Option Director

Eugene J. Lengerich, VMD, MS

Professor of Public Health Sciences
VMD, University of Pennsylvania, 1987
MS, Pennsylvania State University, 1987

Dr. Lengerich brings extensive experience in distance-based learning, public health, and epidemiologic research. In addition to teaching resident graduate epidemiology classes, Dr. Lengerich has assisted with the design of PHP 527: Public Health Evaluation of Disasters and Bioterrorism, and served as instructor in this course since its inception. He is also instructor of STAT 507: Epidemiology Research Methods, delivered through the World Campus. Dr. Lengerich currently is an adviser to the National Cancer Institute for its distance-based training program in public health program development, implementation, and evaluation, and he has led the development of a national mentoring program in applied epidemiology.

Dr. Lengerich has a deep understanding of public health, having been employed in public health at the national level (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), the state level (North Carolina), as well as worked extensively at the local public health level in North Carolina and Pennsylvania. While at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Lengerich conducted outbreak investigations in Arizona, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Carolina. Over the past several years, he has assisted medical students in the Global Health Scholars Program conduct door-to-door surveys in San Pablo, Ecuador.

Instructors

Mark Escott, MD
 

Gavin Macgregor-Skinner, BVSc, MSc, MPH, MRCVS

Gavin Macgregor-Skinner is an assistant professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at Penn State Hershey. He has worked in public health leadership positions with both U.S. and international governments, United Nations agencies, the private sector, and military, designing public health preparedness and disaster response programs in Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, and Latin America.

For the U.S. government, Dr. Macgregor-Skinner led a technical team in providing assistance in prevention and control of avian and pandemic influenza outbreaks, and provided direct support by bringing governments and partners together to form task forces that generated comprehensive national preparedness plans in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), he was deployed to Banda Aceh after the 2004 Tsunami and led a team to design and conduct rapid health risk assessments, and developed integrated strategies with government, UN agencies, and non-governmental organizations. He served in the Australian and British armies and coordinated public health programs in post-conflict environments. With the British government, he implemented community-based participatory approaches for disease surveillance and outbreak response.

Dr. Macgregor-Skinner has a bachelor's in veterinary science from the University of Queensland, Australia, a master of science in emerging infectious and zoonotic diseases from the University of London, England, and a master of public health in epidemiology and international health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. His passion is engaging networks of experts who share knowledge and experiences to increase the global understanding of risk and preparedness.

James F. McKenzie, PhD, MPH, MCHES

Professor of Public Health Sciences
PhD, The Ohio State University, 1977
MPH, University of Michigan, 1986

Jim McKenzie is a professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at Penn State Hershey and professor emeritus in the Department of Physiology and Health Science at Ball State University. He is a Master Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES) and serves on the Board of Commissioners for the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc. He is also an active scholar and co-author of four textbooks: Planning, Implementing, & Evaluating Health Promotion Programs: A Primer (6th ed., in press, Benjamin Cummings); An Introduction to Community Health (7th ed., 2012, Jones & Bartlett Learning); Principles and Foundations of Health Promotion and Education (5th ed., 2012, Benjamin Cummings); and Health Promotion & Education Research Methods: Using the Five Chapter Thesis/Dissertation Model (2nd ed., 2011, Jones & Bartlett Learning).

Zhengmin Qian, MD, PhD

UMDNJ-Rutgers, Associate Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Public Health Sciences

Zhengmin Qian is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology at Saint Louis University School of Public Health. He is also an associate professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine. His area of expertise is environmental epidemiology. He has years of experience working as an environmental epidemiologist both in China and in the United States.

Dr. Qian's research areas of focus include children's health, global health, environmental health, exposure assessment, and indoor and outdoor air pollution.

Bruce Rudy, DEd, PA-C

Dr. Rudy is a physician assistant in the Department of Emergency Medicine and is an assistant professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and the Department of Public Health Sciences at Penn State Hershey. Since graduating from the Albany Medical College PA program in 1989, he has worked within the fields of cardiology, emergency medicine, and orthopedics. He also holds an undergraduate degree from East Stroudsburg University, a master's degree in education from Mansfield University, and was awarded a doctorate in adult education and public administration from Penn State. His dissertation is titled Organizational Learning and Disaster Management in a County Coroner's Office: A Case Study.

Dr. Rudy has been the liaison to the Pennsylvania Emergency Health Services Council for the Pennsylvania Society of Physician Assistants. Additionally he has served with the Lebanon County Coroner's Office since 1996, has been chief deputy since 2000, and is the deputy coordinator of emergency management for South Annville Township (Lebanon County, Pennsylvania). His publications have appeared in the Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants; Sutureline; The Internet Journal of Rescue and Disaster Medicine; Journal of Emergency Management; and Journal of Homeland Security.