Wisconsin Division of Public Health
Bureau of Communicable Disease
1 West Wilson St. Rm 318
Madison,
WI
USA
53701
Email:
heffert@dhfs.state.wi.us
Biographical Sketch:
07/07-present Research Scientist Supervisor, Chief, Communicable Disease Epidemiology Section, Wisconsin Division of Public Health. Manage 10-person unit responsible for surveillance and control of communicable diseases in the state of Wisconsin. Supervise staff, provide technical assistance, conduct epidemiological investigations, and develop policy on infectious disease prevention and control. Serve as spokesperson and liaison with federal agencies, state and national professional organizations. Participate in the development and maintenance of disease-reporting surveillance system for more than 80 acute and communicable diseases.
10/01-07/07 Research Scientist, Director, Data Analysis and Syndromic Surveillance Unit, Bureau of Communicable Disease, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York, NY. Managed seven-person unit responsible for developing, maintaining and analyzing infectious disease surveillance systems, including notifiable disease surveillance and nationally-recognized syndromic surveillance systems for early outbreak detection. Supervised research scientists in the use of temporal and spatio-temporal analysis techniques. Developed, evaluated and applied new methods. Authored and mentored staff in the writing of conference abstracts and research papers for publication. Directed a five-year, $1.2 million project to develop and maintain a new web-based communicable disease surveillance database. Supervised information technology staff. Represented the agency in regional and national forums on disease surveillance and public health information systems.
9/05-9/06 Board member, International Society of Disease Surveillance. Served as Board representative to Education and Training Committee, Associate Editor of the society journal Advances in Disease Surveillance, and organizer for annual syndromic surveillance workshops.
8/98-10/01 Research Assistant/Doctoral Candidate, Connecticut Emerging Infections Program/Yale University, New Haven, CT and Makokou Ebola Research Station/Centre International de Recherches Médicales, Gabon, Central Africa. Dissertation focuses on statistical models for infectious disease surveillance as applied to: 1) low prevalence of Ebola virus antibody in northeastern Gabon, Africa; 2) the changing incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease in persons with AIDS living in the US in the era of HAART; and 3) a comparison of spatial and space-time cluster detection methods used for emergency department surveillance in NYC.
12/96-10/98 Consultant, Bayer Corporation, Pharmaceuticals Division, Orange, CT. Developed a mathematical model to estimate the impact of AIDS on the size of the severe hemophilia A & B populations in 8 countries.
6/97-7/98 Laboratory research, Yale University. Used PCR of the Box repeat element to
compare the genetic variability of penicillin-resistant and -susceptible invasive S. pneumoniae isolates. Evaluated an IgG-antibody ELISA for Lyme disease using recombinant Borrelia burgdorferi p35 protein antigen for use in a canine serosurveillance system.
6/94-7/96 Assistant Director, Bureau of Communicable Disease, New York City Department of Health. Supervised outbreak investigations, disease surveillance, data-management and analysis, and notifiable disease reporting. Established antibiotic-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae surveillance unit. Gave public presentations on the epidemiology and prevention of infectious diseases. Formulated policy for disease surveillance and electronic laboratory reporting. Managed hiring, procurement, contracts and grants (annual budget $750,000).
8/92-6/94 Public Health Epidemiologist, Disease Intervention Research, New York City Department of Health. Maintained and analyzed dataset of 4600 HIV/STD patients. Designed questionnaires for prospective study of risk-factors for HIV seroconversion. Published abstracts and papers.
6/87-10/89 Extension Agent, Government of Mali/U.S. Peace Corps, Mali, West Africa. Assisted a Save The Children Fund, U.K.-sponsored nutrition program for children under five. Wrote and was awarded USAID small project assistance grant.