Thirty-two HSPH employees have been recognized by their peers for outstanding work as part of the ongoing Great Place to Work (GPTW) Recognition Award effort. First-time honorees will receive a letter of appreciation and a $100 gift certificate to GiftCertificates.com. The program is open to nominations at any time. See below.

Spotlight on Three Winners

Heather Curtin

Heather Curtin, program coordinator in the Office for Student Affairs, has worked at HSPH a little less than a year and has already made an impact on students' lives. With a master's degree in international education, she inaugurated a series of open forums for students this fall to informally discuss their transition to the School, to Boston, and-for international students-to the U.S. She manages the application process for Shattuck House, helping to place students in apartments there, and aids in both HSPH Commencement and Orientation. Said her nominator: "A number of students have come by our office to let us know how much we appreciate all that she has done for them and how amazed they are that she regularly goes above and beyond to help."

	Brian Gibbs

Brian Gibbs directs the Program to Eliminate Health Disparities(PEHD) and is an instructor in public health practice. PEHD aims to transform factors contributing to poor health outcomes among residents of Roxbury, MA, and other communities of color throughout the nation. He was a key player in establishing a partnership involving Florida A&M University and HSPH to address health disparities among African Americans in rural Gadsden County, Florida, and in Roxbury, an urban community in Boston. Gibbs was recently appointed to the Massachusetts Legislature's Commission to Eliminate Health Care Disparities Among Ethnic and Racial Minorities and serves as a member of the Social Context Subcommittee. He is also director of Cherishing Our Hearts and Souls. Gibbs views his nomination as a reflection of the entire HSPH team with which he works at the Bulfinch office, particularly his mentor, HSPH Professor Deborah Prothrow-Stith.

Connie Smith

Nine-year HSPH veteran Connie Smith works as an executive faculty assistant. She provides administrative support to Professor Phyllis Kanki, who is the PI for a President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief grant and who directs the AIDS Prevention Initiative in Nigeria, both large HIV/AIDS programs in Africa. Smith became interested in HIV/AIDS after friends and neighbors were affected by the disease in the 1980s before the advent of antiretroviral therapy. As part of her job, Smith had the opportunity to travel to Nigeria and to Botswana to assist with conferences. Working for Kanki has provided Smith with a view into the AIDS epidemic that she feels would otherwise never have been possible for someone without a science background.

Latest Winners of the GPTW Recognition Award

• Isabelle Anguelovski, Biostatistics
• Patrice Ayers, EH/Physiology
• Denise Brown, Office of Financial Services
• Carrie Carpenter, Tobacco Research Program
• Megan Casey, Office for Resource Development
• Randall Chaput, Epidemiology
• Brent Coull, Biostatistics
• Angie Cradock, Society, Human Development, and Health
• Heather Curtin, Student Affairs
• Deane Eastwood, Information Technology
• Patricia Edwards, Human Resources
• Joshua Frances, Division of Public Health Practice
• Mark Gehret, Epidemiology
• Brian Gibbs, Health Policy and Management and Division of Public Health Practice
• Michelle Gittens, Office of Financial Services
• James Glover, Student Affairs
• Linda Godfrey-Bailey, Environmental Health
• Elizabeth Groom, Epidemiology
• Mark Ingaciola, Immunology and Infectious Diseases
• Hildi Keary, Admissions/Registrar's Office
• Elaine Kiley, Office of Financial Services
• Robyn Libson, FXB Center for Health and Human Rights
• Mary O'Connor, Office of Financial Services
• Brian Pedranti, Information Technology
• Janeen Rivers, Health Policy and Management
• Ali Saren, Office of Financial Services
• Ben Simms, Environmental Health
• Michael Simon, Immunology and Infectious Diseases
• Connie Smith, IID/APIN/PEPFAR
• Migdalia Soto, Dean's Office Special Projects
• Arisleyda Veras, Health Policy and Management
• Nicole Vitkosky, CCPE