Board of Directors – California Immunization Coalition

Professor of Pediatrics Division of Infectious Diseases; Director, Pediatric Immunization Advancement Laboratory, University of California, San Diego.

Pediatric Physician for
Southern Orange County Pediatric Association

Follow me on Twitter @DrEricBall

Assistant Division Chief, Infectious Diseases Children’s Hospital Orange County

Health Program Manager, Sacramento County Public Health

Lobyist, Bourne
& Associates

Retired Chief Medical Officer and past Chief of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine at Watts Healthcare Corporation

Registered Nurse, Anthem Blue Cross

Assistant Professor of Clinical Pharmacy University of Southern California

Retired Immunization Coordinator, Placer County Health and Human Services Department

Retired Chief of Immunization Branch County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency

Special Assistant to the Chief Medical Officer at Los Angeles County Department of Public Health

Central Valley Immunization Coalition

Medical Director of Infection Control and Pharmacy for Sutter Health

Pia Pannaraj, MD, MPH

Pia Pannaraj, MD, MPH, is Professor of Pediatrics Division of Infectious Diseases; Director, Pediatric Immunization Advancement Laboratory, University of California, San Diego. She previously served as an Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics and Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the USC Keck School of Medicine and an Infectious Disease Specialist at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Dr. Pannaraj has also directed the USC Pediatric Global Health Residency Track, and has written extensively and lectured nationally and internationally on vaccines, vaccine-preventable diseases, neonatal health and immunology. She has also received multiple awards for her leadership including an American Physicians Foundation Outstanding Mentorship Award, several young researcher awards, and a Garvey School District award for her contribution to school health and disease prevention.

Eric Ball, MD

Eric Ball, MD, is a primary care pediatrician at Southern Orange County Pediatric Associates, a member of the CHOC Children’s Primary Care Network. Dr. Ball is the immediate Past President of the American Academy of Pediatrics in Orange County and a member of the Board of Directors of the AAP-California. He also serves as an Assistant Medical Director with CHOC Health Alliance, serves on the Medical Leadership Council at Monarch Healthcare, and is a delegate to the California Medical Association House of Delegates, representing Orange County Physicians.

Dr. Ball received his degree at Duke University, attended medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and trained in pediatrics at Stanford University, where he also served as Chief Resident. Eric is a frequent contributor and media spokesperson on behalf of AAP and his practice. He was involved in support of recent legislation on SB 276 and worked in collaboration with other health professionals and advocacy groups to secure the passage of this and other legislation to support public health and immunizations.

Follow Dr. Ball on Twitter @DrEricBall

Jasjit Singh, MD

Jasjit Singh, MD, is Assistant Director of the division and serves as the Medical Epidemiologist for CHOC Children’s Hospital in Orange, CA. Dr. Singh received her undergraduate degree at Harvard University, and her medical degree from the Duke University School of Medicine. She completed her pediatrics residency at Cornell University Medical Center in NY, where she also served as Chief Resident, before completing her subspecialty fellowship training in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore.

Dr. Singh’s main interests are in the prevention of infection and vaccines, international health, and primary immunodeficiency conditions in children. She is active in clinical research, has presented her work at scientific meetings and has multiple publications. She has a passion for teaching medical students and residents, and gives frequent lectures at CHOC and in the community on a variety of infectious disease topics.

Chairing the Orange County Immunization Coalition since 2013 has been very fulfilling for Dr. Singh, as a multidisciplinary collaborative to keep the kids of Orange County healthy. She also serves as the vaccine champion for Chapter 4, AAP. She and her husband enjoy doing medical missions abroad, and hope to do more in the years ahead.

Rachel Allen, RN

Rachel Allen is currently serving as the Health Program Manager ofr the Immunization Assistance program and CPS Nursing Units for the Sacrameto County Department of Health Services (DHS), Public Health Division. Prior to joining the Sacramento County DHS, she was the Immunization Coordinator for the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services, where she planned all immunization activities, oversaw Public Health Clinic operations, and coordinated and oversaw the Humboldt Immunization Coalition.

