STD Prevention Conference -Telebriefing Speakers

Gail Bolan, MD

Director, Division of Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention, CDC

Dr. Gail Bolan was appointed Director of CDC’s Division of Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention (DSTDP) at the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention in December 2010.

She began her public health career in 1982 as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officer in the Respiratory and Special Pathogens Branch at CDC. She gained international experience with a three-month meningitis surveillance project in Burkina Faso, Africa. Following EIS, she completed an infectious disease fellowship that included bench research on the characterization of a Neisseria gonorrhoeae iron-regulating protein that was thought to be a potential vaccine antigen candidate.

In 1987, she began a life-time career in the field of STD prevention and control as Director of the STD Prevention and Control Program at the San Francisco Department of Public Health jointly with an academic appointment in the Department of Medicine at University of California San Francisco Medical School. In 1997, she became the Chief of the STD Control Branch at the California Department of Public Health as well as the Director of the California STD/HIV Prevention Training Center. In these positions, she consistently demonstrated a strong and enthusiastic commitment to the field of STD prevention.

In 2010, Dr. Bolan received the CDC Jack Spencer Award, which honors an individual for a career of exceptional contributions to excellence in STD prevention characterized by outstanding commitment to science-based programs, continuous innovation, and profound commitment to helping people.

Dr. Bolan earned her medical degree from the Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, New Hampshire. She completed her training in internal medicine at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, and subspecialty training in infectious diseases at the Tufts New England Medical Center in Boston and the Stanford Medical Center.

Alan Katz, MD, MPH

Associate Director, Office of Public Health Studies, University of Hawaii 

Dr. Alan Katz is Professor and Associate Director of the Office of Public Health Studies at the University of Hawaii.
Dr. Katz earned his MD at the University of California, Irvine and his Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Hawaii. He holds Board Certification in Preventive Medicine from the American Board of Medical Specialties and is a Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine and the American College of Epidemiology.
Prior to his faculty appointment at the University of Hawaii, Dr. Katz served as the medical director of a federally qualified community health center on Oahu and director of the STD/AIDS Prevention Program at the Hawaii State Department of Health (HDOH).
Dr. Katz is currently a medical consultant for the HDOH STD/AIDS Prevention Branch and a staff physician at the HDOH Diamond Head STD Clinic. He was appointed to the Hawaii State Board of Health by Governor Neil Abercrombie in 2012.

Jonathan Mermin, MD, MPH (RADM, USPHS)

Director, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP)

Jonathan Mermin, MD, MPH, is the Director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP).

Prior to his appointment, Dr. Mermin served as Director of the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, NCHHSTP from 2009-2013. Under his leadership, the Division spearheaded a new approach to HIV prevention, called High Impact Prevention, that aligned funding with epidemiology and ensured program and research activities had the greatest effect on reducing incidence and improving health equity.

A Captain in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, Dr. Mermin served as Director of CDC-Kenya and HHS Public Health Attaché for the U.S. Embassy from 2006-2009, where he oversaw CDC’s largest country office, implementing programs and research involving a broad range of infectious diseases, including HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, and emerging infections. From 1999-2006, he was Director of CDC-Uganda where he oversaw CDC’s HIV prevention and care programs, including implementation of the first antiretroviral treatment program funded by CDC outside of the United States, and the development of a basic care package that was incorporated into PEPFAR and World Health Organization guidelines.

Dr. Mermin began his career at CDC in 1995 as an EIS officer with the Foodborne and Diarrheal Diseases Branch. He completed an internal medicine residency at San Francisco General Hospital and a preventive medicine residency at CDC and the California Department of Health Services. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Stanford University School of Medicine, and received his MPH from Emory University. He has co-authored more than 150 scientific articles. He currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at Emory University School of Public Health.

Stephanie N. Taylor, MD

Professor of Medicine & Microbiology, Louisiana State University School of Medicine Clinic Administrator & Medical Director LSU-CrescentCare Sexual Health Center

Stephanie N. Taylor, MD graduated from Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans, LA, and is currently Professor of Medicine and Microbiology in the Section of Infectious Diseases at LSU Health Sciences Center. She is board certified in both Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases and is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. Dr. Taylor’s area of expertise is sexually transmitted infections and she is currently medical director of both the LSU-CrescentCare Sexual Health Center and the Louisiana Office of Public Health STD/HIV Program. Dr. Taylor has served as PI or Protocol Chair for numerous STI-related grants and contracts, including three recent gonorrhea treatment trials.