Please join us for the
2024 New Jersey Immunization Conference
Beyond Barriers: Charting the Course for Immunization in a Changing Landscape
Wednesday, May 22, 2024
7:30 a.m.- 3:30 p.m.
The Palace at Somerset Park: 333 Davidson Ave, Somerset, NJ
2024 NJIC Speaker Bios
Christina Tan, MD, MPH
Since 2009, Dr. Tina Tan has been serving as State Epidemiologist/Assistant Commissioner of the Division of Epidemiology, Environmental and Occupational Health at the New Jersey Department of Health. She is responsible for program oversight, management, and policy development in areas of general communicable disease surveillance and informatics, immunizations, environmental and occupational health, and cancer epidemiology. During her time at the Department, she has directed investigations, public health responses, and planning efforts regarding numerous emerging issues such as West Nile virus, bioterrorism-related anthrax, SARS, pandemic H1N1 influenza, post-Hurricane Sandy efforts, vinyl chloride release associated with a train derailment, imported viral hemorrhagic fever cases, Zika, e-cigarette/vaping product use-associated lung injuries, and COVID-19.
Dr. Tan received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University, medical degree from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Master’s in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine/Primary Care at New York University Medical Center and is board-certified in internal medicine, in addition to completing an applied epidemiology fellowship with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Epidemic Intelligence Service. She is an Adjunct Associate Professor with the Department of Epidemiology at the Rutgers School of Public Health. She is published widely in peer-reviewed scientific literature and is a frequent presenter at and participant in state and national conferences, committees, work groups, and boards on a range of public health issues.
Andrew Kroger, MD, MPH
Andrew Kroger, M.D., M.P.H., is a medical officer for the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As one of the traveling trainers in the Health Education and Communication Branch, Dr. Kroger has given multiple presentations on topics ranging from immunization updates to pandemic influenza preparedness.
Most notably, Dr. Kroger is the author of the newest edition of the CDC’s General Best Practices Immunization Implementation Guidance; and he is also involved with some of the new distance learning activities of the branch, including the Current Issues in Immunization Series that is delivered through webinar.
Dr. Kroger trained in pediatrics for two years at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland before transferring to Emory University where he specialized in public health and preventive medicine. He received joint Doctor of Medicine and Master of Public Health degrees from Yale Medical School and Yale University School of Epidemiology and Public Health with a concentration in international health.
Shaina Ward MSW
Shaina Ward is the Assistant Director at the Office of New Americans (ONA) at the New Jersey Department of Human Services. In this role, Shaina works on identifying, developing, and executing policies and strategies to advance efforts to welcome and empower immigrant communities in the state. Prior to joining the Department, Shaina served as the Refugee Health and Wellness Manager at the International Rescue Committee’s NJ Office for Refugees, and the Associate Director at Refugee Council USA. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and a Master of Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania.
Luis Alzate-Duque, MD
Luis Alzate-Duque received his medical degree from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in 2014 (and fell in love with the community of Newark.) He completed residency training in combined Internal Medicine & Pediatric at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in 2018 and completed an Academic Medicine Fellowship through the Hispanic Center of Excellence at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in 2019. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor of Medicine & Pediatrics at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, where he is dedicated to providing primary care services to adults and pediatric populations in a Newark-based Federally Qualified Health Center. He was recently appointed Assistant Dean of Student Affairs at New Jersey Medical School, where his passion for holistic, individually centered approaches using a social determinants of health lens, aids him in addressing the academic needs of a diverse student body. Luis is a founding member of the Community Health Justice lab and his research focuses on raising awareness and addressing disparities in underserved communities with the use of community engagement, community outreach, education and preventive measures to improve health outcomes. “I am excited to join the Affinity Foundation as I strongly believe that supporting efforts that improve access to education and supporting efforts focusing in reducing poverty are essential in achieving health equity.”
Patricia Kaiser
Patricia Kaiser is a Recruiter/Trainer for the NJ Immunization Information System (NJIIS) and has worked for the Central Jersey Family Health Consortium (CJFHC) for over 19 years, 17 of which have been with NJIIS. Her dedication and drive have allowed her to rise within the Consortium.
Ms. Kaiser has been a Certified Trainer for over 15 years with NJIIS and conducts Statewide NJIIS trainings and provider assistance throughout the Central Jersey region (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean and Somerset). Ms. Kaiser assisted the NJ Department of Health, Vaccine Preventable Disease Program in the re-writing of the NJ Immunization Registry in 2018, creating NJIIS help documents for NJIIS users and creating pre-recorded webinars.
In August 2011, Ms. Kaiser became the Program Coordinator for CJFHC, overseeing quality assurance for NJIIS in addition to training and Provider assistance. Her career in Information Technology, Business and Customer Service/Satisfaction has provided her the insight necessary to work with healthcare providers and NJIIS.
Ms. Kaiser offers regular trainings to provider staff on the benefits of utilizing the NJ Immunization Information System and the various aspects of the system, in addition to providing technical assistance to and troubleshooting issues related to Vaccine for Children (VFC), Vaccine for Adult (Adult 317) and COVID-19 inventory. Ms. Kaiser keeps current with any changes to NJIIS, bringing these changes to healthcare providers throughout the Central Jersey region.
Claudia Arredondo, BA
Claudia Arredondo is the New Jersey Immunization Information System (NJIIS) Statewide Interoperability Coordinator at Central Jersey Family Health Consortium (CJFHC), where she is a lead in the development and implementation of NJIIS processes and interface specifications.
