Dr. Christine McGuire-Wolfe is a certified paramedic and firefighter II in the state of Florida with a unique connection to the emergency responder community. In 2020, she retired after 18 years in the fire service with eleven years of experience as an Infection Control Officer (ICO). She currently serves as an Assistant Professor at USF’s College of Public Health where she teaches and supervises students within the Infection Control program.

Her research focuses on infection control/prevention and occupational issues as they relate to health and safety of emergency responders. Dr. McGuire-Wolfe continues her involvement as a volunteer with a small city (non-transport) fire department. She remains committed to including EMS/Fire Service personnel and stakeholder guidance in all her research and program planning for emergency responders.

With her experience and fire service in mind, she assumes full responsibility for the research study, along with the project’s planning, recruitment, analysis, and dissemination of the results to come.

Claudia Parvanta, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Systems Management, and Director of the USF Center for Social Marketing. As an anthropologist working in social marketing, Dr. Parvanta examines how culture affects health behavior and develops audience-informed health and safety interventions. Dr. Parvanta assisted the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, examining how employers interpreted and used recommended infection prevention information. From 2000 to 2005, Dr. Parvanta headed the Division of Health Communication at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and helped the agency expand its emergency communication capacity to respond to the 9/11 attacks, anthrax, and SARS. For ICER, Dr. Parvanta is helping the team research and create materials about infection control suited to various first responder audiences.

Arabel Severe, MPH, PTA, CPH is a Research Support Specialist at the University of South Florida’s College of Public Health. Her work experience includes facilitating qualitative studies, conducting site-specific research, synthesizing and interpreting data, leading stakeholder meetings, and translating research materials into Haitian Creole. Her skill set also includes qualitative data coding and analysis, as well as the development of presentations and research reports. Arabel earned her Master of Public Health (MPH) in Global Health Practice from USF in 2023. She has since contributed to public health efforts through roles at the Florida Department of Health and Moffitt Cancer Center. In 2020, she became a licensed Physical Therapist Assistant in Florida, with a focus on working with youth populations. In her current role, Arabel supervises efforts by both graduate and undergraduate students and serves a project manager for primarily external aspects of the ICER project.  

Samantha Petzold-Lopez, BS, MEd, joined the College of Public Health as an instructional designer in 2002 and currently holds a position as a Learning Designer II with the college’s Lifelong Learning Academy. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and a Master of Education in Instructional Technology from the University of South Florida. She is pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Instructional Technology with a focus in Evaluation. Samantha collaborates with subject matter experts to develop training content for online delivery. She also creates visual and graphic elements, multimedia, print, audio, and video content.

Nicole M. Sutton, MPH, CPH, CHES, has more than 20 years of experience in public health research and practice.  A graduate of USF COPH, her expertise includes health communication, social marketing, community-based participatory research, and public health policy. Over the years she has worked in several areas of public health including cancer control, violence prevention, tobacco control, and Health in All Policies. Nicole has held roles at several institutions including University of Hawai`i Cancer Center, University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, Department of Health-Hillsborough, and Truth Initiative.  Nicole will leading efforts to create logic modeling for all aspects of the ICER project, as well as participate in qualitative aspects of the project regarding health decision making by emergency responders.

Coralyn Bamper holds a BSPH and infection control minor from USF.  She is currently an MPH student concentrating in Epidemiology with an interest in infection control. Coralyn serves as secretary for the Global Health Student Association and is a medical volunteer at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center.  For ICER,  she will support recruitment, content development, and dissemination.  

Olivia Galler, MPH, CPH, is a PhD student in Epidemiology. She earned her Bachelor of Health Science and Master of Public Health, in Epidemiology from the University of Florida in 2022 and 2024, respectively. She previously interned with the Infection Control Department at UF Health Shands Hospital where she conducted research on the effects of two-step Clostridioides difficile testing and infectious disease consultation on treatment protocol, in an effort to promote antimicrobial stewardship and reduce mistreatment. Since graduating with her MPH, Olivia has worked as a Clinical Research Coordinator at St. Joseph's Children's Hospital. After completing her PhD, she hopes to pursue a career in academia where she can continue to conduct epidemiological research and mentor the next generation of public health professionals. Olivia will be working on data analysis and application to development of training materials.

Nicole Giboyeaux, BS, is an MPH student studying Epidemiology at USF's College of Public Health. Her research interest is infectious disease, and her career goal is to become a field epidemiologist. Her background is in microbiology, ecology, and evolution and she has previous experience as a research volunteer in a microbiology lab studying bacterial pathogenesis in MRSA. Nicole will be working on survey outreach, network building, and coordinating PPE training sessions.  

Parker Guevarra is a BSPH student with a minor in Infection Control, expected to graduate May 2025. Their professional and research interests involve health disparities and disease surveillance. Currently, they are a student assistant and volunteer in the Causal Inference in Public Health Research Lab. Within ICER, Parker works on survey outreach and network building.  

