over 30 studies, published 9 articles and provided lectures and other training tools to over 15 conferences/lecture series.

Paul Shapshak, PhD, Research Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine

Paul Shapshak, PhD, Research Professor, serves as Director of the Ann Lowry Murphey and Higgins Addiction Laboratory, a special research laboratory in the Institute for Research in Psychiatry within the Department of Psychiatry in the College of Medicine. This laboratory facilitates genomics work for research and diagnostic analysis based on highly specified methodologies for research, pre-clinical and clinical testing of drugs, and diagnostic procedures. Dr. Shapshak provides the design and optimization of quantitative real-time PCR systems for applications of gene expression, pathogen detection, and allelic discrimination for samples from USF, health departments, various universities, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical industries. Primary focus is in areas of project design, gene expression and SNP analysis, and assay development from gene-bank and client project information. In addition, Dr. Shapshak utilizes Bioinformatics to study in silico the relationships of genes and their pathways involved in pathogenesis. Dr. Shapshak works with Drs. John Sinnott and John Sleasman on molecular virology and immunity mechanisms of HIV and HCV infectious disease in drug abusers. The work utilizes molecular cloning processes for molecular targets. Laser capture microdissection is also used to obtain pure cells and chromosomes of further molecular mechanistic and diagnostics studies. We are also setting up a NeuroAIDS Brain Bank that will function in conjunction with the current UCLA School of Medicine NIH funded brain bank.

John Sinnott, MD, James P. Cullison Professor of Medicine, Director, USF Division of Infectious Disease and International Medicine

Dr. Sinnott serves as Senior Biodefense Advisor to the Secretary of Health of the state of Florida. Dr Sinnott is also the Primary Director for the USF Division of Infectious Disease and Tropical Medicine at Tampa General Hospital and Affiliate Director for the Infectious Disease Sections of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital, and the Hillsborough and Polk County Health Departments.  A portion of Dr. Sinnott's responsibilities in this capacity include the direct supervision of 40 employees and indirect supervision and mentoring of over 100 employees. Dr. Sinnott has served as Chief of Medicine, Vice Chief of Staff, and Chief of Staff at Tampa General Hospital.
Dr. Sinnott received his BS from Columbus College, his MA from USF, and his MD from the University of South Alabama. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Disease as well as being a Fellow of the American College of Physicians.    Dr. Sinnott is the Medical Director of the Microbiology at LifeLink Tissue Bank.  A distinguished member of the medical community, Dr. Sinnott has been the recipient of numerous local and national awards, including Outstanding Professor – USF College of Medicine, an award that has been retired and named in his honor, the Florida Medical Association Award for Leadership in Medical Education, the Ciba-Geigy Education Award, the NBI award for Humanism in Medicine, and is an honorary alumni of the USF College of Medicine. He has long been interested in how illness affects art and literature.  Recently, he has been a finalist for the AAMC Humanism in Medicine award.   He is listed in Who's Who in America, International Who's Who, The Best Doctors in America and Tampa Bay's Best Doctors.  Dr. Sinnott has been inducted into the Leon G. Smith Infectious Disease Institute Hall Of Fame, has served on over 40 local, regional, and national health care committees, and has published over 200 letters, articles, and textbook chapters.  He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed journal, "Infections in Medicine."  He is  also Co-Director of the USF C.H.A.R.T. program, which uses HIV education in India for "capacity building" to enhance medical care and AIDS prevention, as well as Professor at the USF Center for HIV Education and Research where he supervises ID faculty assigned to the Florida/Caribbean AIDS Education and Training Center.

Norbert L. Wagner MD PhD, Research Associate Professor, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, College of Public Health

Norbert Wagner earned his MD in Aachen, Germany and his PhD at the University of Hamburg, Germany. He spent years working in occupational medicine practice including emergency care, tropical medicine and traveler's health consultations. He lived and worked in India from 2002 until 2006 developing and directing a post-graduate certificate program in Occupational Health at the Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai, India. He was invited to speak at conferences in India, Malaysia and Thailand. Besides teaching he was part of a for-profit consultancy service for Indian and global companies on disease prevention. With his network of academic colleagues he is working on developing international academic training programs for professionals from developing countries. His research interests lie in community-based and implementation research, public health in developing countries, especially in the informal sector and rural sector. Besides teaching at USF he is working as a consultant to development agencies and companies with activities in Congo, Indonesia and India. Currently, he is organizer of the working group "Academic Teaching in Developing Countries in Occupational Health", an activity of the Network of WHO Collaborating Centers in Occupational Health.  At the COPH, he is currently teaching the course on "Global Health Program Planning and Administration" (Spring 2008).
http://hsc.usf.edu/publichealth/eoh/nwagner/index.htm

Deanna Wathington, MD, MPH, FAAFP

Deanna Wathington is the Director of the Public Health Practice Program at the USF College of Public Health and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine.  The Public Health Practice Program is an interdepartmental MPH that caters to students with prior health-related experience.  It provides these students with the opportunity to interact with public health academicians to create a unique learning experience that merges practice with scholarship.  In their workplace, our graduates apply their newly acquired knowledge to improve the health of their communities. Prior to her current appointment, Dr. Wathington served as the first Director of Minority Health for the State of Florida. Prior to serving at the Department of Health, Dr. Wathington was Associate Dean for Academic Enrichment at the USF College of Medicine where she provided instruction across all four years of the curriculum and maintained a busy family practice. 
With more than 20 years of service in public health and medicine, Dr. Wathington has maintained a focus on community health among ethnic minorities, women and underserved populations including service on the Board of Directors of BEBASHI (one of the first community based organizations dealing with HIV in the African-American community), The Spring (a domestic violence shelter) and most recently the Executive Board of the James and Jennifer Harrell Center for the Study of Family Violence. She has worked to improve the health of underserved populations via participation in a range of initiatives such as the UMDNJ Student Health Community Clinic, Pediatric Mobile Care Vans in Newark, NJ, the Greater Philadelphia Health Action in Pennsylvania, the National Youth Sports Program, Judeo-Christian Clinic, and the IN-SHAPE Health Disparities projects here in Florida. Dr. Wathington has also provided medical care to these communities through her former private practice and as a provider with Tampa General's Community Health Centers.  
Dr. Wathington currently serves as Chair of the All Women's Health Coalition. She also serves on the Florida Medical Association's Council of Public Health, participates in the Health Disparities Research committee, an alliance between (Moffitt, USF Health and USF main campus) and is working on solutions to improve infant mortality  as part of the Black Infant Health Practice Initiative, a legislative mandate for statewide action.
Dr. Wathington received her Master's degree in Public Health from Temple University. She earned her MD from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and completed her residency training at USF.  She is a Fellow and Diplomate of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Her research interests include women's health, family violence, ethnic disparities in health and health care, and diversity in the health professions.