The MPH program at UWF is structured around a practitioner-based focus utilizing the services of personnel from other disciplines (Biology, Business, Communications Arts, Mathematics and Statistics, Medical Informatics and Psychology) and practitioners from the regional public health community. Practitioners are a strong component of this mix because of the professional nature of the MPH Program at UWF and because of the experience and hands-on work with students that these individuals bring to the table. The public health community commitment to the MPH program is clearly demonstrated by the quality of the practitioners that have volunteered to teach within the program. The same quality of practitioner are participating in and supporting all aspects of the program.

MPH Faculty (core)

Justice Mbizo, Dr.PH

Position: MPH Academic Advisor and Program Coordinator, Lecturer in Public Health
Contact: jmbizo@uwf.edu

Justice Mbizo received his Doctor of Public Health degree form Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland and a Masters of Science in Administration (Health Services) from Central Michigan University. He has been co-teaching and teaching courses in the School of Allied Health and Life Sciences since 2005, including Epidemiological Design and Statistical Methods, Computer Applications in Public Health, Strategies for the Prevention of Infectious Diseases, and Healthcare Quality, Statistics and Database Management.

MPH Faculty (core)

George L. Stewart, PhD

Position: MPH Director, School of Allied Health and Life Sciences Director, Professor
Contact: gstewart@uwf.edu

George Stewart's area of expertise is in infectious and parasitic diseases. He studied parasitology under Dr. Clark Read at Rice University and has collaborated on a variety of studies with USAMRIID, CDC and WHO. Dr. Stewart has consulted with a long list of drug and diagnostic companies on problems in the treatment and diagnosis of infectious diseases. His areas of research include pathophysiology and pathobiochemistry of infectious diseases and modulation of mammalian immune response by disease agents. Dr. Stewart has taught Epidemiology of Infectious Disease, Parasitology, Immunology, Medical Microbiology, Bioterrorism and Human Sexuality. He is currently Chair of Biology and Director of the School of Allied Health and Life Sciences under which is included Clinical Laboratory Sciences, Biology, Nursing, Medical Informatics, Health Care Ethics, the Master of Public Health and the Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences degree programs. In the MPH program, Dr. Stewart teaches the courses Epidemiology of Infectious Disease and Bioterrorism. To preview the course trailer for Bioterrorism, watch the avatar, Ray D. Bones, in this Windows Media mini-movie.

MPH Faculty (core)

Melanie A Sutton, PhD

Position: Associate Professor
Contact: msutton@uwf.edu

Melanie A. Sutton is currently a tenured Associate Professor in the School of Allied Health and Life Sciences at the University of West Florida and serves as the Co-Director of the Certificate in Medical Informatics Program at UWF. Dr. Sutton also serves as one of the co-developers of the School's Medical Informatics Resource Site and teaches courses in medical terminology, bioinformatics, medical informatics, and computer applications in public health. Her research interests and publications span these areas, as well as computer vision, robotics, digital mammography, and web-based instruction and assessment. Dr. Sutton received the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and Advising Award in 2002 and the Outstanding Instructor of the Semester Award in 1998. In 1999-2003 she served as the Principal Investigator of a $200,000 grant from The Whitaker Foundation for the project, Development and Assessment of Protocols for Efficient Utilization of Large-Scale Digital Mammography Databases. She received her Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering in the area of computer vision and robotics under Drs. Kevin Bowyer and Louise Stark at the University of South Florida. While with Harris Space Systems as an undergraduate student, she was part of the CORE project, a redesign of the Launch Processing System for the Space Shuttle. In the MPH Program, Dr. Sutton teaches Computer Applications in Public Health and Healthcare Quality, Statistics and Database Management

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MPH Faculty (joint)

Raid Amin, PhD

Position: Professor, Department of Mathematics & Statistics; Director, UWF Statistical Consulting Services
Contact: ramin@uwf.edu

Dr. Raid Amin's area of expertise is in computational statistics and process control. He studied statistics under Dr. Marion R. Reynolds, Jr. and Dr. Jesse C. Arnold at Virginia Tech (Statistics Department) and has published extensively with many collaborating professors and engineers. His areas of research include properties of univariate and multivariate control charts, in addition to studying the effects of autocorrelation and designing tolerance intervals that can be applied to a variety of processes, ranging from chemical to environmental and medical. Dr. Amin has taught Biostatistics, Regression Analysis, Experimental Design, Nonparametric Statistics, Multivariate Statistics, Quality Control, and several other statistics courses. He is currently Professor and Director of UWF Statistical Consulting Services, which provides statistical consulting services to UWF students and faculty, in addition to external clients. In the MPH Program, Dr. Amin teaches the course Biostatistics. Watch his welcome lecture here [] with this free player.

MPH Faculty (joint)

Susan Walch, Ph.D.

Position: Associate Professor, Department of Psychology
Contact: swalch@uwf.edu

Dr. Susan Walch was named the William A. Bailey Health and Behavior Congressional Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2006-2007. Her activities involved conducting legislative and oversight work, assisting in congressional hearings and debates and preparing briefs and writing speeches related to her area of expertise in HIV/AIDS and other health focused issues. This appointment came on the heels of the $1.1 million grant she wrote which was funded for five years by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for Okaloosa AIDS Support and Information Services (OASIS) of Fort Walton Beach. This grant implements a community-level intervention that addresses the HIV prevention needs of heterosexual African American men and women and HIV prevention intervention for young gay and bisexual men. In the MPH program, Dr. Walch teaches the course Social and Behavioral Sciences in Public Health.

