Region 6 South Central Public Health Training Center Newsletter
October 2016 Newsletter
UNM trainee receives scholarship for 2016 Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) annual meeting

Marissa Elias, a South Central Region 6 Public Health Training Center 2015-16 Trainee and University of New Mexico graduate student, has received a Trainee Scholarship to attend the 2016 Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Annual Meeting: Changing the Conversation about Health Research on November 17-19, 2016. Marissa won the scholarship, which covers all attendance costs and travel, through a competition and will be representing the PCORI pipeline award "Hispanic Family Asthma Network" along with one of her Region 6 SCPHTC mentors, Maria Otero.  The meeting will convene at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, National Harbor, Maryland and is a chance for more than 1,000 members of the healthcare community to meet and discuss how scientists, patients, and other stakeholders are working together to make clinical research more useful and relevant using comparative effectiveness techniques in conjunction with patient-centered approaches.

Marissa is pursuing a community health concentration in the Master of Public Health Program of the University of New Mexico College of Population Health (UNM COPH) and also works as a bilingual medical scribe. During her R6-SCPHTC traineeship, Elias worked with Maria Otero, Director of Outreach for Nuestra Salud, and research partner Noell Stone, of the UNM COPH, on community-capacity building and developing research partnerships. Nuestra Salud is a New Mexican community health advocacy group that works with populations throughout New Mexico on access to care, lung health, asthma control, tobacco control, breastfeeding and other health issues. According to Marissa, "The traineeship was an overall great experience, where I have learned how to apply my public health skills and knowledge in real world settings."
Partner Spotlight:
Camille Miller, MSSW, ACSW


Camille D. Miller has been the president and CEO of the Texas Health Institute (THI) since 1996. After completing bachelor's and master's degrees in sociology and social work at the University of Texas at Austin, Miller gained extensive experience in policy research and development while she served in Texas for three governors, two lieutenant governors, a state comptroller, and state senator, planning, researching and developing state policy to address all policy and budget areas of state government. She also held executive staff positions at the Texas Department of Community Affairs and the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services. As chief of staff for the Texas Senate Committee on Health and Human Services, she supervised legislative interim studies on medically fragile children, reorganization of health and human services, and conducted the most recent comprehensive study of Medicaid in Texas.
 
In February 1995, the Texas Hospital Association (THA) selected her to be the director of THA's Medicaid project, and immediately promoted her to Director of Regulatory Affairs. When the 32-year-old Texas Hospital Education and Research Foundation changed its name and mission, THA again tapped her experience in policy development and her strong leadership skills, asking Camille to be the first president and chief executive officer of the Texas Institute for Health Policy Research. In 2006, a merger with Texas Health Foundation created the Texas Health Institute, an independent, statewide 501(c) (3) non-profit organization.
 
Miller serves on the board of directors of the Texas Public Health Museum, National Communities Joined in Action, and served as a founding member and past chair of the Capitol Rotary Club. She serves on the Baylor University Hankamer School of Business Healthcare Administration Program. She serves on the Texas Team, working to recruit more nurses into the workforce in Texas.
 
In 2009, Camille D. Miller received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Social Workers from both the Texas Chapter and the Austin Chapter.
 
In May 2010, she was granted the honorary degree of Doctor of Public Service by the Board of Regents at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, Texas. Most recently Ms. Miller has been appointed to the MPH/DrPH Advisory Council at the University of North Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health, 2015. Miller is also a member of the Public Health Transformation Sentinel of the National Association of County & City Health Officials (MACCHO).
 
She is a member of Leadership Texas' class of 1996, Leadership America's 2013 class and a Deacon at First Baptist Church in Austin, Texas.
Featured Course Bundle

Environmental Health in Disasters

The Environmental Health in Disasters bundle consists of 5 courses. This bundle contains courses that provide the fundamentals to risk assessment and environmental health in disasters. Topics covered include environmental health in emergency shelters, environmental sampling and environmental monitoring.

Environmental Health in Disasters bundle courses:
  • Fundamentals of Health Risk Assessment in Public Health - 4 credit hours
  • Introduction to Human Health Risk Assessment - 2 credit hours
  • Environmental Health Issues in Disasters - 2 credit hours
  • Environmental Sampling and Monitoring in a Disaster - 4 credit hours
  • Environmental Health and Shelters - 3 credit hours
For more information about the Environmental Health in Disasters course bundle, click here
We Want To Hear From You!

Looking for more training on a specific topic in public health? Need additional training on a current public health hot topic? We want to help you address these needs. Please email us and let us know about your current training needs/interests/issues. We will evaluate our current trainings to see if we have something that can address your area of interest.

If we don't have the resources already available, we will look into the possibility of developing those resources for you. Please send us an email at [email protected] and let us see if we can be of help. Thank you.
Visit the Region 6 South Central Public Health Training Center Website!
http://r6phtc.sph.tulane.edu