{"id":964,"date":"2021-09-13T15:02:14","date_gmt":"2021-09-13T19:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/injury-and-violence-prevention\/?page_id=964"},"modified":"2025-04-09T12:03:43","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T16:03:43","slug":"our-team","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/injury-and-violence-prevention\/our-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Team"},"content":{"rendered":"
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      Lauren Yerkes, MPH, CPH<\/h3>\n
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      Injury and Violence Senior Epidemiologist<\/p>\n

      lauren.yerkes@vdh.virginia.gov<\/p>\n

      Reasons to Contact? Injury, violence, and substance use epidemiology (data trends, interpretation, sources, analyses, and communication)<\/p>\n

      Lauren Yerkes is the Injury and Violence Senior Epidemiologist at the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), providing subject matter expertise, data analysis, technical assistance, and consulting on injury, violence, and substance use data to inform state policy and program planning. She has over a decade of epidemiology and public health experience in injury and violence, substance use and mental health, HIV, and COVID-19. Lauren has a Bachelor of Science in Human Development from Virginia Tech and a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and is Certified in Public Health by the National Board of Public Health Examiners.<\/p>\n

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      Maria Altonen, MA<\/h3>\n
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      Violence Prevention Coordinator\/RPE Director<\/p>\n

      maria.altonen@vdh.virginia.gov<\/p>\n

      Reasons to Contact? Rape Prevention and Education initiatives<\/p>\n

      Maria oversees sexual violence, domestic violence, and child abuse and neglect initiatives associated with the Rape Prevention and Education grant with a special emphasis on enhancing primary prevention efforts throughout the state. They provide technical assistance and training to a variety of community partners and agencies. Prior to joining VDH, Maria earned their Master's in Housing Policy and Urban Planning at Virginia Commonwealth University.<\/p>\n

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      Lori Beck, MPH<\/h3>\n
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      Senior Substance Use Epidemiologist<\/p>\n

      lori.beck@vdh.virginia.gov<\/p>\n

      Reasons to Contact? Substance use and drug overdose epidemiology<\/p>\n

      Lori Beck is the Senior Substance Use Epidemiologist, where she serves as subject matter expert for substance use and overdose and coordinates prevention and surveillance efforts within VDH, across state agencies, and among community partners. Throughout her career she has held roles with HIV prevention and care, COVID-19, naloxone distribution, data visualization, and public health research. Lori obtained a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience and Psychology from Allegheny College and a Master of Public Health from Virginia Commonwealth University.<\/p>\n

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      Marcia Franchok-Hill<\/h3>\n
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      Statewide Safety Seat Program Coordinator<\/p>\n

      marcia.franchok-hill@vdh.virginia.gov<\/p>\n

      Reasons to Contact? Low-Income Safety Seat Distribution and Education Program<\/p>\n

      Marcia Franchok-Hill oversees the Low-Income Distribution and Education Program's initiatives associated with the Child Restraint Device Special Fund and a 402 Federal Highway Safety grant with a special emphasis on removing financial barriers by assisting eligible families in need of a child restraint device. Funds are used to purchase and distribute child safety restraints and provide education to families that cannot afford to purchase a device. Marcia coordinates and monitors seat allocations statewide, develops staff and recipient training, programmatic operation standards, policies, procedures, and provides technical assistance to a network of approximately 130 distribution sites in collaboration with local health departments, fire departments, Healthy Families, Department of Social Services, and hospitals.<\/p>\n

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      Tara Keen, MPH<\/h3>\n
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      Injury and Violence Prevention Epidemiologist<\/p>\n

      tara.keen@vdh.virginia.gov<\/p>\n

      Reasons to Contact? Injury and violence epidemiology<\/p>\n

      Tara Keen is the Injury and Violence Prevention Epidemiologist at the Virginia Department of Health. She is passionate about using epidemiology to facilitate optimal health outcomes. Tara graduated from James Madison University with a B.S. in Biology (go Dukes!) and Virginia Commonwealth University with her Master of Public Health. Tara loves to surround herself with animals; Tara and her boyfriend share four dogs, a horse, and a donkey. In her free time, she enjoys baking sourdough, gardening, and traveling.<\/p>\n

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      Justin Wallace, MPH<\/h3>\n
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      Suicide Prevention Coordinator<\/p>\n

      justin.wallace@vdh.virginia.gov<\/p>\n

      Reasons to Contact? Suicide related programming, funding, and other prevention, intervention, and postvention topics<\/p>\n

      Justin Wallace oversees suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention efforts within the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) with a special emphasis on youth suicide prevention. He provides technical assistance to the Campus Suicide Prevention Center of Virginia, co-facilitates the Suicide Prevention Interagency Advisory Group, is the VDH representative for the Behavioral Health Advisory Council, and supports other matters relating to youth suicide prevention across the state, including cross-collaboration with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, The Department of Education, the Department of Juvenile Justice, and the Department of Criminal Justice Services, . Prior to joining VDH, Justin worked for a decade providing mental health counseling to our neighbors, eventually completing his Master of Public Health degree and overseeing the Richmond City Health Districts Ryan White HIV Prevention Program. On his off time, he is heavily engaged in work with the group People Addressing and Understanding Suicide Experiences (PAUSE), supporting mutual aid in Richmond, and attempting to bring more native plants to Virginia.<\/p>\n

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      Sarah Wilson, MSW, CVA<\/h3>\n
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      Transportation Safety Supervisor<\/p>\n

      s.wilson@vdh.virginia.gov<\/p>\n

      Reasons to Contact? Transportation related programming, funding, and other prevention and intervention topics<\/p>\n

      Sarah oversees transportation safety initiatives with a special emphasis on child passenger safety and pedestrian and bicycle safety primarily through the NHSTA Occupant Project Grant, the CDC Core State Injury Prevention Program Grant, and the HRSA Title V Maternal Child Health Grant. She provides technical assistance to a variety of community-level and state partners. Sarah has a Bachelor of Science in Human Development from Virginia Tech and a Master of Social Work Administration, Planning and Policy from Virginia Commonwealth University with a certificate in nonprofit management. Sarah likes to get outside, hiking, backpacking or playing disc golf. When forced inside, reading, games or cat snuggles will do.<\/p>\n

      \n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Injury and Violence Senior Epidemiologist lauren.yerkes@vdh.virginia.gov Reasons to Contact? Injury, violence, and substance use epidemiology (data trends, interpretation, sources, analyses, and communication) Lauren Yerkes is the Injury and Violence Senior Epidemiologist at the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), providing subject matter expertise, data analysis, technical assistance, and consulting on injury, violence, and substance use data […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":657,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-964","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nOur Team - Injury and Violence Prevention<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/injury-and-violence-prevention\/our-team\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Our Team - Injury and Violence Prevention\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Injury and Violence Senior Epidemiologist lauren.yerkes@vdh.virginia.gov Reasons to Contact? 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