October 20, 2009

Assistant Professor Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD and Program Coordinator Kristen Pogreba-Brown, MPH in the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, are winners of the 2009 Tucson 40 Under 40 award.

According to the Arizona Daily Star, a total of 220 nominations were submitted this year for the 40 Under 40 award which recognizes young leaders in Tucson.

“The award is a huge honor for me, and I was very excited and surprised to learn I had even cracked the top 60 when I saw the accomplishments of the other nominees,” said Dr. Jacobs. “I am very grateful to my colleagues and mentors who went to great lengths to nominate me.”

PHOTO ABOVE(left to right): Assistant Professor Elizabeth Jacobs,
Dean Iman Hakim and Program Coordinator Kristen Pogreba-Brown
at the awards breakfast October 15, 2009 at the Doubletree Hotel Tucson.

Dr. Jacobs is an epidemiologist at the Arizona Cancer Center, where she focuses on the genetic, lifestyle and dietary factors associated with cancer risk. She was nominated by a colleague for her proven talent for publishing research results in major peer-reviewed journals and obtaining national grants.

Ms. Pogreba-Brown is currently a Ph.D. student in the Epidemiology program and teaches a course in outbreak investigations and infectious disease at the college. She was nominated for her work as founder and coordinator of the Student Aid For Field Epidemiology Response (SAFER) program. The goal of SAFER is to be available to assist state and local health departments in the event of a public health emergency. At the same time, the program offers students hands-on experience while providing essential service to the community.

When thousands of people listened to President Barack Obama speak at Arizona State University’s commencement in May 2009, Pogreba-Brown and a team of University of Arizona graduate students were hard at work in the Tempe stadium’s first-aid stations, protecting the health of the public by monitoring the sick for possible bioterrorism attacks, diseases such as the H1N1 flu, food-borne illnesses, and other disease outbreaks.

Pogreba-Brown created SAFER five years ago as an internship project while working on her Master’s at the UA College of Public Health. Since then the program has been so successful that it has become a required course for the MPH degree in Epidemiology.

This article written by Gerri Kelly

Please send comments to gkelly@email.arizona.edu.