Community Advisory Council

Dianna Abney, M.D.
Health Officer, Charles County Department of Health

Dr. Dianna Abney is a health officer for the Charles County Department of Health. She is a practicing pediatrician with 25 years of experience working in Waldorf, Maryland.

Prior to her role as the Health Officer, Dr. Abney was the medical director of the county's Child Abuse and Neglect program. She is a commissioner on the Children's  Environmental Health and Protection Advisory Council, and she chairs the Maryland Statewide Advisory Commission on Immunizations. Dr. Abney’s research interests include health disparities, prevention of childhood obesity, immunizations, and the prevention and treatment of child abuse. She received her medical degree from Tulane University in 1989.

Uma Ahluwalia, MSW, MHA
Managing Principal, Health Management Associate

Uma S. Ahluwalia is an expert in delivering innovative, reliable, cost-effective solutions and public policy strategies that improve outcomes for children, youth, and their families.

Prior to joining HMA, she served as director of the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services in Maryland. During her 12-year tenure, she oversaw the move to a more integrated and interoperable health and human services enterprise and managed public-private partnerships and programs. Montgomery County, Maryland was one of the few jurisdictions, where there was a nationally recognized model for integrating public health with human services and behavioral health to address population health and wellbeing.
  
During her long career, she has worked with partners in the school system to address early warning indicators to school success and the two agencies worked collaboratively to strengthen the socio-emotional learning needs of children, youth, and their families from pre-school to higher education, workforce development, and vocational training.  Under her leadership data sharing and addressing confidentiality and privacy to better use data to serve children, youth and families was a huge accomplishment. 
Uma’s work experience also includes leadership in Child Welfare as the interim director of the Child and Family Services Agency in Washington, DC, and assistant secretary of the Department of Social and Health Services in the State of Washington for the Children’s Administration.

Oscar Alleyne, DrPH, MPH
Managing Director of the Public Health Division, Mitre

Dr. E. Oscar Alleyne is the Managing Director of the Public Health Division at MITRE Health FFRDC. There he advances the strategic priorities for a $60 million-dollar portfolio of programs supporting key Health and Human Services federal organizations. Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) are public-private partnerships that conduct research and development for the United States Government. He is responsible for senior leadership engagement with CDC, HRSA, ACF (Agency for Children and Families), and OASH (Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health), in addition to shaping and leading the delivery of work, identifying and building strategic partnerships to develop and provide “whole of government” solutions.

Dr. Alleyne was the Chief of Programs and Services for the National Association of County and City Health Officials where he oversees an over $80 million-dollar portfolio of programs along with its membership and meetings services. He directed the implementation of programs, policies, and diversification of funding and assisted in raising NACCHO’s profile through external engagement and partnership development for the advancement of NACCHO’s mission and the success of the country’s 3000 local health departments.

He led NACCHO’s national responses to emergent health threats such as COVID-19, Zika, and natural disasters. He was also responsible for personnel management; professional development; strategic planning; budget management; supervision of program leadership and services staff; and maintenance of subject matter knowledge of comprehensive policy issues that impact on local health departments. Dr. Alleyne began his career in governmental public health, designing expert system software for guiding responses to adverse water quality events for the New York State Health Department. He joined Rockland County Health Department, New York at the beginning of the West Nile Virus outbreak where he developed a model comprehensive educational and surveillance program.

In his 15 years at Rockland County, Alleyne served as Director of Epidemiology and Public Health Planning responding to and mitigating several major emerging health issues including West Nile, Anthrax, Smallpox, Monkey Pox, H1N1, Botulism, MERS CoV, Ebola, etc. He also has experience as a Planning Section Chief for the Disaster Medical Assistance Team (NY4) under the federal National Disaster Medical System. He has an experienced and demonstrated history of working in the local and national public health sector. Skilled in Epidemiology, Health Communication, Population Health Planning and Assessment, Government, Emergency Preparedness, Informatics, Biosurveillance, and Environmental Health. In addition, Dr. Alleyne is a Past President of the Board of Directors for the New York State Public Health Association, the Past President of the Alpha Gamma Chapter of the Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health, and the Past Chair of the Epidemiology Section of the American Public Health Association.

He also currently serves as a member of the Executive Board of the American Public Health Association and is a member of the Defense Health Board, while also serving as a faculty member at several undergraduate and graduate institutions. He is a strong community and innovative professional with a Doctor of Public Health focused in Health Policy and Management from New York Medical College and a Master of Public Health in Environmental Health, Toxicology, and Epidemiology from the University at Albany.

