2005 - 2007 Cohort

DeAnnah received her Bachelor of Science and Masters of Science in Population Health Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As a fellow, DeAnnah Byrd was dual-placed with the Milwaukee Health Department and American Cancer Society. DeAnnah led a project to learn how African-Americans and their caregivers respond to cancer diagnoses. Based on that information, DeAnnah made recommendations on how the Cancer Society’s Patient Navigation system could be improved to better serve patient needs. This project included a survey of hundreds of Milwaukee area cancer patients as well as focus groups of patients, family caregivers and health providers.

Following the Fellowship, DeAnnah pursued her doctoral degree in Community Health Sciences at the Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California Los Angeles. Dr. Byrd is now an assistant professor at Arizona State University. She studies the effects of risk and protective factors on memory and cognitive changes in older African Americans, with the aim to improve cognitive outcomes for African Americans.

David earned a MPH from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Huston and a Doctor of Education from Teachers College of Columbia University. During his Fellowship, David led an intervention project on the sexual understanding of Milwaukee African-American adolescents. David wrote the grant proposal and led the study and intervention with the assistance of local teen investigators, MPH students, and a first year fellow. David also completed an analysis of the relationship between Apgar scores and post-hospital discharge deaths of infants in Milwaukee to inform efforts to increase healthy birth outcomes. David also joined the Board of the Latino Health Coalition and helped to organize a Farmer’s Market on the city’s Southside.

Following his competition of the Fellowship, David became a Community Engagement Manager at a non-profit cancer program in Seattle. David has also served in a myriad of community based and academic positions in the Greater New York City area, including as the Director of Capacity Building, Research, and Evaluation for the Latino Commission on AIDS and as Assistant Professor at the Teachers College of Columbia University and the City University of New York. Dr. Garcia is currently the director of Quality Improvement at the Texas Department of Health Services and brings 20+ years of experience spanning public health management, health equity research, and evaluation science across the midwest, Seattle, New York, and Texas.

Matt received his MS in Epidemiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Population Health Sciences in 2005. He completed his Fellowship at the Wisconsin DPH Bureau of Health Policy and Information. He led a number of projects including the development of an on-line database of county key health indicators. He also led a research group focused on improving healthy birth outcomes for Milwaukee and was selected as the Division’s representative to the CDC Prevention Conference. 

Following his completion of the Fellowship, Matt earned his JD in Health Care Law and Compliance from the Mitchell Hamline School of Law. Matt has over 15 years of experience as a healthcare attorney, and is currently the Chief Legal and Quality Officer of Solvista Health, which is a local healthcare provider in South Central Colorado offering primary health care, addiction recovery and crisis care services, and behavioral health services. Matt was involved in building Solvista's new Regional Assessment Center in Salida to provide acute treatment and withdrawal management to serve rural and frontier counties. In Matt’s role as  Chief Legal and Quality Officer Matt provides both legal counsel as well as works with community partners at a regional and state level on mechanisms of accountability that avoid costly litigations.

Pa Chia graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in 2005. She completed her Fellowship with the La Crosse County Health Department’s office of Nutrition Services. Pa Chia focused on wellness education and nutrition education for newly arrived Hmong refugees. She also helped lead an initiative for water fluoridation in the Holmen community.

Post Fellowship: Pa Chai is Community Health Project Manager at the University of Minnesota Medical Center