Meet the Speakers
Lynelle Paro, Bureau Chief
Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Bureau of Immunizations
Lynelle Paro is Bureau Chief for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services’ Bureau of Immunizations. She also currently serves as the coordinator of the school and daycare immunization programs. Ms. Paro has been with the Department for 28 years.
Daniel Graciaa, MC, MPH, MSc
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Emory University School of Medicine, Emory Vaccine Center
Dr. Graciaa is a clinician-scientist with clinical and research training in infectious diseases and serves as Assistant Professor of Medicine at Emory University. He is focused on clinical and translational research in infectious diseases, particularly translational
immunology and vaccine clinical trials. During his medical education (MD) and clinical training, he received additional training in epidemiology (MPH) and in clinical and translational research (Master of Science in Clinical Research). At the Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center, he serves as site PI or sub-investigator on multiple vaccine clinical trials including through NIH-funded networks.
Rosalind J. Carter, PhD, Senior Scientist/Bridge Evaluation Lead, Applied Research, Implementation Science and Evaluation (ARISE) Branch, Immunization Services Division, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Dr. Rosalind Carter is a Senior Scientist and lead Evaluator for the Bridge Access Program with the National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Michigan. Dr. Carter completed post-doctoral work at CDC as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer assigned to the New York City Department of Health. For more than 20 years, she conducted research on maternal-infant HIV transmission and pediatric HIV disease progression in the US and sub-Saharan Africa as faculty at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and at UNICEF Headquarters in New York.
During the 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak, Dr. Carter returned to CDC as the Field Team Lead for CDC’s Sierra Leone Trial to Introduce an Ebola Vaccine (STRIVE), followed by work in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Uganda, South Sudan, and Tanzania to implement new Ebola vaccines to protect health care workers during Ebola outbreaks. Dr. Carter is a recognized expert on the implementation of Emergency Use Authorization vaccines during global public health emergencies, and has worked closely with BARDA, FDA, NIH and UN organizations on these activities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Carter was one of hundreds of CDC staff supporting states on the introduction COVID-19 vaccines with field work in South Dakota and standing up mass vaccination sites in the US Virgin Islands with FEMA. She served as the Vaccine Implementation Team Lead for CDC’s COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force where she supervised staff engaged in implementation planning for new pediatric vaccines and expanding access to vaccines for vulnerable populations. During the 2022 mpox outbreak, Dr. Carter served as the Deputy Lead for the Vaccine Task Force, contributing to the development of interim clinical guidance and ACIP recommendations for routine use of JYNNEOS vaccines.
Dr. Carter is passionate about evaluating the experience of local and state health departments and community-based partners, particularly with a health equity lens, for continuous improvement in the implementation of new vaccines. She is the co-author of more than sixty publications.
Stephanie Mucha, MPH, Director, Vaccine Equity Project, The Autism Society of America
Stephanie Mucha has worked for over 20 years in the healthcare non-profit space. Immediately prior to joining the Autism Society, she directed community outreach efforts at a Chicago-based organization that provides primary health care services, including equitable vaccine access, to individuals in under-resourced communities. Stephanie has also partnered with clinicians and families at the Child Neurology Foundation and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in the pursuit of comprehensive and accessible healthcare. At the AAP, she led all policy, education, and advocacy initiatives specific to children with disabilities, their families, and pediatricians who care for this population. She was also the lead AAP staff contact and subject matter expert on autism. Stephanie is an independent consultant who has worked with non-profit organizations to help achieve their programmatic and strategic goals. She earned her Masters of Public Health degree from Northwestern University. Stephanie is thrilled to be a part of the Autism community again!
Katrina Starnes, IPC
Strategic Research Consultant, Lambert
Katrina has more than 20 years of experience conducting specialized research projects and communicating insights across multiple industries, with an emphasis on engaging hard-to-reach populations, improving health outcomes, and nonprofit program effectiveness. She is passionate about leveraging research to make a difference in the world, and serves as the Senior Research Director at Lambert in St. Louis, Missouri. Katrina has a BS in Business Management with a minor in Interpersonal Communication from the University of Evansville and holds an expert-level researcher certification with the Insights Association.
Lana Hudanick, BSN, MPH
Nurse Manager, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
Lana has worked in public health and immunizations for over 20 years. Currently, she works as the Immunization Quality
Improvement Coordinator, Adolescent and Flu Coordinator, and Educational/Partnership and Program Effectiveness Coordinator. She has worked for 10 years with the state of Missouri. Lana has a BSN from Missouri Baptist University and earned her MPH from Ohio University in Athens.
Kenneth Haller, MD, Pediatrician, SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital
Dr. Haller has been a primary care pediatrician for over 40 years and has dealt frequently with parents who have expressed concerns about vaccination for their children. He developed techniques, based on the skills of improvisational theater and motivational interviewing that help parents recognize their fears and allow them to move toward making appropriate health care decisions for their children.
Carol Koob, PhD Candidate, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Missouri School of Medicine
Carol Koob is currently completing a Ph.D. at the University of Missouri under the Translational Bioscience Ph.D. program, emphasizing Population Health and Precision Medicine. Her previous education includes a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Truman State University. She also works as a front-line staff member for the University of Missouri’s NIH All of Us research program branch. Her research interests include population-level data and neurologic diseases.
Jane McElroy, PhD, Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Missouri School of Medicine
Dr. Jane McElroy is a professor and epidemiologist in the Family and Community Medicine department at University of Missouri (MU). She is co-director of the rural health research center. One element of the RHRC is expanding the Missouri practice-based innovations network (MO-PIN), a clinic-based network for bidirectional engagement in research endeavors among (rural) healthcare clinics/systems and researchers. Dr. McElroy’s research focuses on quality improvement projects in partnership with FQHCs including improving immunization rates and colorectal cancer screening. Besides cancer and viral exposures, Dr. McElroy is invested in reducing health disparities. She has expertise in sexual and gender minority (aka LGBTQ) issues.
