Director Bios
Maureen Damitz, AE-C, Chair
Maureen brings nearly 20 years of experience to her work in community asthma. The Senior Director of Programs for the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago, Maureen oversees all asthma programming including community, school and professional outreach. Maureen is the Director of the Addressing Asthma in Englewood Project (AAE). One of five sites funded nationwide to address asthma in a pediatric population form the Merck Childhood Asthma Network Inc. On the AAE Project, Maureen supervises a team of CHEs and support staff who work with over a dozen organizations and multiple medical and clinical staff in Englewood to improve asthma care. Maureen serves on the Illinois Asthma Partnership, was an active member of the advisory council for the Controlling Asthma in American Cities Project (CAACP) and for the School-based Pediatric Asthma Research in Chicago (SPARC) study. Maureen served as the board chair of the Chicago Asthma Consortium from 2007-2009 and an active member of its School Task Force, Professional Development Task Force. Maureen has spoken at numerous conferences on the topic of asthma, as the parent of two children with asthma and also as a professional working in the community to address and reduce its impact.
Lisa K. Sharp, Ph.D., Chair Elect
Lisa Sharp is Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Section of Health Promotion Research at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Institute for Health Research and Policy. For the past seven years, Lisa has conducted asthma-related research in many Chicago communities working alongside leaders in the field of asthma from Rush University Medical Center, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University and Stroger Hospital of Cook County. She is interested in both understanding the context of asthma as a primary contributor to asthma disparities and in developing interventions that empower children and adults to take control of their health, build self-efficacy, and learn how to work more effectively with their healthcare providers. Motivated to work with CAC as a way to give back to those individuals who contributed to her research, Lisa is committed to making a real world impact on communities in need.
Helen Margellos-Anast, MPH, Treasurer/Past Chair
As a Senior Epidemiologist with the Sinai Urban Health Institute, Helen places strong value on data and sound research methodology to guide activities and provide answers to questions. She combines those values with a strong belief that the interpretation of data, and the subsequent translation of data into appropriate action, is best done in collaboration with the community. At SUHI, Helen has gained extensive experience working in the areas of health disparities, design and evaluation of health interventions, effective presentation of epidemiological data, and working with the community to best address health needs. Much of her work has focused on pediatric asthma and associated disparities. She participated in Sinai's Improving Community Health Survey, the largest ever door-to-door comprehensive health survey conducted in Chicago, served as Evaluation Coordinator for two subsequent pediatric asthma interventions conducted by Sinai, and Project Director for the expansion of one of these pediatric asthma interventions to six other areas in Illinois. Helen is currently serving as Project Director of Healthy Home, Healthy Child: The Westside Children's Asthma Partnership, a CDC-funded translational research effort utilizing community health workers to improve asthma management. An author and lecturer on a variety of topics, Helen's other primary research interests include childhood obesity and health disparities.
Dennis Bryan, RpH, MBA, FAPhA, Secretary
Dennis brings to the organization over 30 years of practical experience having held staff, management, and ownership positions. Educationally, he holds three different certificates in asthma care and has participated with Dr Howie Zeitz in his "Problem Based Learning" project. His experiences have been accentuated by having served as an officer in various organizations, which include: the University of Illinois, College of Pharmacy Alumni Association, the American Pharmacist Association, the Illinois Pharmacist Association, and the Illinois Pharmacy Foundation. He has been honored several times for his community/professional activities. It is his goal to assist today's consumers in their healthcare transition from that of a spectator to one of an active participant. Dennis's greatest passion is the sharing of his experiences and knowledge to help others, particularly in the control and relief of asthma.