Angela D. Anderson
Dean of Health, Wellness & Hospitality, Prince George's Community College

Angela D. Anderson is the Dean of Health, Wellness & Hospitality at Prince George’s Community College. Prior to accepting her current position she was the Allied Health Department Chair and Program Director and Professor for the college’s Radiography Program. Ms. Anderson’s educational background includes an undergraduate degree in Diagnostic Imaging from Thomas Jefferson University and a graduate degree in Adult Education & Higher Education Administration from the George Washington University.  She has almost 30 years of experience in health sciences education and administration.

Ms. Anderson serves on several college-wide committees including the General Education Committee, Behavioral Intervention Team, and Middle States Steering Committee. She served as a steering committee member for the Academy of Health Sciences @ PGCC, the first middle college high school in the state of Maryland and is member of both the Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) P-TECH Steering Committee and PGCC/PGCPS Dual Enrollment Advisory Committee. To date, her grant writing contributions have brought over $3M to the college.

Gloria Aparicio Blackwell
Director of Community Engagement, Office of Community Engagement, University of Maryland

Gloria Aparicio Blackwell is the director of the Office of Community Engagement at the University of Maryland College Park. Through advocacy, storytelling, planning, service, and partnerships, she builds a figurative bridge with the university’s surrounding communities. She has worked for the university for more than 20 years. Her primary role is to contribute to the University’s commitment to the land grant mission, as well as the overall efforts to make the University of Maryland a “Greater College Town.” She is known for her success in bringing together community leaders, advocates, non-profits, government agencies, businesses, and campus stakeholders to address challenges impacting the neighboring communities.

Ms. Aparicio Blackwell earned an associate’s degree in safety and fire science from Instituto Tecnológico de Seguridad Industrial in Venezuela and a bachelor’s degree in industrial technology with a concentration in safety and fire science from UMD. She earned an M.S. in management from the University of Maryland, University College.

Prior to joining the university in 1997, Ms. Aparicio Blackwell worked in safety and fire management at Potomac Electric Power Company and for American University and Montgomery College (as a student worker). Ms. Aparicio Blackwell received the President’s Distinguished Service Award for public service at UMD and was named UMD’s Outstanding Woman of Color. Ms. Aparicio Blackwell is a member of the Board of Trustees from Montgomery College, is a graduate and board member of Leadership Maryland and Leadership Montgomery, and serves as a board member of the International Town/Gown Association.

Sanmi Areola, Ph.D.
Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Health, Human Services and Education

Sanmi Areola, Ph.D. is the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Health, Human Services and Education with Prince George’s County, Maryland. Until recently, he was the Director of the Department of Health and Environment, at Johnson County, Kansas where he led the response to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19
on residents of the county. For the preceding seventeen and a half years, he served in various leadership capacities in a similar institution, the Metro Public Health Department, Nashville, Tennessee, including roles as the Deputy Director and two stints as Interim Director of Health.

Sanmi is a public health generalist who has been involved in aspects of Health in All Policies (HiAP), Health Equity, social determinants of health, public health risk assessments, air toxics assessments, vehicle emissions, air pollution, indoor air quality, pest management, insecticides used in mosquito control, community water fluoridation and concerns about household chemicals. He is passionate about community involvement in every aspect of public health decision-making, investigations and interventions, and the need to incorporate principles of Health in All Policies (HiAP). He is the former Director of the Bureau of Environmental Public Health and a past president of the African Society for Toxicological Sciences (ASTS), which organizes scientific conferences on environmental health and toxicological issues impacting the African continent around the world and has partnered with major international agencies to address global health issues. He spearheaded the formation of Toxicologists of African Origin (TAO) Special Interest Group as part of the US Society of Toxicology. TAO focuses on addressing issues impacting communities here in the US and Africa.

Dr. Areola taught Environmental Health and Industrial Hygiene classes for Master of Science in Public Health students at Meharry Medical College for several years conducts public health community engagement activities and has been featured in several media addressing public health issues of concern in the community. He has served as an expert witness on public health issues before elected officials and in local courts.

He led the response to the Covid-19 pandemic in Johnson County. Under his leadership, the highest vaccination rate in the region with rates above the national average. The success was, at least in part, because he formed and strengthened alliances which were critical to addressing equity issues in testing and vaccination resources. While leading the response to the pandemic, he simultaneously guided the department through re-accreditation efforts, introduced a program assessment initiative revised the Performance Management system, designed and implemented a new Public Health Leadership Council, and developed a blueprint to improve health in the county (Moving Health Forward, JoCo) as the department moved towards the Public Health 3.0 model. The four pillars or drivers include strengthening and building new bridges into the community with an intentional focus on communities that are not always at the table, a commitment to providing spectacular customer service, and a focus on achieving health equity – both as an end and a means to ends.

