Flu Fighters: REACH Awardee Profiles

Every year individuals around the world work to study, track, and prevent flu. This page profiles these Flu Fighters and the work they are doing to contribute to flu prevention in the U.S. and around the world!

Racial and Ethnic Approaches to
Community Health (REACH)Awardees

Lee Itule-Klasen and Indira Arce

Meet flu fighters Lee Itule-Klasen and Indira Arce from Pima County, Arizona. Lee is a program manager and Indira is a senior evaluation specialist for the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health’s (REACH’s) Flu Awareness and Outreach Program at the Pima County Health Department (PCHD). Through REACH, Lee and Indira have been dedicating themselves to improving the health and lives of the different communities and populations in Pima County, specifically Native American and Latinx, by building relationships, providing health education and resources, and conducting outreach to increase access to flu vaccinations.

Bernard Macklin, B.A. and Sarah Gordon, M.A.

Meet flu fighters Bernard Macklin and Sarah Gordon. Macklin is a flu vaccination outreach coordinator and Gordon is health communications lead for Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) Program at the Community Alliance for Research & Engagement (CARE). With over 20 years’ experience in his field, Macklin has completed an admirable amount of work as part of the CARE Flu Supplement program, where his work focuses on getting people vaccinated. Gordon’s outreach work focuses on creating culturally relevant messages with resonance to the community and having continued message feedback from community members.

Bob Rauner, MD, MPH

Meet Dr. Bob Rauner, the president of Partnership for a Healthy Lincolnexternal icon, a local non-profit whose mission is to improve the health of communities, thousands of people at a time. He earned a medical degree from the University of Nebraska Medical Center and a master’s degree in public health at Johns Hopkins University, where he studied how to systematically improve the health of Nebraskans.

Jennifer Kraschnewski, MD and Andrea Murray

Meet flu fighters Jennifer Kraschnewski and Andrea Murray. Jennifer and Andrea facilitate the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program at the Pennsylvania State University Hershey Medical Center. Their REACH programexternal icon actively engages members of the community to plan and carry out proven strategies that are culturally appropriate to prevent chronic diseases, promote healthy behaviors and address the root causes of racial and ethnic health disparities.

Elia Medina, Monica Parra, Emily Piltch

Meet flu fighters Elia Medina, Monica Parra and Emily Piltch. Elia, Monica and Emily facilitate a wide array of public health projects made possible through a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) grant. Emily, with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), is the program manager at the state level, and Elia and Monica facilitate the program in Madera County and Merced County, respectively.

Flu Fighter: Na’Sha DeRamus

Meet flu fighter Na’Sha DeRamus from Billingsley, Alabama. Na’sha is the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) flu vaccination promotion coordinator at The Wellness Coalition in Montgomery, Alabama. Na’Sha and her team educate and promote the importance of getting the influenza vaccine to combat flu complications among African American persons with both low income and low education in the census tracts they serve.

Flu Fighters: Hannah E Hardy and Dr Evangel Sarwar

Meet the Flu Fighters at the Allegheny County Health Department who are working to make flu vaccines more accessible in their community. Workers at the Health Department, led by Hannah E. Hardy and Evangel Sarwar, have been working in part through CDC’s Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health, or REACH program, to close the gap in health disparities among the different racial and ethnic groups in this Southwestern Pennsylvania county.

Flu Fighter: Dr. Tsu-Yin Wu

Meet Flu Fighter Tsu-Yin Wu, director of the Eastern Michigan University Center for Health Disparities Innovation and Studies (CHDIS). There, Dr. Wu and her team work to overcome disparities in health care, including cultural, language, and systematic barriers to accessing health care and preventive services.