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Over the past few years public health has been more important than ever before with the emergence of the COVID virus. Every day, the public health field is working - often behind the scenes - to prevent hazards and keep people healthy. Public Health is responsible for: tracking disease outbreaks and vaccinating communities, setting safety standards to protect workers and consumers and more.

Pragya Dhaubhadel MD, FACP, PIDSA
Pragya Dhaubhadel is board certified Infectious Diseases and Internal Medicine physician practicing Infectious diseases for more than 10 years. She currently works in Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton with a dual role of a clinician as well as the director of Infection Control and Prevention. She sees patients both admitted in the hospital as well as in the clinic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she was actively involved in direct patient care as well formulating guidelines for testing, treatment and Infection prevention and control measures for patients and staff. She played an instrumental role in designing/updating the treatment guideline for hospital and Skilled nursing facility population. She is clinical assistant professor at the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. She is actively involved in teaching/mentoring the medical students as well as Internal Medicine residents from the Geisinger Northeast and the Wright Center Internal medicine Residency programs. Dr. Dhaubhadel received her MD and Fellowship from Columbia University Medical center affiliate at Harlem Hospital Center New York. She is a Fellow of American College of Physician and Infectious Diseases Society of America and a member of Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America. She recently joined Lackawanna County Medical Society as a board member.

Shubhra M. Shetty, MD, FACP
Shubhra Shetty, MD, serves as the Medical Director for Wyoming Valley AIDS Council’s Scranton office. She is board certified in Infectious Diseases, and provides direct care to patients with HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, and other infectious diseases. She also sees patients at Scranton Primary Health Care Center, a Federally qualified health center, serving an underserved population Dr. Shetty was born and raised in India, attending the prestigious Armed Forces Medical College, after which she served in the Indian Armed Forces for three years. She completed her training in Internal medicine at SUNY Brooklyn, N.Y. in the early 90s, when the HIV/AIDS and crack epidemics were peaking. This experience led Dr. Shetty to a fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, and a career in Infectious Diseases. Dr. Shetty is a Professor of Medicine, at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, involved in teaching medical students and residents. She was a member of the Medical Education Development Consortium, which led to the formation of the medical school, and subsequently served as the Regional Associate Dean of the North Campus. She established the first Ryan White Clinic in the northeastern Pennsylvania region, which serves a seven-county area, She sees herself as a physician-educator, who enjoys working with students and residents. She is active in the local community, and serves as a member of the board of the Women’s Resource center and NEPA health Care Foundation.

Henry Radulski
Henry Radulski currently serves as the Director of the Wilkes-Barre City Health Department. He has served in that position for 16 years and is currently in his 5 th decade of public health service. He advocates for public health by identifying resources in the community and generating supportive and collaborative relationships with public and private agencies and coalitions, to generate effective planning, implantation, and management of public health activities. He works in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Wilkes-Barre City Board of Health, Health Consultants, Medical Director, and other city officials in accordance with state statutes, local ordinances, regulations to identify and solve health problems. He and his staff enforce local and state public health and sanitary laws, rules, and regulations. Mr. Radulski assesses the public health needs of the community and implements appropriate policies and programs that are evidence-based public health practices. An emphasis is placed on advocating on behalf of vulnerable individuals and populations, to ensure that all people in the community are informed of available programs and services and are assisted in the utilization of those services. He provides leadership to drive the development of the Community Health Improvement Plan process and policies that address local needs but are consistent with statewide activities. He assures the delivery of public health services are evidence-based and builds upon the scientific basis of public health through the presentation and interpretation of demographic, statistical, programmatic, and scientific information to professional and lay audiences. He also develops, writes, implements, monitors, evaluates, and administers all grant-funded programs and contracts and ensures proper execution of grant-related purchasers for reimbursement. Reconcile all grant awards and expenditures monthly. Mr. Radulski oversees the daily activities and employees of the Bureau of Personal Health Services, Bureau of Environmental Health, Bureau of Preventive Health, Bureau of Public Health Preparedness, and administrative staff to assure the successful achievement of the department’s vision, mission, and program objectives. He also oversees the coordination, assessment, capacity building, planning, implementation, training, and evaluation efforts of all employees and programs. He organizes, leads, and manages staff to prevent, minimize, and contain adverse health events and conditions resulting from communicable diseases; foodborne, waterborne, and vectorborne outbreaks; chronic diseases; environmental hazards; injuries, and health disparities. The health department educates the public about current and emerging health issues using multiple methodologies, including websites, the media, and social networking tools. Mr. Radulski is on-call 24/7 for health-related emergencies. He was instrumental in the city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, leading his staff in the initial tracking of infection cases, educating the public on symptoms and prevention, and organizing COVID-19 vaccination clinics. Mr. Radulski received his bachelor's degree in biology from Gettysburg College and his master’s degrees in healthcare administration from King’s College. Mr. Radulski is a member of numerous organizations, including the American Public Health Association, Pennsylvania Health Policy Coalition, National Association of City and County Health Officials, Pennsylvania Public Health Association, Centers for Disease Control Strategic National Stockpile Training, National Association of County and City Health Officials, Pennsylvania Advisory Committee for Public Health Preparedness. He holds health and preparedness certifications including the National Incident Management System IS-00700 Certification and the Centers for Disease Control Principles of Epidemiology Certification.

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Tonyehn Verkitus is the Executive Director of the Lackawanna and Luzerne County Medical Societies. Her work in the nonprofit world has mostly centered on health and food though she also spent many years training organizations and communities on fundraising and telling their mission-based stories.