Gina Massuda Barnett, MPH
Gina Massuda Barnett was recently named the Chronic Disease Prevention & Health Promotion Unit Director for the Cook County Department of Public Health where she has been working for the past six years. In her new position, Gina's goal is to develop a strategy, in collaboration with key community partners, to address the burden of chronic disease in suburban Cook County in a comprehensive and integrated manner. To support this endeavor, Gina is pursuing a Doctor of Public Health in Leadership at the University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health. Inspired by the difference CAC is making in Chicago, her hope is to help CAC expand its successful initiatives to reach and impact communities outside the City of Chicago who also are affected by asthma.
Allen Goldberg, MD, MBA, Master FCCP
Allen is a past president of the Chicago Asthma Consortium and a home-care physician with expertise in long-term mechanical ventilation, telemedicine, eHealth, and mobile medical care. Previously, Allen practiced pediatric anesthesia and critical care medicine at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where he worked with Drs. Jack Downes and C. Everett Koop to manage asthmatics with critical illness and pioneer home care for technology-dependent children. With Dr. Koop, Allen planned the 1982 Surgeon's General Workshop, which led to changes in public policy and practice for children with special health needs. Since 2000, both doctors have been working with the support of the CHEST foundation on the Communications in Health Care Project to promote humanitarianism in medicine and global health with a focus on overcoming health disparities. Allen has served as a Professor of Pediatrics at Loyola University-Chicago, the Medical Director of the Ronald McDonald Children's Hospital at Loyola Mobile Medical Unit, and a past president of both the American Academy of Home Care Physicians and the American College of Chest Physicians.
Semone Greene, RRT
Semone, an original member of the Chicago Asthma Consortium Board of Directors, returns to the Board for a second term. A respiratory therapist, Semone is developing an asthma clinic at Roseland Community Hospital, located in one of Chicago's highest need communities. The goal of the clinic is to provide the highest asthma care and incorporates an efficient practice model intended to meet the needs of patients, providers, and payers. The clinic will feature comprehensive asthma education including basic asthma facts, medication usage, triggers, environmental controls, and indoor and outdoor air quality. Prior to her position at Roseland Community Hospital, Semone was a supervisor and CQI Coordinator at John Stroger Hospital of Cook County. She was responsible for orienting and training respiratory care personnel, coordinating and developing the respiratory care hospital-wide asthma program, and developing the departmental quality assurance monitoring study. Semone is a member of the American Association of Respiratory Care, Illinois Society for Respiratory Care, and the American Society of Critical Care Medicine.
Ruchi Gupta, MD, MPH
As an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Institute for Healthcare Studies and Children's Memorial Hospital, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Ruchi's primary area of interest is in childhood asthma and the impact of community factors on childhood asthma and asthma disparities. Her current research focuses on causative community factors as well as the interaction between community/environment and genetics in the development and severity of childhood asthma. Through her clinical work with many underserved children with asthma, Ruchi has learned much about the barriers faced by her patients that prevent adequate treatment and management of the disease. These experiences inspire Ruchi's research, where she works to identify effects ways to improve the lives of children and families with asthma. Ruchi's goal is to help the CAC build its membership and continue to provide vital CAC programs as well as to work with researchers, service providers, and the community to improve the state of asthma in Chicago.
Anne Krantz, MD, MPH
Through 20 years of experience as an internist and occupational medicine physician at Stroger Hospital, Anne sees, daily, the frequency of severe asthma and the obstacles to treatment encountered by individuals who utilize the County health system. Anne is Board Certified in Occupational Medicine and Internal Medicine. She is an Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor in the School of Public Health at UIC. She has conducted research and presented widely on workplace factors in low-income asthma patients. She serves as the Co-chair of the Occupational Asthma work group for the Executive Committee of the Illinois Asthma Partnership. She is a Consultant Medical Toxicologist to the Illinois Poison Center and a reviewer for a number of medical journals. Anne has been an active member of the CAC for the past 7 years and looks forward to the opportunity to help increase the CAC's role as a dynamic nexus for asthma-related activities in the Chicago area.