Lydia Bourne, RN

Lydia Bourne’s professional experiences are varied. Her primary professional experience has been in health care – as a Registered Nurse, health educator, program developer, and administrator. In addition to her professional experience, Ms. Bourne has long been active as a volunteer and community activist. Her legislative and regulatory experience includes health care, K -14 education, and professional licensure matters. She has been successful in navigating health and educational issues through the legislative process and in influencing Governors Wilson, Davis, Schwarzenegger and Brown to sign legislation on key issues. Presently she is owner of her own government relations firm – Bourne & Associates.

Lydia has been Executive Director and Legislative Advocate of the California School Nurses Association; Chair of the Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health Advisory Board of Yolo County; Chair of the March of Dimes Public Affairs Committee, and Vice Chair of the March of Dimes Executive Committee. She also was a member of the Sacramento County Black Health Network and the Sacramento County Black Infant Health Community Advisory Board. She served in a variety of positions on the Shots for Tots board and has served on the CIC BOD several times.

Oliver Brooks, MD

Oliver Brooks, MD is the Chairman of the Immunize LA Families Coalition. He is a member of the national Leadership Panel for the Adolescent Immunization Initiative (AII), which advocated successfully for adding a column on the ACIP’s yearly vaccine recommendations in 2017. Dr. Brooks also has joined the Health and Human in June 2020, Dr. Brooks asked to, and joined the ACIP COVID-19 Work Group discussing and making recommendations to the ACIP regarding (potential) COVID-19 vaccine prioritization. Dr. Brooks is the immediate Past President of the National Medical Association (NMA), which represents the nation’s 55,000 African-American physicians. Dr. Brooks is Chief Medical Officer and past Chief of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine at Watts Healthcare Corporation in Los Angeles. He is a Medical Director for L.A. Care Health Plan, one of the nation’s largest Medicaid managed care plans.

Mary Crandall, RN

Mary Crandall, RN is a Quality Management Manager for Anthem Blue Cross’ Medi-Cal Managed Care Plan. Within her role at Anthem Blue Cross she has developed initiatives to improve access and uptake of childhood and adolescent immunizations. Mary is the current chair of the Central Valley Immunization Coalition and is working with stakeholders to help reignite a Sacramento Regional Immunization Coalition.

Richard Dang, PharmD

Richard Dang, PharmD, APh

Dr. Dang is the Assistant Professor of Clinical Pharmacy and Residency Program Director of the University of Southern California’s (USC) Titus Family Department of Clinical Pharmacy.

He is the Immediate Past President, California Pharmacists Association (CPhA) and has been a long time advocate and educator about the importance of immunizations and pharmacy partnerships. Dr. Dang’s expertise in immunizations, travel health, and community health programs has led to his role as a leading advocate during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was Chair of the California Pharmacists Association COVID-19 Taskforce and a member of the USC COVID-19 vaccine planning steering committee, California State Testing Taskforce, California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Immunization Branch Pharmacy Taskforce, and Adult Workgroup of the Immunization Action Coalition of Los Angeles County (ICLAC).

Dr. Dang is also a medical consultant to international travel health and COVID-19 testing and vaccination companies. Dr. Dang has also been featured in numerous media outlets (including the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, NPR, KNX News Radio, ABC7, the Los Angeles Business Journal, and BuzzFeed News) for his work and as a COVID-19/vaccination expert. Read more about Dr. Dang here at the USC website.

Meg Dorsey, RN, PHN

Meg Dorsey, RN, PHN served most recently as the Immunization Coordinator for the Placer County Health and Human Services Agency and manages a variety of immunization activities including provider support, community outreach and education, and surveillance. Meg’s experience in the field of immunization includes 16 years as a public sector business manager for a vaccine manufacturer in several western states. She brings clinical knowledge to the board from her past front-line experience working as a nurse in community and academic hospitals.