Lorelei Herman, BSPH, is an MSPH student with a concentration in Epidemiology. They have previously worked as the project coordinator feasibility study regarding infection prevention and control content in graduate public health programs, funded by the National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI). Currently, Lorelei serves as a research coordinator for the ICER team, largely focused on logistics, data management, and coordinating short-term deadlines to achieve long-term project goals.

William Howe is a retired firefighter paramedic with 27 years of dedicated service at Sarasota County Fire Rescue, Florida, where he was involved in numerous high-stakes deployments for hurricanes, wildfires, and mass casualty incidents, along with the everyday EMS and fire emergencies. A Navy veteran with active and reserve experience, Howe has also participated in various humanitarian missions, showcasing his commitment to service and global support.  Recently, he completed his undergraduate degree in Public Safety and Emergency Management, alongside a Homeland Security Certificate, marking a pivotal step in his career. Currently, Howe is pursuing an MPH focusing on Global Disaster Humanitarian Homeland Security. while earning his Infectious Control Certification. As a Graduate Research Assistant, Howe plays a vital role in the Infectious Control for Emergency Responders (ICER), where his academic interests converge with his extensive real-world experience, driving his passion for advancing public health and disaster management globally. 

Luiza Calixto is an undergraduate student expected to graduate in May 2026 with a B.S. in Medical Biology and a Public Health minor. She is interested in gaining experience in epidemiology and infection control during her time at ICER, which will add a valuable perspective for when she pursues a PhD in biomedical sciences. Her background is in ecology, microbiology, human diseases and global health, with previous experience in cell culture and PCR as a research volunteer at an Alzheimer's lab. Luiza will provide support for background development and dissemination.

Angelica Rios is an undergraduate student at the USF College of Public Health expected to graduate in May 2025 with a Bachelor of Science in Public Health and an Infection Control minor. Her interests are in epidemiology and applied biostatistics. Outside of her studies, Angelica serves as a Peer Educator at Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida. For ICER, she will be working on participant recruitment, development of educational content, and dissemination of findings. 

Sophie Roth-Knigin, BS, is an MPH student in the College of Public Health with a focus on Environmental and Occupational health. In addition to working with ICER, she has previously volunteered on a BLS transport and response unit for two years. Sophie is assigned to the qualitative section of the ICER project and will be conducting interviews, coding, and analyzing information from field personnel regarding healthcare decisions. 

Haylie Corcho completed her MSPH student with a concentration in Occupational Exposure Science in August 2024. She graduated in August 2024. Her thesis project addressed the potential contamination of law enforcement patrol vehicles with biological agents. This pilot project documented the need for an intervention to protect law enforcement officers from these potential occupational exposures.

Dr. Jill Ireland completed her residency at the University of South Florida Occupational Medicine Residency Training Program and a USF COPH student, Masters of Science in Public Health – Occupational and Environmental Concentration in May 2024. She obtained her medical degree from the University of Central Florida and served in the Navy as a physician for nearly six years. In the summer of 2022, Dr. Ireland completed a four-year tour as a Naval Flight surgeon and Occupational Medicine provider for Naval Air Station Key West where she served as a primary care provider for the active duty population as well as conducted annual comprehensive examinations, surveillance evaluations and injury prevention for civilian employees including firefighters from NAS Key West Fire Department.  In her work with ICER and her thesis project, Dr. Ireland examined workers compensation data for law enforcement, corrections, and fire rescue for a large county in Florida, identified trends for bloodborne pathogen exposure, and developed recommendations to improve exposure response.  

Shane Skibba, BS, is employed at a private ambulance transport company, where he works on both BLS and ALS crews. Shane graduated from USF in the Spring of 2023 with a bachelor of science in Biomedical Sciences and a minor in Public Health and Biomedical Physics. His undergraduate thesis through USF's Honors College, conducted with the cooperation of Tampa General Hospital, was titled "How COVID-19 Has Changed Emergency Medical Services Perspectives of Personal Protective Equipment: A Qualitative Study". Shane is currently enrolled in medical school in south Florida.

Marisa Varela, EMT-B, MPH, CPH, has worked as an EMT in several private ambulance transport services in the Tampa Bay area and is currently employed with Citrus County Fire Rescue. In 2021, she earned a BS in Health Sciences from USF and went on to complete her MPH-IC program at USF in 2022.  Marisa completed an Applied Practice Experience (APE) at the Citrus County Health Department, focusing on sexually transmitted infections in pregnant women. Her Integrated Learning Experience (ILE) was titled Illicit Drug Abuse and Its Impact on Rates of Infection. In January 2024 Marisa begun the Master of Physician Assistant Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. As a research specialist/program manager on this project, Marisa provided project coordination and contributes to research findings for publications, papers, and presentations. 

Leomar White graduated from the University of South Florida College of Public Health in Summer 2025 with an MPH in Epidemiology and a graduate certificate in Applied Biostatistics. His research interests include injury and violence prevention. While at ICER, he served as a graduate research assistant, managing recruitment for field personnel surveys, analyzing emergency vehicle swab data, and preparing executive summaries for ICER partners. He presented preliminary survey findings at the SHEA 2025 Conference and contributed to manuscript development. Leomar now works as a Statistical Data Analyst at the Florida Perinatal Quality Collaborative.