FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Connecticut Department of Public Health
October 26, 2007 Contact: William Gerrish
(860) 509-7270
Hartford - The Connecticut Department of Public Health announced that Dr. Katherine (Kati) Kelley, a Bloomfield resident and chief of the Connecticut Department of Public Health’s laboratory, is the 2007 recipient of the Charles-Edward Amory (CEA) Winslow Award. Each year the award recognizes a Connecticut public health professional for achievement and leadership in public health practice, research and education. The CEA Winslow Award is named for the founder and first dean of the Yale School of Public Health and is the highest award of professional achievement bestowed to a public health professional in Connecticut.
“On behalf of the State of Connecticut, I extend my congratulations to Dr. Kelley,” stated Governor M. Jodi Rell. “Dr. Kelley has dedicated her life to public health, and made great contributions to the profession not only here in Connecticut, but to the nation as well. She is an outstanding public health professional, and most deserving of this prestigious honor.”
“I’ve had the distinct pleasure and honor of working with Dr. Kelley for the past few years. She is a consummate professional, and a great asset to the people of Connecticut,” stated Department of Public Health Commissioner J. Robert Galvin, MD, MPH, MBA. “Dr. Kelley is known and respected in public health circles across the country, and has set the standard for how public health laboratories respond in times of crisis.”
Dr. Kelley has been in public health practice for more than 40 years. She began her career at the Vermont Public Health Laboratory, viral diagnostic laboratory and in research on the “new” measles vaccine. Dr. Kelley served as director of public health laboratories in the states of Alaska (1988-1993) and Vermont (1983-1988) and for one year (1989-1990) she served as the director of the division of public health for the state of Alaska.
Dr. Kelley was also the chief of the training branch for the Division of Laboratory Systems of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, GA. from 1993 to 1999. There she was responsible for all aspects of CDC-funded laboratory training given at the Atlanta Headquarters and through the field training operation. Dr. Kelley has served as the chief of the Connecticut State Public Health Laboratory in Hartford since 1999 and was a key player in the state and national response to the anthrax attacks of 2001.
Dr. Kelley has been affiliated with the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) for more than 20 years and served as their President in 2005. She was instrumental in the incorporation of the Association in 1987, has led their continuing education initiatives and has testified on their behalf before Congress and policy-makers.
“Kati has an extraordinary ability to make difficult science seem simple and to communicate complex technical issues to policy-makers,” said Scott Becker, Executive Director of APHL. “She has been an inspiration to generations of public health laboratorians around the nation.”
Dr. Kelley holds Masters (MPH) and Doctoral (Dr.PH) degrees in Public Health from the University of North Carolina School of Public Health, and is a board certified Bioanalyst Clinical Laboratory Director (BCLD). The award will be presented at the Connecticut Public Health Association’s Annual meeting on October 26 at the Aqua Turf in Plantsville.
The Connecticut Department of Public Health is the state’s leader in public health policy and advocacy with a mission to protect and promote the health and safety of the people of our state. To contact the department, please visit its website at www.dph.state.ct.us or call (860) 509-7270.
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