Support Staff

Ms. Browett is a Senior Editor/Writer at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. She serves as Editor of the Center’s semi-weekly COVID-19 Situation Report and occasional Outbreak Alerts, including those on monkeypox. She provides timely, concise, and accurate information on critically important global health topics.

Prior to joining the Center in February 2022, Ms. Browett worked for 10 years as the Managing Editor of the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Daily Global Health Policy Report. As an independent consultant, she focused on writing, editing, and aggregating technical content for a wide variety of clients in the health, outdoor recreation, and conservation disciplines.

Ms. Browett has an MPH in international health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she also earned a certificate in health communication. She earned a BA in international health care policy from Davidson College.

Ms. Brown is an Event Planner for the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. She plans and manages logistics for the Center’s events both domestically and internationally.

Prior to joining the Center in 2022, Ms. Brown spent several years planning tech conferences. She holds a BS in hospitality management from James Madison University.

Ms. Cizek is the Website Administrator at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. She develops and maintains the Center’s websites. She provides creative direction on enterprise web and graphic projects.

Prior to joining the Center in January 2018, Ms. Cizek worked as a webmaster for almost 8 years at LifeBridge Health. She maintained the system’s websites and developed digital graphics.

She has a BS in interior design with a minor in art from Radford University. She pursued a graphic/web design certificate at Anne Arundel Community College.

Ms. Firestone is a Research Program Manager at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. She provides program management for various research and academic initiatives and supports faculty and staff across all areas of the Center.

Prior to joining the Center, Ms. Firestone worked at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, where she managed nursing research projects related to workforce development and emergency preparedness and response.

She earned a BS in animal science from the University of Maryland, College Park and an MSW from the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

Recent Publications

• India–United States Track 1.5 Strategic Biosecurity Dialogue, Report from the Ninth Dialogue Session
• Analysis of trends in nurse practitioner billing for emergency medical services: 2015–2018
• The COVID-19 Nursing Workforce Crisis: Implications for National Health Security
• Analysis of Nurse Practitioners’ Educational Preparation, Credentialing, and Scope of Practice in US Emergency Departments
• Alignment of nurse practitioner educational preparation and scope of practice in United States Emergency Departments: A systematic review of the literature
• Mental Health and Social Support for Healthcare and Hospital Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic
  

Ms. Fox is the Director of Publications at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. She serves as Managing Editor of the bimonthly journal Health Security (formerly Biosecurity and Bioterrorism), the leading peer-reviewed journal in this field.

Prior to joining the Center in April 2020, Ms. Fox was a Senior Technical Writer/Editor at Palladium and a Technical Writer/Editor at the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP). At CCP, she managed the knowledge management, publication development, and editorial processes for several projects, including the Health Communication Capacity Collaborative and Knowledge for Health, and acted as associate editor for the East African Health Research Journal and Global Health: Science and Practice. Before joining CCP in 2015, Ms. Fox was a consultant for the World Health Organization HIV Department in Geneva, Switzerland, where she contributed to the research and development of several guideline, framework, and policy documents.

Ms. Fox has an MPH in social, behavioral, and community health and an MA in history, with a research focus on modern British and American history of science and medicine (epidemics, tropical diseases, human experimentation, health systems, networks of knowledge, stigma and disability), gender, and war and empire, from Indiana University. She also has an MSc in the history of science, medicine, and technology from the University of Oxford and a BFA in visual communication from Northern Illinois University.

Dr. Giray is the Communications Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, where she oversees strategic communications, public relations, and media activities. In collaboration with the Center team, Dr. Giray helps to promote the Center’s brand voice and commitment to protecting people’s health.

Prior to joining the Center, Dr. Giray worked at the global communications agency Weber Shandwick, where she supported integrated media, high-profile events, and thought leadership for nonprofit to Fortune 500 companies in the healthcare, social impact, and sustainability sectors.

Previously, Dr. Giray served as the Director of Communications of Research-to-Policy Collaboration at Penn State University. In this capacity, she led policy communication and outreach efforts, connecting the scientific community and federal and state government stakeholders and coordinating numerous congressional briefings and roundtables.

Concurrently, Dr. Giray was a consultant with the World Bank Group, providing input for social development, health, and governance projects. Dr. Giray has authored and coauthored peer-reviewed publications, policy reports, and briefs on science communication, global health, globalization, and cross-cultural psychology.