Kamran Qureshi, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, St. Louis University School of Medicine
Dr. Kamran Qureshi is a Transplant hepatologist / Gastroenterologist at St Louis University. He is currently an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology. He is also a Program Director for GI fellowship training, and Director for pre-clinical courses, clinical clerkships for medical students. He has been working as a hepatologists for almost 9 years in Transplant academic center. His clinical and research focus is on chronic liver diseases, viral hepatitis and liver cancer.
Kalyan Gogineni, MBBS, Senior Quality Analyst, Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center
Kalyan Gogineni, MBBS, began his work as a Senior Quality Analyst in the Clinical Quality team at Samuel Rodger’s Health Center in March 2017. Dr. Gogineni brings in over 15 years of experience in healthcare field working in various capacities in both administration & clinical departments. Working in the Quality team, he analyzes data to provide better health care to the community by prevention and care. He brings in a wealth of knowledge from public health arena in removing barriers to bring health equity and make healthcare more accessible to all populations.
Aruna Konreddy, MHA, Senior Quality Improvement Analyst, Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center
Aruna Konreddy is a computer science engineer by education, but after working as Application Development Specialist for Childrens Hospital Boston, her focus shifted to health care. She earned a graduate degree in Health Services Administration (MHSA) from University of Kansas Medical Center. She currently serves as a Senior Quality Improvement Analyst at Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center where one of her many responsibilities is analyzing data to improve clinical outcomes and quality of care.
Kelsie Stafford, Clinic Manager, Cass County Health Department
Kelsie Stafford started her Public Health career in 2014 as an Office Manager at the Cass County Health Department. Leaving public health for a few years to work for the Kansas City Veterans Affairs Hospital. Returning to Cass County in 2021, and always having a passion for public health has put her in her current position of Clinic Manager. Besides training others to be passionate about public health, her job includes everything vaccination related from ordering of supplies to managing vaccine clinics, drive-thru events, managing healthcare related grants and overseeing the vaccine billing for the clinic. Kelsie prides herself on the relationships she has worked so hard to build with her community and schools. Her team is a true testament of hard work and dedication for an entire county, she is so proud of all their accomplishments over the years.
When Kelsie is not at work, she enjoys spending time with her husband Josh and Daughter Kaylyn (15). She loves maximizing her vacation time anywhere near water including the lake, but prefers the beach.
Grace Kresse, RN, Cass County Health Department
Grace started her Public Health career in 2020. Prior to the Cass County Health Department, Grace worked at the University of Kansas Hospital in the Medical Oncology unit for 3 years. Her favorite part of being a nurse at the health department is serving the community that she grew up in and where she is raising her family.
When Grace is not at work, she enjoys going to the Lake of the Ozarks and fishing with her husband, Sawyer, and daughter Lillian (11 months). When not outdoors, you can find her in the kitchen baking and cooking.
Maria Young, Founder and President, Maria’s Miracle
In 2021 Maria became a severe COVID-19 and ECMO, (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, an extreme form of life support) survivor after spending over four months at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. After her discharge, she established Maria’s Miracle, a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to funding critical care medical training and supporting families and patients facing ECMO treatment or recovery from prolonged ICU stays. She continues to battle long COVID and the aftereffects of her time in the ICU. Maria now works as a vaccine advocate to increase awareness about the seriousness of COVID-19 and the importance of vaccination by sharing details of her journey.
Vivian Huang, MD, MPH
Vaccine Advocate
Dr. Vivian Huang is a dual trained physician, internal medicine and preventive medicine/public health. She has spent a large part of her career in clinical medicine and public health, with experiences with Doctors Without Borders, Partners In Health, Charles B Wang Community Health Center and New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She has spoken openly about her global health experiences on the Moth, story here: https://themoth.org/storytellers/vivian-huang. Vivian is a long-time hepatitis B expert, advocate, and survivor. Hepatitis B infection can be prevented with vaccination. We can have a world without hepatitis B. In her free time, she enjoys the great outdoors with her partner and Shibu Inu doggie and lives in Phoenix, Arizona.
Charles Hinderliter
Vaccine Advocate
Charlie Hinderliter is a flu survivor, an advocate, and a storyteller. At 38, his encounter with influenza A turned his life upside down, evolving into a battle for survival. He has reclaimed that experience by becoming a cautionary tale to educate others about the seriousness of influenza and the importance of vaccination. Despite initially underestimating the flu’s potential impact, Charlie now speaks about the need for annual vaccination. His story, covered by local and national media, is a powerful reminder of the flu’s indiscriminate nature and the critical role vaccination plays in protecting individuals and communities.
Now, Charlie shares his story far and wide, advocating for vaccination through organizations like Families Fighting Flu, the Missouri Immunization Coalition, and Voices for Vaccines. In his day job, Charlie Hinderliter is the Senior Vice President of Government Affairs of St. Louis REALTORS®.
Exhibitors
- AstraZeneca
- CSL Seqirus
- Dynavax
- GSK
- Health Quality Innovators (HQI)
- Merck
- Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Bureau of Immunizations
- Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Office of Dental Health
- Missouri Family Health Council, Inc.
- Missouri Pharmacy Association
- Missouri Primary Care Association
- Missouri Society of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians
- Moderna Tx
- MU Department of Public Health
- Novavax
- Pfizer, Inc
- Rural Health Research Center
- SmartTracker
- UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Missouri
- UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Missouri
- University of Missouri Department of Public Health