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MPH Adjunct

David Di Loreto, MD, MBA

Position: Adjunct Instructor, SAHLS (2006-present)
Contact: ddiloreto@uwf.edu

Dr. David Di Loreto is the Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice-President for Medical Affairs at Baptist Health Care in Pensacola, FL. He previously was Associate Professor and Medical Director at LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans. He is a board-certified ophthalmologist and has practiced clinically for 18 years. He was awarded a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Florida and a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Emory University. His undergraduate degree is in Biological Sciences from Loyola University. Dr. Di Loreto publishes and lectures actively on clinical and business topics. In the MPH program, Dr. Di Loreto teaches the course Business Analysis and Decision-Making in Health Care.

MPH Adjunct

Robert Hoyt, MD

Position: Associate Director, Medical Informatics Program and Adjunct Instructor, SAHLS (2002-present)
SAHLS Membership: Advisory Committee/Medical Informatics Working Group (2002-present), Mobile and Wireless Solutions Working Group (2006-present)
Contact: rhoyt@uwf.edu

Dr. Robert Hoyt received his MD and residency in Internal Medicine from Virginia Commonwealth University. After 15 years in private practice in Virginia he returned to active duty and has been stationed at the Naval Hospital Pensacola for the past 13 years. In 2006 he transferred to the Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory where he is a Principle Investigator. He has been involved with Medical Informatics for the past decade and specifically with the University of West Florida since the inception of the Medical Informatics Certificate Program. In the MPH Program, Dr. Hoyt teaches the course Introduction to Medical Informatics.

MPH Adjunct

Rodney Johnson, J.D.

Position: Chief Legal Counsel, Northwest Law Office of the Department Of Health; SAHLS Adjunct Instructor (2005-present)
Contact: rjohnson3@uwf.edu

Dr. Rodney Johnson currently works as the Chief Legal Counsel in the Northwest Law Office of the Department Of Health here in Pensacola, Florida. In this position, he is responsible for representing health and Children’s Medical Services in Bay, Escambia, Holmes, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton and Washington Counties in all legal matters before administrative bodies (PERC, DOAH, FHRC, etc.) and state and federal courts. He additionally coordinates representation with the Attorney General’s Office and private attorneys and maintains and develops relationships with relevant state attorneys to assure enforcement of environmental and other related permit and licensing functions. Finally, he provides legal advice to each of the nine entities of the consortium agreement. In the MPH Program, Dr. Johnson teaches the course Legal Fundamentals of Health Care and Public Health.

MPH Adjunct

John Lanza, MD, PhD, MPH, FAAP

Position: Director, Escambia County Health Department; SAHLS Adjunct Instructor (2005-present)
SAHLS Membership: Advisory Committee/MPH Working Group (2002-present); MPH Steering Committee (2007-present)
Contact: John_Lanza@doh.state.fl.us

Dr. John Lanza is a board-certified pediatrician with a Ph.D. in Nuclear & Radiological Engineering (Medical Radiation Physics) from the University of Florida. He is a graduate of the UTESA School of Medicine, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Dr. Lanza has been the Director of the Florida Department of Health Escambia County Health Department since May 1996 and has been in public health for over 13 years. In 2002, Dr. Lanza completed a Master of Public Health degree from the University of South Florida College of Public Health. In addition to other faculty positions at the University of West Florida, he is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences at the Florida State University College of Medicine (FSUCOM). Dr. Lanza directs public health experiences for both pediatric and obstetrics and gynecology residents at the FSUCOM residency programs in Pensacola as well as aerospace medicine residents from the Naval Aerospace Medicine Institute at Naval Air Station Pensacola and family medicine residents from Naval Hospital Pensacola. In the MPH Program, Dr. Lanza teaches the courses Disease Surveillance and Monitoring, Environmental Health in the Urban Community, Epidemiology for Public Health Professionals, and Disease Transmission in the Urban Environment.

MPH Adjunct

Enid Sisskin, PhD

Position: WUWF; SAHLS Adjunct Instructor (2005-present)
SAHLS Membership: Advisory Committee/MPH Working Group (2002-present); MPH Steering Committee (2007-present)
Contact: esisskin@uwf.edu

Dr. Enid Sisskin received a BA from Queens College of the City University of NY and an MS from Southern Illinois University. Her PhD in Pathobiology was awarded under the direction of Dr I. Bernard Weinstein, Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University. Upon graduation she completed a postdoc at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health, and continued with research at Everglades National Park’s South Florida Research Center. She also worked in the park in the Resource Management division. Enid sits on the board of directors of several local and regional environmental organizations, including the Gulf Coast Environmental Defense, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, and the Florida Conservation Alliance. In the MPH Program, Dr. Sisskin teaches the courses Survey of Environmental Problems and Environmental Toxicology. Visit the SAHLS Press Room to see newspaper clippings and hear radio spots with Dr. Sisskin.