As a long-time supporter of CIC and many other immunization coalitions, Meg and her work are well known to many of CIC’s members. However, you may not know that she provides nursing services at a 100 bed homeless shelter in Placer County, teaches reproductive health in the Juvenile Detention Facility, and enjoys running the many trails in the Sierra Foothills with her rescue dogs.

Kathleen Worthing Gustafson, MPH

Kathleen Worthing Gustafson, MPH, a founding member of the CIC Board of Directors. Prior to the establishment of CIC she served as a member of the Board of Directors of the California Coalition for Childhood Immunization (C3I) and as President of the C3I Board.

Kathe retired as the Chief of the Immunization Branch for the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency. She began her work in immunizations in 1990 and was instrumental in establishing the San Diego Immunization Coalition. Kathe is also a member of the Planning Committee for the National Conference of Immunization and Health Coalitions, and has served on various health coalitions including the San Diego Combined Health Agency Drive and Food for All. Prior to her work in the immunization arena, she held a variety of positions while moving 29 times during her husband’s Navy career.

Julia Heinzerling, MPH

Julia Heinzerling, MPH, is the Special Assistant to the Chief Medical Officer at LA County DPH. In this role she coordinates special projects, develops communications for Departmental and external stakeholders, and is engaged in strategic planning and policy efforts. She also serves as the Managing Editor for LADPH’s newsletter, Rx for Prevention. Julia’s prior work focused primarily on health promotion, social support, disparities, quality improvement, and grants management. She received her MPH with a specialty in health policy and administration from UC Berkeley. Julia has been active with CIC for many years and has held a variety of leadership roles, including President, Vice President, lead Coordinator of the Disparities Work Group, and member of the Summit Planning Committee.

Pamela Kahn, MPH, RN

Pamela Kahn, MPH, RN, is the Coordinator for Health and Wellness at the Orange County Department of Education and she has been a credentialed school nurse for more than 20 years. In her first 12 years as a school nurse, she carried a caseload of approximately 10,000 7th-12th grade students spread among 5 schools. In addition to being responsible for the students’ care, she oversaw the training of unlicensed assistive school personnel. Currently, Ms. Kahn provides technical, advisory, and consultative services to the assistance and resources to the 28 school districts in Orange County, serving more than 500,000 students, in the areas of health education, nursing and health services, and nutrition services. Pamela has provided leadership for health programs improvement by developing strong relationships, collaborating and planning with the community at large, public and private community agencies, school district leaders, Orange County Department of Education staff and the State Department of Education.

Ms. Kahn is now immediate Past President- of the California School Nurses Organization (CSNO), and is a member of several professional organizations, including the California School-Based Health Alliance, the National Association of School Nurses, the Orange County School Nurses Organization, and the Orange County Immunization Coalition Advisory Committee.

Sallie Negin, RN

Sallie Negin, RN, Ms. Negin has extensive immunization and quality improvement (QI) experience. As a health facility site reviewer, she frequently provided education to pediatric and adult providers regarding Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendations and routinely encourages providers to enroll in the California Immunization Registry (CAIR). She also coordinated the collection of Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures, to assess and monitor quality. To improve provider practices and increase immunization rates, she’s partnered with the Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program to implement QI projects in provider offices.

For the past twenty years, Ms. Negin has been active with the Central Valley Immunization Coalition. She has served on its Executive Board for many years and has held the leadership positions of Chair and Treasurer, both for multiple terms.

Jeffrey Silvers, MD

Jeffrey Silvers, MD, is the Medical Director of Infection Control and Pharmacy for Sutter Health, where he serves as physician lead in antimicrobial stewardship, infection control, epidemiology, emerging infections and pharmacy for the health care system. Dr. Silvers works closely with the California Department of Public Health, having served on multiple advisory committees. After completing his medical training in the UCLA healthcare system, he spent 35 years caring for patients with complex infectious diseases. He is on the board of directors for the Infectious Disease Association of California, the Advisory Council for the California Immunization Coalition and is the lead author of the widely read Sutter Emerging Infections Newsletter.