Dr. Bruno is a hybrid doctor. He is double boarded in both family medicine and preventive medicine, focused on providing excellent primary care, while working on public health interventions in the community. Dr. Bruno is active in dozens of community-based organizations to help build collective power and improve community health.
Dr. Bruno earned his MD from the Oregon Health & Science University, School of Medicine in Portland, and completed his residency at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he also earned his MPH. His career spans numerous clinical, academic and research positions, and today he serves as Health Officer of Multnomah County Health Department.
Dr. Gilchick is board-certified in Public Health and General Preventive Medicine and has experience in many critical areas of healthcare, from working in community clinics, to serving as the Medical Director of both STD Clinic Services and Child and Adolescent Health Programs. He has published numerous articles on STD screening, vaccines, and accident prevention. He served two terms as ACPM Treasurer on its Board of Regents and formerly served on the Board of Governors of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Dr. Gilchick currently serves as the section Chief for Child and Adolescent Health at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. He earned his MD at the State University of New York at Stony Brook Health Sciences Center and completed his residency at San Diego State University Graduate School of Public Health where he earned his MPH.
Dr. Joseph Iser is the recently retired Chief Health Officer for the Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD), and a member of the ACPM Board of Regents. Dr. Iser has had a 40-year career in public health as a provider, staff member and leader. His range of experience includes the U.S. Public Health Service and a progressively larger list of public health departments and districts. In addition to his role as the Chief Health Officer, Dr. Iser also launched a new Preventive Medicine Residency program while at the SNHD and maintains his role at President
Dr. Iser received his medical degree from the University of Kansas and is board certified in internal medicine, general preventive medicine and public health and occupational medicine, with a broad background in primary care, public health, and medical education.
Dr. Muzaffar currently serves as the Chief Medical Officer for United Healthcare North Carolina Community and State. She has most recently served as the Associate Medical Director for Covered California, California’s health benefit exchange.
Prior to this, she served as an Assistant Secretary for the California Health and Human Services Agency. Formerly, she served as the Chief Medical Officer for the Missouri Department of Social Services’ MO HealthNet Division- Missouri’s Medicaid program. Before joining MO HealthNet, Dr. Muzaffar served as the State EMS Medical Director for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and practiced bedside clinical medicine as an intensivist at the University of Missouri-Columbia University Hospital.
Dr. Muzaffar’s career has focused on translating the needs of individual preventive and clinical care to population-based healthcare and vice versa, and science to population-based policy and programs to achieve this. She has practiced medicine with a focus on healthcare services and systems design, development, and transformation, and an emphasis on cross-sector collaboration.
Dr. Chris T. Pernell is a dynamic physician leader and social change agent. In her practice, she focuses on health justice, community-based advocacy, and population-wide health promotion and disease prevention. A celebrated visionary and apostle of public health, Dr. Chris recently launched The Esther Group LLC, a public health consulting and health equity strategy firm. As founder and CEO of The Esther Group, she lives the mandate to dare a future where organizations, communities and systems can innovate for a better world and humanity.
Previously, she served as the first Chief Strategic Integration and Health Equity Officer at University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey. Dr. Pernell oversaw a portfolio which included Population Health, Strategic Planning, Community Affairs, and the Human Experience. Her office was responsible for leading health equity strategy development and integrating diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism initiatives across all system operations.
Prior to joining University Hospital, she led the 1199SEIU/League Labor Management Initiatives (LMI) Workplace and Community Health Program. Working with 1199SEIU leaders and frontline workers—the nation’s largest healthcare union—and executive partners across NYC healthcare institutions, her efforts centered on workplace health strategies, worker empowerment, health equity, and health system transformation.
Dr. Chris is a charismatic and leading voice in preventive medicine and public health. Singled out both for her business acumen and public health expertise, her list of honors include: The New Jersey Public Health Association Dr. Ezra Mundy Hunt Award for distinctive leadership in the field; an NJBiz Best 50 Women in Business Award; a ROI-NJ Women in Business Influencer; The American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM) Ron Davis Special Recognition Award; an NJBiz Public Health Hero Award; and the NAACP NJ State Conference 100 Black People Who Changed the World Honoree.
Dr. Pernell has spearheaded issues such as criminal justice reform, care for justice-impacted populations, evidence-based wellness programs, civic health, and high-quality education. Known for her community work in the Greater Newark, New Jersey area, she serves on the Essex County Civilian Task Force as a medical expert. On Juneteenth 2023, she was tapped to join the New Jersey Reparations Council as a member of their health equity committee. Dr. Pernell is a frequent contributor across television, radio, and print media leveraging her lived experiences and insights as a public health physician and health equity champion. She regularly speaks at professional symposia and social forums and advises community, state, regional, and national leaders on health equity, racial justice, population health, community wellbeing, and faith-based initiatives.
Dr. Pernell graduated cum laude from Princeton University before attending Duke University School of Medicine. She received her Master of Public Health from the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health and completed the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health General Preventive Medicine Residency. Dr. Pernell is a fellow and Regent-at-Large for the American College of Preventive Medicine. She holds an appointment as a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. Previously, she taught as an adjunct associate professor at the NYU College of Global Public Health. She labors as a faith leader in a groundbreaking assembly, BET HaSHEM YHWH Worldwide Ministries, and travels domestically and overseas helping to transform lives through love, truth, creativity, and inspiration.
Dr. Helga Rippen is a seasoned executive with more than 20 years in applied health information technology development, implementation, and evaluation to support clinical and public/population health initiatives. In her current role, she is the Chief Interoperability and Veteran Access Officer with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Dr. Rippen earned her MD from the University of Florida and completed her medical residency at Johns Hopkins University in general preventive medicine, where she also earned her Master’s in Public Health. She has a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University and completed fellowships at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry, University of British Columbia, and at the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Deborah Porterfield, MD, MPH, FACPM, is a Senior Advisor and Medical Officer in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In this role, she oversees policy research and evaluation focused on high-priority public health topics.
Before joining HHS, Dr. Porterfield contributed to the COVID-19 response at the North Carolina Division of Public Health. Prior to the pandemic, she served as an Associate Professor at the UNC School of Medicine, where she directed the Preventive Medicine Residency Program for nearly 20 years. During that time, she also conducted public health systems research and evaluations—primarily for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—as a visiting research scientist at RTI International.
Dr. Porterfield earned her medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco, and completed her internal medicine residency at the University of Virginia. She completed her preventive medicine residency at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she also trained in health services research as a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar. Early in her career, she provided primary care in two Federally Qualified Health Centers.
Hunter Jackson Smith, MD, MPH, MBE, FACPM is a Major in the U.S. Army Medical Corps and the Focus Area Lead for Antimicrobial Resistant Infections, STI, and Enteric Infections at the Department of Defense Global Emerging Infections Surveillance Branch in Silver Spring, MD. Dr. Smith is an Assistant Professor for the Uniformed Services University in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. MAJ Smith serves on the Editorial Boards of AJPM Focus and the Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics.
Dr. Smith is board certified in General Preventive Medicine and Public Health. He graduated from Tulane University with a BA in Philosophy and Religious Studies. He couldn’t stay away from the crawfish etouffee, so lived in New Orleans four more years to earn his MD and MPH in Epidemiology from Tulane University. Dr. Smith completed his intern year at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii where he met his lovely wife, Joy. He went on to complete his residency training in Public Health and General Preventive Medicine and Public Health at the Uniformed Services University, during which time he earned an MBE from the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics.
