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Spotlight Video Archive

The NYC Health Department is one of the leading public health institutions nationwide and as a result, attracts leading public health experts who work hard every day to keep New York City a healthy place to live, work and visit. View recent videos of NYC Health Department experts who are working tirelessly each day to ensure your health and safety.

Sara Gardner on the Fund for Public Health in New York

Sara W. Gardner, MPH, is the Executive Director of the Fund for Public Health in New York. Ms. Gardner has twenty-five years of progressive and diverse experience as a leader, manager, technical advisor, and evaluator of public health and development programs. Before coming to the Fund, Ms. Gardner served as Vice President of Programs with EngenderHealth, providing leadership and oversight of their global and field programs. While with EngenderHealth, she also served as the Director of Global Programs, where she was responsible for EngenderHealth's global program initiatives including Family Planning, HIV/AIDS, Maternal Health, Men as Partners, Quality Improvement, Informed Choice, and Research & Development. Ms. Gardner received her Masters in Public Health degree from New York University. Sara is an avid marathon runner and completed her 19th marathon in 2010! Click here to view the video.

Christina Chang on Take Care New York

Christina Chang is Deputy Commissioner for the NYC Health Department's Division of Policy and External Affairs. Ms. Chang has been with the Department since 2002 and has played central roles in many high-priority policy initiatives, including the Smoke-Free Air Act of 2002; the elimination of trans fat use in restaurants; development of the calorie labeling rule; and expansion of supportive housing. Prior to joining the Health Department, Ms. Chang was a Program Director at the Mayor's Office for Health Insurance Access and a policy analyst at the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. She earned her Masters Degree in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Click here to view the video.

Christine Johnson on Cut the Salt!

Christine Johnson is the Director of Nutrition Policy in the Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Control Program at the NYC Health Department. In that capacity she has been involved in many initiatives related to the NYC Health Department's nutrition policy work, including the trans fat regulation in New York City restaurants, food procurement standards for city agencies, and the National Salt Reduction Initiative. Christine has a Masters in Business Administration from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Click here to view the video.

Aletha Maybank

Aletha Maybank, MD, MPH is an Assistant Commissioner with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and serves as the Director of the Brooklyn District Public Health Office located in Central Brooklyn. The mission of the District Public Health Offices is to reduce health inequalities and promote health equity across NYC by targeting resources, programs, and attention to high-need neighborhoods in the South Bronx, East and Central Harlem, and North and Central Brooklyn. Dr. Maybank was Founding Director of the Office of Minority Health (OMH) in the Suffolk County Department of Health Services in Long Island, NY and serves on the Board of the New York State Public Health Association and the Executive Committee of the Empire State Medical Association, the NYS affiliate of the National Medical Association. She also serves as Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Masters in Public Health Program at Long Island University Brooklyn Campus and on the voluntary faculty as Clinical Instructor in the Department of Preventive Medicine at the SUNY (State University of New York)/Stony Brook University School of Medicine. Dr. Maybank holds a BA from Johns Hopkins University, an MD from Temple University School of Medicine, and an MPH from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. She is Board Certified in both Pediatrics and Preventive Medicine/Public Health. Click here to view the video.

Karen Lee on Built Environment

Karen Lee, MD, MHSc, FRCPC, is the Director of the Built Environment Program at the NYC Health Department. As Director of the Built Environment Program, Dr. Lee has been integral to the development of New York City's Active Design Guidelines (ADG) and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Innovation Credit for Physical Activity. A former CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officer and an expert in forging collaborations between the public health and built environment sectors, she has convened and collaborated with numerous public agencies and professional organizations in developing and promoting implementation of the ADG, including through the educational Fit City conferences. Dr. Lee co-chairs a citywide Committee on Physical Activity and Health that makes recommendations for greening New York City's construction codes. Karen has a Bachelor's and her MD from the University of Alberta, and a Community Health and Epidemiology degree from the University of Toronto. Click here to view the video.

Nathan Graber on Environmental Health

Nathan Graber, MD, MPH is the Director of the Environmental and Occupational Disease Epidemiology Program at the NYC Health Department. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, sees patients in the Pediatric Emergency Department of St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, and maintains an adjunct appointment at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Dr. Graber is active on projects related to the prevention of illness and injury related to environmental exposures and occupational hazards. Most recently, he has led a comprehensive surveillance project to understand drownings in NYC and has led prevention efforts to reduce morbidity and mortality related to heat waves. Prior to working at the Department of Health, he completed a fellowship in Pediatric Environmental Health at the Mount Sinai Medical School of Medicine along with earning his MPH. He received his MD from the Sackler School of Medicine at Tel Aviv University and completed his residency in Pediatrics at Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx. Click here to view the video.

Sam Amirfar on the Primary Care Information Project

Sam Amirfar, MD, MS is the Clinical Content Coordinator at the Primary Care Information Project. Dr. Amirfar manages clinical content within the electronic health record and coordinates the creation and distribution of health alerts sent to community providers. In addition, he helps analyze epidemiological data from electronic health records and demonstrates new functionalities to providers in the community. Dr. Amirfar received his MD from New York University and finished his residency at the Bellevue Hospital/NYU Medical Center in 2002 and is currently board certified in internal medicine. He holds an MS in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Services Research and earned his BA and BS at Stanford University. Click here to view the video.

Susan Blank on Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Susan Blank, Assistant Commissioner for the Bureau of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Control and Prevention, discusses her background and interest in public health and the work the NYC Health Department is doing to prevent and treat sexually transmitted infections. Click here to view the video.

Naomi Kincler

Naomi Kincler is now an Epidemiologist with the NYC Health Department. She received her Masters Degree in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University and her B.A. from McGill University. In 2009 Naomi participated in the Health Department's Epi Scholars program and discusses her experience here. Click here to view the video.

Cheryl Baez

Cheryl Baez has over 25 years of marketing communications experience with public and private organizations. As the Community Relations Coordinator of NYC's Nurse-Family Partnership, Cheryl oversees citywide outreach activities and creates multi-media communications pieces to ensure visibility and consistent branding for the program. Prior to working with NFP, Ms. Baez served as the Director for Development at Samaritan Village, a substance abuse treatment program. She has also held public relations and marketing positions with financial institutions such as Astoria Federal Savings Bank and Rabobank International, a food and agribusiness bank and Edelman Public Relations. Cheryl earned a Master's in Business Administration from CUNY's Baruch College and a Bachelor's Degree in Marketing from Boston Click here to view the video.