Board of Directors

Joseph P. Iser, MD, DrPH, MSc

President

Joe Iser has a medical degree from the University of Kansas and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, General Preventive Medicine and Public Health, and Occupational Medicine, with a broad background in public health, primary care, and medical education. He has a Doctorate in Public Health in Health Policy from the University of Michigan and an MSc in Infectious Diseases from the University of London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. His interests include indigent care, infectious diseases, disaster medicine, environmental health, and international medicine. Retired after 24 years of active duty with the US Public Health Service, he is now the Chief Health Officer for the Southern Nevada Health District. Dr. Iser sits on a number of boards, including the Health Officers Association of California, the National Association of County and City Health Officials, the Nevada Public Health Foundation, and the School of Community Health at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Advisory Board. He is an officer for the Nevada Association of Local Health Officials and a former board member of the California Conference of Local Health Officers. He volunteers at several other community-based organizations and is active in county and state medical societies. In his spare time, he skis, canoes and kayaks, fly fishes, and square dances.

GEROLD DERMID-GRAY, MBA

Treasurer

Gerold Dermid, MBA is the Principal Investigator of the Nevada Public Health Training Center, housed within the School of Community Health Sciences at the University of Nevada, Reno. Mr. Dermid has worked in the field of public health for the past 17 years, focused on accreditation, quality improvement, workforce development, social marketing and community engagement. He has provided leadership and strategic direction to communities throughout the world in communicable disease prevention, with a special focus on HIV/AIDS, chronic disease prevention, substance use services, health equity, social justice, and international development. He currently manages workforce and student training programs locally, nationally, and internationally, with a special focus on the development of trainings within traditionally underserved communities.

John Packham, PhD

Board Member

John Packham, Ph.D., MA, is the Associate Dean of Statewide Initiatives and Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine. Dr. Packham has co-authored nearly 100 policy-relevant, statewide research reports, including ten editions of the Nevada Rural and Frontier Health Data Book and five editions of Health Care Careers in Nevada. For over two decades, Dr. Packham has served on numerous statewide and national boards, advisory councils, and commissions including Governor Sisolak's Patient Protection Commission, Nevada Public Health Association, and Access to Healthcare Network. Dr. Packham is a frequent speaker on health care policy and public health issues facing Nevada and is regularly asked to testify on health policy issues being addressed by state and local policy makers.

Valerie Haskin, MPH

Board Member

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Valerie is passionate about improving public health infrastructure and taking a system-wide approach to population health programming. She now works as the Rural Regional Behavioral Health Coordinator for seven of Nevada's frontier counties. Her background includes health education, community health assessment planning and implementation, community health improvement planning, strategic planning, quality improvement, program planning and evaluation, chronic disease prevention, adolescent reproductive health, and public health accreditation.

Valerie holds a B.S. in Exercise Physiology from CSU, Chico, an M.A. in Kinesiology (Exercise Physiology track) also from CSU, Chico, and an MPH (Social and Behavioral Health track) from the University of Nevada, Reno. She enjoys long walks in the mountains and riding horses, or better yet, riding horses in the mountains.

Staff

Rachel Audenried, MPH

Executive Director

rachel@nevadapublichealthinstitute.org

Rachel Audenried, MPH is the Executive Director of the Nevada Public Health Institute (NPHI), where she has led grants projects and day-to-day operations since July 2023. Previously, Rachel served as Senior Public Health Diversity Advisor at the Center for Public Health Excellence in the Larson Institute, focusing on workforce development initiatives, surveys and evaluation for Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) accreditation, and health policy for the Nevada Department of Public and Behavioral Health (DPBH). She has also previously coordinated public health research and evaluation projects at the University of Nevada, Reno’s Center for Program Evaluation, focusing on family services, education, and public health.

Rachel’s experience includes hands-on leadership in public health initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as leading the development of an interdisciplinary student team for Washoe County’s vaccine distribution clinics. She also contributed to Health in All Policies (HiAP) projects and grant writing efforts at the Larson Institute for Health Equity and Impact. Rachel holds an MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Nevada, Reno, where she was inducted into the Delta Omega Public Health Honorary Society. She is dedicated applying her passion for health and science to the field, working toward understanding and reducing the impact of complex public health issues.