School of Public Health News

On Monday, April 7, 2008, the Office of Public Health Practice at the UMDNJ-School of Public Health, along with the New Jersey Public Health Association as co-sponsor, will celebrate the April 7 through April 13, 2008 National Public Health Week with its 13th Annual Public Health Symposium. The event will be held in Piscataway at the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Building's West Lecture Hall, 675 Hoes Lane West, Piscataway, beginning at 4:00 p.m.

Eddy A. Bresnitz, MD, MS, will be the keynote speaker. Dr. Bresnitz is a board certified internist, pulmonary and preventive medicine physician and serves as the Deputy Commissioner for the Public Health Services Branch in the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. Dr. Bresnitz joined the Department as State Epidemiologist/ Assistant Commissioner in 1999 and became Senior Assistant Commissioner in 2003 and Deputy Commissioner in 2005. In his role as Deputy Commissioner/State Epidemiologist, Dr. Bresnitz oversees the Divisions of HIV/AIDS Services, Family Health Services, Public Health and Environmental Laboratories, Epidemiology, Environmental and Occupational Health Services, as well as the Center for Health Statistics, the Comprehensive Tobacco Control and Cancer Programs. He serves as Commissioner on the New Jersey Commission for Cancer Research.

Dr. Bresnitz received his MD degree in 1974 from McGill University in Montreal, followed by an internship and residency in internal medicine at Montefiore Hospital in New York City. He completed fellowships in pulmonary medicine and clinical epidemiology in the early 1980s at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also received an MS in clinical epidemiology.

Prior to joining NJ State Government, Dr. Bresnitz was Professor and Chairman of the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine at the MCP Hahnemann (now Drexel University) School of Medicine in Philadelphia. He is currently an Adjunct Professor in the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey School of Public Health.

Dr. Bresnitz serves on several national committees that are focused on preparedness efforts for influenza and bioterrorism. He is currently the President of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists and is a member of the Infectious Disease Committee of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

For more information and to register, please click here.