Claudia is a part of the alliance with the NJDOH, where she develops and implements operating procedures, policies, and training materials to, among other things, ensure the seamless interface of the NJIIS Interface Management System (IMS). Highly proficient in Health Level 7
(HL7), she troubleshoots and resolves interface and data issues efficiently. Claudia’s years of experience made her a key partner in making New Jersey and the IMS reporting-ready for the implementation of the Covid-19 vaccine during the pandemic.
Claudia also provides statewide interface education, support, and coordination. She oversees the NJIIS interface onboarding process, end to end. Claudia works closely with providers and EHR vendors to ensure awareness of the NJIIS interface onboarding process and HL7 specifications to ensure data quality.
Claudia has been with CJFHC for seventeen years and in the role of NJIIS Interoperability Coordinator for seven. Claudia holds a BA from Stockton University.
Taylor Crosby, MA
Taylor Crosby is a public health program specialist with over 10 years of experience in the field. After serving in the United States Peace Corps as a Health Volunteer, she received her Mastersin United Nations and Global Policy Studies with a focus in public health. Taylor joins the VPDP team as the VFC Coordinator.
Diana Dao
Dr. Dao works as a pharmacist with the New Jersey Department of Health, specializing in vaccine temperature excursions. She earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. In 2024, she earned a master’s degree from the University of Florida College of Pharmacy, with a concentration in medication safety and quality systems. She is passionate about combatting vaccine-preventable diseases by ensuring patients receive safe and viable vaccines. In her spare time, she enjoys bicycling around town with her dog.
Aneri Shah, Pharm D
Aneri Shah serves as a Vaccine Manager with the New Jersey Department of Health in the Vaccine Preventable Disease Program. In this role, Aneri works closely with the CDC to ensure federally funded vaccines are managed and distributed appropriately amongst VFC enrolled providers throughout New Jersey. She is an expert on all ACIP recommended vaccines and has educated patients and providers throughout her career.
She has been with the New Jersey State Department of Health, for over 2 years. Before this role, Aneri worked as a Pharmacy Manager in a retail pharmacy. She holds a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
Ramona Braddock
Ramona currently serves as the Field Operations Supervisor for the Vaccines for Children Program, with the New Jersey department of Health, Vaccine Preventable Disease Program. In this role, Ramona manages and supports field staff who are responsible for conducting vaccine compliance visits throughout the state. She has been instrumental with providing education and guidance on proper vaccine storage and handling of ACIP recommended vaccines to all VFC providers. She has been with the New Jersey Department of Health for over 13 years. She previously worked in New York City at Jamaica Hospital. Ramona is also a Licensed Practice Nurse.
Kristen D. Krause, PhD, MPH (she/her/hers),
Kristen is an instructor of Urban Health in the Department of Urban-Global Public Health at the Rutgers University School of Public Health (SPH) and the Deputy Director of the Center for Health, Identity, Behavior and Prevention Studies (CHIBPS), a leading training ground for LGBTQ scholars. She has expertise in HIV/AIDS, aging, resilience, and broader LGBTQ health disparities. More specifically, her work examines resilience as it relates to biological, psychological, social, and cognitive health states among older people living with HIV/AIDS. Previously, she was the recipient of a TL1 Pre-doctoral fellowship at the Clinical and Translational Science Institute at NYU Langone Health, and also received the Stuart D. Cook Excellence in Research Award for her dissertation work from the Rutgers SPH. Dr. Krause serves as the Co Editor in Chief of a new journal geared towards the health and well-being of sexual and gender diverse communities called Annals of LGBTQ Public and Population Health and she is also the Deputy Editor of Behavioral Medicine.
Ayiasha Pratt, MPH
Ayiasha Pratt, MPH, currently serves as the Perinatal Hepatitis B Prevention Program Coordinator for the state of New Jersey but has spent the last 16 years practicing Microbiology and Epidemiology, in the public health sector. Following the completion of her master’s degree in public Heath Epidemiology from the Rutgers School of Public Health, in 2017, she begins working for the New Jersey Department of Health’s Vaccine Preventable Disease Program, performing surveillance and participating in prevention geared towardsreduction and elimination of vaccine-preventable diseases affecting children, adolescents, and older adults. For 7 years, her focus has been on surveillance of all aspects of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), including Viral Hepatitis B Elimination efforts. However, in the last year, her primary focus has been specifically focused on the perinatal population, which are those infants susceptible to HBV through mother to child transmission. Through NJDOH, Ayiasha has had the opportunity to collaborate with organizations like the National Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) to spread disease awareness and address disparities within public health.
Evan Thornburg (She/They)
Evan Thornburg currently serves as the Health Equity Officer for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health in the Division of HIV Health. Evan is an expert in intersectionality in systems of healthcare and public health, specializing in policy/legislation, equity-based program development and comprehensive training on health equity, health disparities, social determinants of health, and the inclusion of vulnerable populations in system level redesign. Evan grew up between Philadelphia, PA and Houston, TX, received her BA in American Studies/Civilizations from Ursinus College, and a Master’s in Urban Bioethics at Temple School of Medicine specializing in the ethics of biotechnology/AI and the public health threats of mis/disinformation in media.
Evan has trained thousands of individuals and collaborated with hundreds of organizations and institutions over the last 15 years when it comes to inclusion, competency, health equity, and collaborative inclusion of marginalized/vulnerable communities, specifically LGBTQ folks, BIPOC, elders, and youth. Evan is a social media creator who runs a popular bioethics TikTok account, EVN the (Bio) Ethicist, where she uses her expertise in medical history, ethics, media, and public health to educate on issues of health and medicine. Evan believes there’s never too much reading, coffee, or drawing that can be had or done in this world, all of which she likes to do with her furry best friends, Harley Quinn, Noon, and Joon.
