College of Public Health

A champion is described as someone who "is a defender or supporter of a cause or person" or "has the attributes of a winner"-- the Champions of Public Health Awards recognize the impact that individuals and groups have made on the health of Ohioans.

Each year, the College of Public Health honors those individuals and organizations who set the standard for public health professionals through their outstanding work improving the lives of Ohioians.  

The 2012 Award Recipients were honored at a reception on Thursday, October 11 in Cunz Hall.

Teresa C. Long, MD, MPH
Excellence in Public Health Achievement Award
Teresa C. Long became the health commissioner for Columbus in 2002.  Before coming to Columbus, Long served on the front lines of the emerging AIDS epidemic as a physician specialist with the San Francisco Department of Public Health. She conducted her preventive medicine residency with the California Department of Health Services where she developed perinatal AIDS guidelines in addition to other duties.

She is a 2010 YWCA Woman of Achievement, recognized for her standards of excellence and unique achievements related to the “Y”s mission of eliminating racism and empowering women.  Long was also recognized by Columbus Business First as a 2009 Newsmaker of the Year for her leadership in managing the H1N1 pandemic in central Ohio, and as the 2010 Communicator of the Year by the International Association of Business Communicators.

Long is a member of the College of Public Health’s Dean’s Advisory Board.

She holds a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of California – San Francisco and a Master of Public Health from the University of California – Berkeley.

Bob Campbell, PhD
Dean’s Appreciation Award
As deputy director for the Center for Public Health Statistics and Informatics, Bob Campbell has made significant contributions to the health of Ohioans over the past 30 years. Perhaps most notably, he initiated the state’s anonymous counseling and testing sites for HIV.
 
As chief of the Bureau of AIDS, Campbell was responsible for the creation and operation of Ohio’s statewide AIDS program, including a system of case management and provision of drugs for persons infected with HIV. He coordinated the development of numerous HIV/AIDS policy documents, including school guidelines for HIV-infected children and for HIV/hepatitis B-infected health care workers. He also assisted in the development of Ohio’s comprehensive AIDS legislation and administrative rules.
 
In addition to his work at ODH, Campbell has served as adjunct faculty at Franklin University and The Ohio State University.  He currently serves on The Ohio State Alumni Advisory Council on behalf of the College of Public Health.  Campbell played a leadership role in expanding the Ohio Cancer Registry which records every cancer diagnosis in the State of Ohio for tracking and research purposes.  He has been active in health information technology and trying to assure that public health is a key participant.  He was extremely involved in implementing the CPH Summer Program and advises on which courses would be of interest to health department employees.  
 
Campbell received a Master of Science in Preventive Medicine from Ohio State in 1979, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Preventive Medicine from Ohio State in 1990.

Kathleen Smith, DVM
Public Health Practitioner Award

Kathleen Smith has served as State Public Health Veterinarian at the Ohio Department of Health since 1988.  She also supervises the Ohio Department of Health Zoonotic Disease Program (ZDP) that conducts surveillance and control of diseases transmitted from animals and arthropods to man. Most of the work of the Program revolves around rabies and West Nile Virus, but every year brings new challenges.  In 2012, ZDP reported on the dramatic increase in populations of the Lyme disease tick in Ohio and also assisted in the influenza outbreak of H3N2var linked to swine at Ohio’s fairs.
 
In addition to serving as the veterinary consultant to Ohio’s local health departments and providing public health recommendations to Ohio Veterinarians, Smith started a program to stop the spread of a strain of rabies in raccoons that invaded Ohio in 1998.  It involved the novel approach of vaccinating wildlife using an oral vaccine with the goal of creating an immune barrier to contain the raccoon-rabies epizootic (epidemic in animals).  Ohio’s success helped lead the way for expansion and a Federal initiative that now involves nearly a dozen states.  Oral rabies vaccination takes place annually and in the fall of this year,   over 775,000 vaccine laden baits were distributed by airplane, helicopter and vehicle covering 4,400 square miles in 14 northeast Ohio counties.
 
Smith earned her Bachelor of Science in Animal Science from The Ohio State University in 1973, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Ohio State in 1978, and her Master of Public Health from Ohio State in 1994. Prior to serving as State Public Health Veterinarian, she served as the Health Commissioner for the Pickaway County Health Department from 1986 to 1988.

Kay Parent, BSN, MPH, CHES
Community Leader Award

Kay Parent founded the Lima Area Child Assault Prevention Project and Allen County Healthy People, directed  the Dayton-area Action for Healthy Kids initiative, and volunteered for the Breast Cancer Task Force of Greater Miami Valley.
 
As founder of the Lima Area Child Assault Prevention Project, Parent supervised 30 volunteers, planned and conducted volunteer training, coordinated fundraisers, wrote grants, and kept financial records. Parent was also chair of the Allen County Children Services Board, and has served as a leader in public health programming.
 
As a health educator with the Lima/Allen County Combined Health District (ACCHD), Parent wrote multiple grant applications which grew the Health Education Department, and also added programs for AIDS Education, HIV Counseling and Testing, Teen Pregnancy Prevention, Teen Parenting, Tobacco Education/Prevention, school health education, and the Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program.  As a way to improve the health of Allen County residents,  Parent began the Allen County Healthy People initiative which has been in place for more than 20 years.

Parent also served as the Center for Healthy Communities, Director of Health Promotion/Disease Prevention at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine where she formed the Healthy Dayton Initiative.
 
Parent earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and Master of Public Health degrees, and is a Certified Health Education Specialist.