Dr. Areola received his B.S degree from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria in 1988 and his Ph.D. in environmental toxicology from Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas, USA in 1998. He was a postdoctoral fellow with the Neuroscience Division, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas from 1998 to 2002.

Rachel Hare Bork, Ph.D.
Director of Research and Impact, de Beaumont Foundation

Rachel Hare Bork is a Director of Research and Impact at the de Beaumont Foundation, where she helps lead efforts to measure and impact of programs and investments. Prior to joining the Foundation, Rachel was a research and evaluation officer and consultant to the Wallace Foundation. At Wallace, she contributed to efforts to fill knowledge gaps and assess the effectiveness of the foundation’s initiatives in the areas of education leadership, arts learning and building audiences in the arts. 

Rachel holds a Ph.D. in politics and education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and an M.Sc. in comparative politics from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She graduated with a B.A. with honors in political science from the Johns Hopkins University.

Bill Borwegan, M.P.H.
Principal, Prevention at Work, LLC

Bill Borwegen served as founding the national director of the Service Employees International Union's Occupational Health and Safety Program, the largest union of healthcare workers and second-largest union of public employees in the United States. During a 30-year tenure, he strived to improve workplace conditions including spearheading the successful passage of dozens of federal and state laws and regulations to address hazards ranging from asbestos in schools, blood-borne pathogens, and other infectious agents, needle stick injuries, chemical exposures including chemotherapeutic drugs, manual patient handling and workplace violence.

He possesses a bachelor of science degree from Rutgers University in microbiology and environmental sciences and an MPH in environmental and industrial health from the University of Michigan. He now continues this work with like-minded organizations as principal at Prevention at Work, LLC. 

Annabelle J. Cubero-Montinola, BSN, RN, CDP
Manager, Population Health, University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center

Annabelle J. Cubero-Montinola has a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing, is a Registered Nurse, a Certified Dementia Practitioner, and is currently the Manager of Population of Health at the University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center. She has worked at UM CRMC for 18 years in various clinical settings. She is a member of the Access to Care Coalition and is a Steering Committee member for Partnerships for a Healthier Charles County. A proud mother, dedicated wife, and avid golfer.

Christina Gray, MS
Epidemiologist, Wicomico County Health Department

Christina Gray has a decade of experience working as an epidemiologist in Maryland's local health departments. She is currently the epidemiologist for the Wicomico County Health Department (WiCHD), a role she has held since September 2021, with previous positions in Anne Arundel and Prince George's counties. At the WiCHD, Christina is the lead for analyses across several domains, including data for population health reports, grant narratives, community health needs assessments, community health improvement and strategic planning, as well as all other ad hoc requests. Additionally, she is the lead for the agency's performance management system, the co-chair for the agency's Workforce Development Committee, and a member of the agency's Quality Improvement Council.

Joi Howard, MA
Founding Member, enBloom Collective

Joi Howard is a skilled event, project, and operations management professional, with experience working with numerous non-profits, universities, and corporations, both domestically and abroad. Her roles have included event management and project coordination for Martin’s Caterers, UMBC, the University of Baltimore, and George Washington University Law School. 

She began consulting with Mance & Associates in 2005, leading projects with clients such as Sidley Austin LLP, the DC Department of Behavioral Health, and the National Minorities AIDS Council (NMAC). Officially founded in 2015, Meeting Creative is distinguished by its collaboration with small, women, and minority-owned businesses like Fia’s Fabulous Finds and Movement Law Lab. The boutique consulting group recently completed a Road Map to Sustainability for Maryland Farm to School for the Maryland State Department of Education (December 2023). 

In early 2021, Joi connected with black farmers regionally who shared a vision to support the wellness of historically underserved communities through agriculture. Drawing on her organizing skills, she co-founded enBloom, a collective of aligned businesses, organizations, and individuals that share a vision to eliminate health disparities by race across seven dimensions of wellness. 

Atlanta-born and Baltimore County-raised, Joi holds a diploma from the Western School of Technology and Environmental Science, a B.A. in Multicultural Advertising from the University of Maryland, College Park, and an M.A. in Publications Design from the University of Baltimore. Beyond her professional pursuits, Joi and her husband Ryan enjoy exploring through road trips and outdoor adventures with their two pre-teen daughters and wheaten terrier.

Alana Knudson, Ph.D.
Director, NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis

Alana Knudson, PhD, serves as a Senior Fellow in the Public Health Research Department at NORC at the University of Chicago and is the Director of NORC’s Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis. She has over 30 years of experience leading health research studies, evaluating program effectiveness, and translating findings into practice. Her work is funded by federal and state agencies and private foundations.