Molly Martin, MD, MAPP
Molly Martin is a pediatrician in the Departments of Preventive Medicine and Pediatrics at Rush University Medical Center. She obtained her medical degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin, completed her pediatrics residency at the University of Chicago, and then was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at the University of Chicago from 2002-2004. Her research uses community-based participatory research methodologies to design and implement culturally specific interventions that incorporate community health workers. Molly is particularly interested in Latino health and asthma. She is currently the principal investigator on a NIH-funded randomized controlled trial testing the ability of a community health worker intervention to improve asthma management for Puerto Rican children with asthma. She also works on several other asthma and diabetes projects involving minority populations that incorporate community-based participatory research methodologies. Molly strives to help the CAC collaborate with academic institutions and community service organizations to develop interventions and implement policy changes that will address the asthma health disparities experienced by minorities in Chicago.
Sharmilee M. Nyenhuis, MD
Sharmilee received her medical degree from UIC and completed her residency in internal medicine at UIC Medical Center. Her exposure to the clinical and research field of asthma led her to pursue a fellowship in Allergy/Immunology at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. In 2009, she returned to UIC and joined the section of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep and Allergy in the Department of Medicine at the University of Illinois as an assistant professor. Sharmilee's primary focus is asthma in older adults, whose illness, she says, often goes unrecognized and is undertreated. Her research specifically focuses on examining differences in inflammatory cells in older adults with asthma and she is well-funded by the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology and UIC's Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences. Currently, she cares for patients on the near west side of Chicago at UIMC's Asthma Center and at the Jesse Brown VA Hospital.
Sydney Parker, PhD
Sydney is the Vice President for Development and Outreach at the American College of Chest Physicians, having served previously as the Vice President of Health and Science Policy. She has been active in the field of asthma education for nearly 30 years and has also served as the Chief of the Prevention Education and Research Training Branch with the Division of Lung Diseases of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. She developed a program of funded research in asthma education at the National Institute of Health and convened the National Asthma Education program for the NHLBI. Sydney was the initial project officer for the Childhood Asthma Management Study and helped organize the Chicago Asthma Consortium in 1996. Each year, she hosts a Symposium for Community Asthma Coalitions to help facilitate organization and funding for local asthma education. As a longtime member of the CAC Board, she has helped shape the organization and continues to guide it in its mission of improving the quality of life for people with asthma.
Marc Rosen
Marc Rosen joins the Chicago Asthma Consortium (CAC) with past clinical experience as an asthma health educator and smoking cessation counselor, working with Chicago residents at Cook County Health and Hospitals System sites. Marc is currently responsible for managing all asthma based programming efforts at Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago (RHAMC), which include community and school based interventions meant to increase asthma knowledge and management skills. In addition to managing RHAMC's asthma programs, Marc participates in the Illinois Department of Public Health's Asthma Partnership and various community task forces, as well as CAC Board meetings. Marc is bilingual in Spanish and English and has focused his past efforts on empowering Latino communities through culturally competent, community based interventions. He is currently pursuing a master's degree of Public Health at the University of Illinois-Chicago and looks forward to helping CAC bring asthma awareness to Chicago communities at risk of poor health outcomes.
Myra Zuvich
Myra is a registered pharmacist who, along with her professional knowledge, brings a passion to help Chicago's asthma community. She is currently the Chair of the Chicago Asthma Consortium's School Task Force. In addition, she is a certified instructor by the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago (RHAMC) for their Asthma Management and Fighting Asthma Now (FAN) programs. Myra has also previously volunteered with the American Lung Association teaching and helping with their Open Airways and Asthma 101 programs in Long Island, New York, Puerto Rico and Chicago, IL. In 2006 she was the recipient of the American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago "Making A Difference" award. Myra joins the Board with a desire to continue to make Chicago an asthma friendly city where everyone dealing with asthma can get the care, education, and encouragement they need to control their disease. Hoping to raise awareness, Myra is committed to creating partnerships to increase the network of those advocating for a better quality of life for people with asthma.