This is Public Health

Everyone deserves the opportunity to live a healthy life in a safe and supportive environment. Public health makes this possible by creating the conditions where people and communities can thrive. It’s a collective effort, shaped by the wisdom, leadership, and engagement of the people it serves. When communities are strong and well, public health is at work.

Public health is driven by dedicated professionals who instill the hope of a brighter tomorrow in the work they do today. From epidemiologists tracking disease outbreaks, to community health workers providing life saving resources and information, to specialists ensuring clean air and water, these experts protect and promote health and health equity across the globe. Health educators, policymakers, and frontline workers collaborate to prevent illness and injury, address health disparities, and improve lives. Public health isn’t just a field - it’s a commitment to building a healthier world for everyone.

Welcome New Board Members

Join us in welcoming the newly appointed members of the OPHA Board of Directors and new Special Interest Section leadership! 

Theo Latta, MCP, ABD - Director at Large

Theo Latta, MCP, ABD, oversees the Health Equity program for Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) Health Services and the Indigenous Health Equity Program for OHSU Health. Theo is an Indigenous researcher and holds a master’s degree in Community Psychology.

Theo’s research interests focus mostly on Indigenous specific issues in healthcare, education, policing, and neurological diversity. Outside of work, Theo enjoys adventuring with his young son named Sage and his newfoundland named Ocean Dog.

Sarah Andersen, MPH - Region 1 Representative

Sarah Andersen, MPH, is the Director of Field Services at the Oregon Office of Rural Health, leading a team that provides technical assistance and education to support Oregon’s rural hospitals, clinics, public health, and EMS in quality improvement, population health, finance, and operations.

Her experience includes overseeing education programs to grow and diversify Oregon’s health care workforce and serving as publisher for a niche financial information organization. While working with underserved youth to spark interest in health careers, she was inspired to pursue an MPH in health care management and policy, which she earned from the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health in June 2024. She also holds BAs in Anthropology and English from the University of North Dakota.

Originally from North Dakota, Sarah moved to Oregon 25 years ago, where she lives with her husband and two children. She is passionate about rural health, health equity, and social justice, working to ensure rural health facilities provide quality, equitable, and affordable care through health policy.

Kelly Gonzalez, PhD, MPH – Region 5 Representative

Kelly Gonzales, PhD, MPH, is the founder and Executive Director of the Indigenous Health Equity Institute. She is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, mother to Wren and Caleb, community advocate and organizer, researcher, learner, and teacher. All of her work centers on the priorities and wisdom of the Native community.

Dr. Gonzales completed her doctorate in public health and a post-doctoral program within the University of Colorado’s’ Native Investigator Program housed within the Centers for American Indian and Alaskan Native Research. Dr. Gonzales has served Indian Country in a variety of roles, including building regional and national programs within the Indian health care system, supporting emerging Indigenous leaders, building a body of empirical science into the adverse impacts of racism to the health of Native peoples, organizing a community of practice/ initiative to decolonize and Indigenize systems and structures of public health within health data, research, and policy, and establishing the nation's first undergraduate concentration on Indigenous health within an accredited School of Public Health.

Dr. Gonzales is a tenured associate professor within the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health and the co-founder of Oregon’s BIPOC Decolonizing Data Council. She serves the community by participating in numerous boards and advisory positions, including the Oregon Public Health Advisory Board, the Oregon Governors’ Racial Justice Council-Health Committee and Equity-Budget Committee; Oregon COVID Vaccination Advisory Board; the 2021-22 University Presidential Fellow of Portland State University, the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives Coalition of Portland, the Future Generations Collaborative, the 7Waters Canoe Family, and the Indigenous Food Sovereignty Initiative.

Josie Hall, MPH - Region 2 Representative

Josie Hall, MPH, has over 20 years of experience in the public health field and is deeply passionate about health promotion, behavioral health, substance use prevention, and health equity. She currently serves as a community health coordinator for PeaceHealth’s Oregon Network, where she collaborates with a network of community partners to address social drivers of health. In this role, she helps develop programs that tackle key community issues, including mental health, substance use disorder, food insecurity, access to care, and houselessness across Lane County, Oregon.

In addition to her work in Oregon, Josie recently took on the role of Community Health Needs Assessment project manager for the PeaceHealth system, overseeing efforts across Oregon, Washington, and Alaska.

Josie holds Master of Public Health degree from San Diego State University and a Bachelor of Social Work degree from the University of New Hampshire. When not working you can find her adventuring with family, skiing, mountain biking, hiking, or working on the latest yard project!

Amrita Chakraborty, MPH, DDS, MDS – Disability Section Representative

Amrita Chakraborty, MPH, DDS, MDS, is a pediatric dentist with a strong background in public health and over a decade of clinical experience across the United States and India. She holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Connecticut, a Masters in Craniofacial and Molecular Biology and a Doctoral degree in Dental Surgery from the University of Southern California. She is also a Diplomate of American Board of Pediatric Dentistry.

Amrita has dedicated her career to improving children's oral health, particularly for those with special healthcare needs. She presently works as a Pediatric Dentist in Southern Oregon. Her work extends to research in biomimetic dental materials and interprofessional health education, with multiple publications in international journals.

She has served in leadership roles that include President of the Advanced Standing Program for International Dentists at USC and has been involved in community outreach through programs such as the USC Mobile Clinic, which provides care to underserved populations in California.