Dr. Matthew D. Levy, MD, MPH, F.A.A.P
Health Officer, Prince George's County Department of Health

Dr. Matthew D. Levy has more than 20 years of extensive experience as a physician, faculty instructor, and hospital administrator.

Since 2021, Dr. Levy has served as Professor and Chief of the Division of General and Community Pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In this role, he is a practicing pediatrician and has been working to grow the division by focusing on four key elements including: clinical excellence, active resident and student teaching, research and quality improvement, and community engagement and advocacy.

Prior to his current role, Dr. Levy served as the Medical Director of the Clinically Integrated Network for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta in Atlanta, Georgia from 2017 to 2020, where he drove population health programs that addressed community needs such as asthma and immunizations. From 2000 to 2017, Dr. Levy served in various capacities with MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C., including as Division Chief of Community Pediatrics, where he built programs that improved access to care for children and families in Washington, D.C. These programs included a mobile medical clinic and two school based health centers in Washington, D.C. In this capacity, he directed all of the Community Pediatrics Residency training programs, as well as many student programs including the HOYA clinic, the first medical student driven clinic at the DC General Emergency Family Shelter. 

During his tenure at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Dr. Levy was responsible for raising more than $9 million in grants to support the Division of Community Pediatrics programs. In addition, he served as the Associate Medical Director of Ambulatory Electronic Health Records (EHR) and Health IT Policy for MedStar Health in Columbia, Maryland from 2011 to 2016.

Since 1996, Dr. Levy has been appointed to numerous fellowships including the Community Pediatrics and Child Advocacy Fellow at the Department of Pediatrics at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C., and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellow at the Institute of Medicine/National Academies of Science in Washington, D.C., where he worked for North Dakota Senator Kent Conrad as a Health Policy Advisor. He has also completed the MedStar Leader of the Future: Physician Leadership Development Program at Medstar Health in Columbia, Maryland, and the Advanced Improvement Methodology course at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio.

In addition to his clinical and hospital affiliations, Dr. Levy has spent more than 20 years as a faculty instructor. He previously served in several faculty positions at Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C., including as Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor in the Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Levy has also served as an Advisor on a Nutrition and Physical Activity Initiative at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, D.C., and as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. At the Medical College of Wisconsin he was the Ted D. Kellner Endowed Professor of Pediatrics.

Dr. Levy has been appointed to serve in several leadership and committee positions on local and regional boards including the District of Columbia Primary Care Association, DC Immunization Task Force, DC Lead Task Force, DC Partnership to Improve Children’s Healthcare Quality, DC Child and Family Services Agency Task Force, Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity, and the Milwaukee Academy of Science. In addition, in 2012 he served nationally as a member of President Obama’s Health Care Advisory Committee and the Lead Coordinator of the Obama Health Care Advisory Committee’s Truth Squad. In 2013, he was elected as a local Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for DC Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6A04, where he served from 2014 to 2017.

Throughout his career, Dr. Levy has received numerous awards and accolades including the Special Achievement Award for Distinguished Service from the D.C. Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in 2006 and 2008, as well as the Leo Tow Humanism in Medicine Award, the Gold Humanism Honor Society, and the Dr. Michael Adams Award, all from the Georgetown University School of Medicine. He has previously served on the board of the D.C. Chapter of the AAP. Dr. Levy currently serves as a Fellow with the AAP and as a member of the Wisconsin Chapter of the AAP.

Dr. Levy holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan and a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. He holds a Doctor of Medicine from New York Medical College in Westchester, New York.

Spiro Marinopoulos, M.D.
Director, UMD Health Center

Irwin Royster
Director of Partnerships & Community Engagement, East River Family Strengthening Collaborative, Inc. (ERFSC) 

Irwin Royster joined the East River Family Strengthening Collaborative, Inc. in 2019. He previously worked with Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington (PPMW). He has extensive experience in community building, development, and training. He assisted in the development and implementation of PPMW's first Teen Clinic located east of the Anacostia River. He oversaw the recruitment of youth participants in Teen Clinic sessions and group workshops; training of Youth Health Messengers; the Title X HIV Integration Program grant; street outreach activities, including after-hours HIV/AIDS and STI information distribution and testing of very high-risk young adult populations.

He served as the co-chair of the D.C. Department of Health's STD Control Program's STD Community Coalition. He is a member of the District of Columbia HIV Prevention Community Planning Group (CPG) and serves on the Community Advisory Board of Children's National Medical Center's Connect to Protect program, a nationwide HIV/AIDS prevention program aimed at adolescents.

