Laura Hammitt, MD; Kristen Speakman, MPH; Tara Stowbunenko, MPH; Anna Sundbo, MPH; Kristen Tallis, MPH; Pamela Aguilar, CHR

Laura Hammitt, MD, is a pediatric infectious disease doctor and epidemiologist. She is an Associate Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Director of Infectious Disease Programs at the Center for Indigenous Health. Dr. Hammitt lives in the southwest where works closely with IHS and Tribal Health Organizations to understand and address infectious diseases of importance to tribal communities, including RSV, COVID-19, Staph and Strep.

Kristen Speakman, MPH, is the Contracts Manager for the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health Family Spirit Program.

Tara Stowbunenko, MPH, MSBH, has worked as the Director for Training and Technical Assistance with the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health Family Spirit Program since 2019. She joined the Family Spirit team as a Consultant Trainer in 2018. Tara obtained a Master of Public Health and Master of Science in Behavioral Health from the University of San Francisco in 2019. With over ten years working in public and community health focusing on supervision, development, evaluation, and training in multiple intervention programs, Tara has demonstrated skills and experience as leader who is passionate about maternal child health, family home visiting, community health and human trafficking.

Anna Sundbo, MPH, joined the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health in 2019 as the Training Program Supervisor. She received her Master’s of Science in Global Health through the Eck Institute at the University of Notre Dame. Past research interests include health and science education, program monitoring and evaluation, infectious disease, and community-based participatory action. She has completed research in partnership with the Ministry of Health in Malaysia, aimed at developing new strategies to evaluate community-based dengue control programs. At the Center, Anna works with the training team on various projects to support the health education and public health training of Indigenous peoples.

Kristen Tallis, MPH, (Diné) joined the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health in November of 2020 as a Research Associate in Chinle, AZ working with the Family Spirit program. Kristen previously worked as a research specialist at NAU and coordinated projects aimed at health policy and health disparities. She has been a proactive partner and advocate for Indigenous health utilizing her skills in data management, project management, curriculum development, and evaluation. Most recently she worked on the Healthy Diné Nation Act Implementation Study in partnership with the Navajo Epidemiology Center (NEC) and the Navajo Nation Maternal and Child Health Needs Assessment in partnership with NEC, Diné College, and Arizona Department of Health. With 6 years of academic training in exercise science and public health she focuses her work and continued study on health policy and maternal and child health in Indigenous communities.

Ms. Aguilar is a member of the Chickasaw Nation and lives within their boundaries in Wynnewood, Oklahoma. Her background is in the field of nursing, but has worked in the Community Health Representative (CHR) arena since 1999. She has more than 18 years’ experience working with the RPMS Community Health Representative (CHR) Package. Her knowledge of the CHR Program has led to numerous consultations and participation with Indian Health Service and others. Her knowledge of the CHR Program provides a bottom-line understanding of the challenges faced by those she trains. She is dedicated to delivering exceptional training to the Community Health Representatives (CHR) Programs.