Francis N. Kateh (born 12 July 1965 in Karlokeh, Maryland County) is a Liberian physician and an academician.
Kateh began his doctoral training in medicine when he volunteered at the Ganta United Methodist Hospital. Thereafter, he got a scholarship at the University of Liberia and subsequently to the United States where he attended MacMurray College [1] in Jacksonville, Illinois. Although sponsored by the then Central Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church, Kateh matriculated to Spartan University School of Medicine, Vieux Fort, St. Lucia where he obtained a degree in medicine. Graduates of the Spartan University School of Medicine are ineligible for licensure in several U.S. states, and Great Britain. [2] Kateh returned to Liberia during the First Liberian Civil War.
After serving in Liberia for the United Methodist Church for over six years, he returned to the United States. Kateh earned a Master of Health Administration degree from Governors State University, University Park, IL. Being touched by the devastation in New Orleans, due to Katrina, Kateh decided to pursue a degree in Homeland Security with emphasis in Public Health Disaster Preparedness. On May 10, 2008, Dr. Kateh earned a Master of Professional Studies in Homeland Security Leadership with emphasis in Public Health Disaster Preparedness. He is married and has four children.
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) is a health science university of the U.S. federal government. The primary mission of the school is to prepare graduates for service to the U.S. at home and abroad as uniformed health professionals, scientists and leaders; by conducting cutting-edge, military-relevant research; by leading the Military Health System in key functional and intellectual areas; and by providing operational support to units around the world.
The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is a network in the U.S. of community-based units initiated and established by local organizations aimed to meet the public health needs of their communities. It is sponsored by the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The MRC consists of medical and non-medical volunteers who contribute to local health initiatives, such as activities meeting the Surgeon General's priorities for public health, and supplement existing response capabilities in time of emergency. The MRC provides the structure necessary to pre-identify, credential, train, and activate medical and public health volunteers.
Ganta, also known as Gompa City, is a town approximately 323 kilometres (201 mi) from Monrovia in Nimba County of northern Liberia. It is located just south of the Guinea border. It is the second-most populous city in Liberia, with an estimated population of 41,106 as of 2008. A bustling market town, it contains a prominent white mosque, noted for its decorated minarets of carved stars.
The Tufts University School of Medicine is the medical school of Tufts University, a private research university in Massachusetts. It was established in 1893 and is located on the university's health sciences campus in downtown Boston. It has clinical affiliations with numerous doctors and researchers in the United States and around the world, as well as with its affiliated hospitals in both Massachusetts, and Maine.
MacMurray College was a private college in Jacksonville, Illinois. Its enrollment in fall 2015 was 570. Founded in 1846, the college closed in May 2020.
Howard Kyongju Koh is the former United States Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), after being nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2009.
UF Health Jacksonville is a teaching hospital and medical system of the University of Florida in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Part of the larger University of Florida Health system, it includes the 603-bed UF Health Jacksonville hospital, the 92-bed UF Health North hospital, associated clinics, and is the Jacksonville campus of UF's Health Science Center. Together with UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville, UF Health Jacksonville is one of two academic hospitals in the UF Health system, and serves 19 counties in Florida and several in Georgia.
Disaster medicine is the area of medical specialization serving the dual areas of providing health care to disaster survivors and providing medically related disaster preparation, disaster planning, disaster response and disaster recovery leadership throughout the disaster life cycle. Disaster medicine specialists provide insight, guidance and expertise on the principles and practice of medicine both in the disaster impact area and healthcare evacuation receiving facilities to emergency management professionals, hospitals, healthcare facilities, communities and governments. The disaster medicine specialist is the liaison between and partner to the medical contingency planner, the emergency management professional, the incident command system, government and policy makers.
Barry C. Dorn is an American physician who is Associate Director of the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative (NPLI), a joint program of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health(HSPH) and the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and Associate Director of the Program for Health Care Negotiation and Conflict Resolution at HSPH. He is also an Instructor in Public Health Practice at HSPH and Clinical Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at the Tufts University School of Medicine. Additionally, he served on the Faculty of Health Services at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel from 2010-2013. Formerly, he practiced at Excel Orthopedic Specialists. He retired from medical practice in 2007. Dorn is among the leaders in the development of the health care negotiation and conflict resolution field.
On May 8, 2023, Robert M. (Bobby) Pestronk was elected as a council member for the Village of Friendship Heights, Maryland, US. On May 15, 2023, he was elected chairman of the council. Council offices are located at the Friendship Heights Village Center, 4433 South Park Avenue, Chevy Chase, Maryland.
The University of Florida College of Medicine – Jacksonville is the largest of the three University of Florida Health Science Center Jacksonville colleges — medicine, nursing and pharmacy. The college's 16 clinical science departments house more than 440 faculty members and 380 residents and fellows. The college offers 34 accredited graduate medical education programs and 10 non-standard programs.
Isaac Ashkenazi is an Israeli Professor of Disaster Medicine at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel and a consultant to Harvard University. He is considered one of the world’s foremost experts in medical preparedness for complex emergencies and disasters.
Nicole Lurie is an American physician, professor of medicine, and public health leader. She is Executive Director for Preparedness and Response at the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and Director of CEPI-US. She is also a Lecturer at Harvard Medical School and Adjunct Professor at the George Washington University School of Medicine. During the administration of President Barack Obama, she was Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from 2009 through the end of the president's second term. The mission of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response is to "lead the nation in preventing, responding to and recovering from the adverse health effects of public health emergencies and disasters, ranging from hurricanes to bioterrorism."
Joseph F. Waeckerle is an American physician specializing in emergency and sports medicine. He directed the search and rescue efforts at the Hyatt Regency walkway collapse in Kansas City, Missouri, on July 17, 1981. He is currently Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine, University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Medicine and Editor Emeritus of Annals of Emergency Medicine. He previously served as Chief Medical Officer for the Office of Homeland Security, State of Missouri and Medical Officer for the Kansas City Division of the FBI.
Stephen S. Morse is an American epidemiologist, influenza researcher and specialist on emerging infectious diseases, who has served as an adviser on the epidemiology of infectious diseases and on improving disease early warning systems to numerous government and international organizations. As of 2016, he is Professor of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health of Columbia University. His seminal book Emerging Viruses (1993) was selected by American Scientist for its list of "100 Top Science Books of the 20th Century".
George Way Harley was an American Methodist medical missionary. He spent 35 years in Ganta, Liberia, where he established Ganta Hospital, a school and a church. He was known for his research into the local culture, and received many honors from the Liberian government and from American and British institutions. Major collections of ceremonial masks purchased by Harley in Liberia are held in the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University and the Anthropology Department of the College of William & Mary.
Frederick M. "Skip" Burkle, Jr. is an American physician known for his work in human rights, international diplomacy and peacemaking, humanitarian assistance, and disaster response. He has been called "the single most talented and experienced post-conflict health specialist working for the United States government." His medical qualifications include pediatrics, emergency medicine, psychiatry, public health, and tropical medicine.
Thomas Dean Kirsch is an American physician, scientist, and writer whose career has focused on disaster preparedness and response. He has been described as “…an expert in disaster research, planning and response, and disaster and wilderness medicine… both nationally and internationally”.
Donna Feigley Barbisch is a retired United States Army officer and local elected official in the District of Columbia. A veteran of the Vietnam War, she attained the rank of major general. Barbisch specialized in anti-terrorism preparedness for the Army Reserve while working full-time for the United States Department of State. As a government civilian, she trained both military and civilian government agencies in providing medical support in the wake of terrorist attacks.