Dr. Giray earned her PhD and MS in human development and family studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and BS in psychology from Bilkent University.

Recent Publications

• Cutting through the noise during crisis by enhancing the relevance of research to policymakers
• Cultivating researcher-policymaker partnerships: A randomized controlled trial of a model for training public psychologists.
• Who is listening? Profiles of policymaker engagement with scientific communication
• Rapid-cycle experimentation with state and federal policymakers for optimizing the reach of racial equity research
• Rapport Building Communications for Optimizing Science Dissemination

Ms. Gnezdilova is a Senior Administrative Coordinator to faculty and analysts at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. She books travel and manages calendar schedules in addition to other administrative duties. 

Prior to joining the Center in November 2022, Ms. Gnezdilova had a varied background of experience in customer service, order entry, and administrative support. Originally from Ukraine, she received a BM from the University of North Florida, School of Music, and a MM in vocal performance from the Johns Hopkins University, Peabody Institute.

Ms. Lapp is Director of Events at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. She manages the logistical planning for all the Center’s events both domestically and internationally. Prior to joining the Center in 2000, she planned events for multiple organizations in Washington, DC.

She has a BBA from George Washington University in international business.

Ms. Liggins is a Senior Administrative Coordinator to senior faculty and analysts and the Office Manager at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

Prior to joining the Center, Ms. Liggins worked in both the advertising and banking industries. She is a career administrative professional with more than 30 years of experience.

Mr. O’Keefe is the Senior Grants and Contracts Analyst at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. He works on the financial and administrative aspects of proposals and management of sponsored projects, non-sponsored accounts, and projects funded by gift agreements. In addition, he works with the finance team to handle the day-to-day operations of the Center.

Mr. O’Keefe has worked with nonprofits, including federally qualified health centers and higher education organizations, performing duties such as financial analysis, medical billing, and process improvement for funds management.

He has a Master of Finance degree with specialization in project management from Colorado State University, where he focused on managing complex projects and financial forecasting. He also holds a BS in finance from the University of Maryland.

Hannah Feeney is a Senior Program Coordinator at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. She provides administrative assistance to various staff members and supports the mission areas of the Center. She primarily handles scheduling and travel, along with other administrative duties.

Before joining the Center in December 2018, Ms. Feeney had a varied background of experience in sales, purchasing, and office management. Originally from upstate New York, she holds a BS in health and exercise science from Syracuse University.

Meredith Piplani, MM, is the Administrator at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. She supports the business functions of the center and oversees human resources, finance, and administration. She manages the financial and administrative support staff.

Ms. Piplani began working at Johns Hopkins University in 2005 and has held various financial and grants management roles at the university. She holds a BS in accounting, a BA in music education from Virginia Tech, and an MM in voice from the Peabody Institute.

Ms. Taylor is a Budget Specialist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. She works on financial and administrative sponsored and non-sponsored funds management, including day-to-day financial operations of the Center.

Prior to joining the Center, Ms. Taylor worked with the State of Maryland Department of Social Services, assisting with financial aid provision to individuals in Baltimore County. She also has worked in banking and has more than 9 years of experience in finance.

Mr. Tyson is the Information Technology Director at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. He manages all technology-related services at the Center and provides daily IT support for the staff. He is the Center’s contact for information systems services provided by the Johns Hopkins University enterprise information systems departments.

He has a BS in information systems from Johns Hopkins University and over 20 years of information technology experience.

Ms. Vasudevan is a Communications Officer at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. She assists with planning and implementing the Center’s communications activities and with tracking the Center’s impact.

Prior to joining the Center, she specialized in the practice of policy, advocacy, and scientific communications at the Johns Hopkins International Vaccine Access Center. Prior to public health, she conducted microbiology and immunology research.

Ms. Vasudevan is currently a DrPH candidate in global health at The George Washington University. Her doctoral dissertation focuses on the process of translating public health evidence into policy and programmatic recommendations in low- and middle-income countries. She has an MS in biological sciences from the University of Maryland and an MSPH in global disease epidemiology and control from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she also earned a certificate in vaccine science and policy. She earned a BS in biochemistry and molecular biology and an Honors College certificate from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Recent Publications

• National Priorities to Combat Misinformation and Disinformation for COVID-19 and Future Public Health Threats: A Call for a National Strategy