He is pursuing a master's degree in Social Work at the University of Maryland and ultimately plans to earn a master's of public health.

Katie Sellers, Dr.P.H., C.P.H.
Senior Advisor for Strategy and Innovation, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, HRSA

Katie Sellers is the former vice president for Impact at the de Beaumont Foundation and in that role, Dr. Sellers was responsible for demonstrating the impact of the Foundation’s investments and informing decisions regarding what future strategies are likely to achieve the greatest impact. Prior to joining the foundation, Dr. Sellers served as senior vice president for science and strategy at the March of Dimes, where she was responsible for the strategic initiatives and scientific foundation of March of Dimes work to achieve equity and improvements in birth outcomes. Dr. Sellers also served as Chief Science and Strategy Officer at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO). Dr. Sellers has over twenty years of experience in public health, with over 45 publications. She received her doctorate in Maternal and Child Health from the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

Kyle Snyder
Town Manager, Town of Berwyn Heights

Kyle Snyder is the Town Manager for the Town of Berwyn Heights. He joined the Community Advisory Council in the 2023-2024 academic year.

Edward Sondik, Ph.D.
Former Director, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Most recently, Edward Sondik served as the director of the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, DHHS, a position he held for 17 years. Before joining CDC, he held several positions in the National Cancer Institute including serving as the Acting Director in 1975, overseeing the NCI’s Surveillance and End Results Survey (SEER) program, and serving as Deputy Director of the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control. Prior to the NCI, he held several positions at NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Prior to his federal positions, Dr. Sondik served on the Engineering-Economic Systems faculty at Stanford University. He served on the HHS Secretary's Advisory Committee on National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives for 2030. Dr. Sondik continues to explore the challenges of the Federal Statistical System, data needs at the State and local level, new sources of health data, and training and research on how to use these new sources of data and modeling to meet community health needs.

Joseph Wright, MD, MPH 
Chief Health Equity Officer and Senior Vice President for Equity Initiatives

Joseph L. Wright, MD, MPH is the newly appointed Chief Health Equity Officer and Senior Vice President for Equity Initiatives of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). He most recently served as the inaugural Chief Health Equity Officer of the University of Maryland Medical System and prior to that was tenured Professor and Chair of Pediatrics at the Howard University College of Medicine. He previously spent more than two decades in senior leadership roles at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC where he provided strategic direction for the organization’s advocacy mission, public policy positions, and community partnership initiatives, while also serving 17 years as the inaugural State Pediatric Medical Director within the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems. Dr. Wright maintains appointments as adjunct professor of emergency medicine and health policy at George Washington University and teaches as adjunct professor of health policy and management at the University of Maryland School of Public Health.

Academically, Dr. Wright is among the nation’s original cohort of board-certified pediatric emergency physicians with scholarly interests that include injury prevention, prehospital pediatrics, and the needs of underserved communities. He has contributed over 120 publications to the scientific literature, was a principal investigator of the NIH-funded DC-Baltimore Research Center on Child Health Disparities, and is an elected member of both Alpha Omega Alpha and Delta Omega, the nation’s medical and public health honor societies.

Dr. Wright has chaired the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Pediatric Emergency Medicine, the Task Force on Addressing Bias and Discrimination, and the Board of Directors’s Committee on Equity. He is the lead author of several Academy policy statements including The Role of Pediatricians in Youth Violence Prevention, Ensuring the Health of Children in Disasters, and Eliminating Race-Based Medicine. Dr. Wright has been recognized for long-standing leadership as the recipient of three AAP career achievement awards for humanitarianism, and for distinguished contributions to the disciplines of emergency medicine and injury prevention, respectively. He is also the recipient of the Academy’s inaugural Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Excellence Award and has been recognized with the Academic Pediatric Association’s George Armstrong
Award, the University of Maryland’s Distinguished Terrapin Award, and George Washington University’s Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award all represent the most prestigious honors bestowed by those institutions. Eponymous annual legacy awards for excellence in child health advocacy have been established in his honor by both Children’s National Hospital and the AAP Section on Emergency Medicine.

Dr. Wright provides national leadership through advisory and governance service to several health and human service entities including the Association of American Medical Colleges and Safe Kids Worldwide, and he previously served as an Obama administration appointee to the Food and Drug Administration’s Pediatric Advisory Committee. Dr. Wright regularly presents invited testimony before Congress, state, and municipal legislative bodies, has made numerous media appearances, and lectures widely to both professional and lay audiences.

Dr. Wright earned a BA from Wesleyan University, MD from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, and a Master of Public Health in Administrative Medicine and Management from George Washington University.