Presenter Biographies
Dr Arduino began his career as a Public Health Microbiologist working for the Westchester County Department of Labs and Research (NY) before becoming a lead microbiologist at the Westchester County Medical Center where he stayed for two years before returning to graduate school for his doctorate degree. Dr. Arduino Joined what is now the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion in January of 1988 and began in his career at CDC in the Hospital Environment Laboratory Branch. His work focus on the role of the physical healthcare environment on the transmission of healthcare-associated infections and conducting outbreak investigations. His current role is Sr Advisor for Environmental Hygiene and Infection Prevention.
He has served on a number of Committees including AAMI End Stage Renal Disease and Detoxification Committee; ASHRAE SPC514 Minimizing Risk of Disease, Injury Associated with Building Water Systems; Chair, FDA General Hospital and Personal Use Devices Panel, FDA, CDRH (2011-14); Consultant: FDA General Hospital and Personal Use Devices Panel, Gastroenterology and Urological Devices Panel, Circulatory Devices Panel (CDRH); Blood Products Advisory Panel (CBER): Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee (NDAC; CDER) regarding antimicrobial hand washes, bodywashes, antimicrobial hand sanitizers, antiseptics, etc.
He serves on the editorial board of Applied and Environmental Microbiology, and is an adhoc reviewer for the American Journal of Infection Control, American Journal of Kidney Disease, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, Clinical Journal of the American Society for Nephrology, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Emerging Infectious Diseases, Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, International Journal of Infectious Diseases, Journal of the American Society for Nephrology, Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Journal of the American Water Works Association, Journal of Applied Microbiology, Journal of Microbial Methods, Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, Journal of Hospital Infections, Kidney International, Medscape Infectious Diseases, New England Journal of Medicine, Water South Africa
Author and co-author of 161 papers, 13 book chapters, 4 training manuals, Contributor to: 22 MMWR reports (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/collections/mybibliography/)
Dr Arduino has won numerous awards including the 2023 APIC-SHEA Award for Lifetime Contribution to the Field of Infection Prevention and Epidemiology
Rebecca Battjes (pronounced “batches”) MPH, CIC, FAPIC is an Infection Prevention Senior Clinical Advisor for Diversey. In this role, Rebecca serves as an infection prevention and control resource and industry liaison to support the improvement of environmental hygiene solutions and the adoption of evidence–based practices. Prior to joining Diversey in May 2022, Rebecca was the infection prevention & control program manager at Surgeons Choice Medical Center and Oakland Nursing Center in Southfield, Michigan. From 2013 to 2021, she was an Infection Preventionist at a large academic medical center in the heart of Detroit. Collectively, her experience encompasses acute care, skilled nursing, inpatient rehabilitation, behavioral health and ambulatory physician practices. Rebecca earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English & Spanish literature from Wayne State University in Detroit and a Master's of Public Health from Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois. Rebecca achieved board certification in infection control (CIC®) in 2019 and became a fellow on APIC in 2022.
Dr. Samuel Cincotta (sin-cot-ta) is a pharmacist who works as an epidemiologist on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Antimicrobial Resistance team. He completed his pharmacy degree at Mercer University in Atlanta and his Master of Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom. He has over thirteen years of experience working with antimicrobials both internationally and domestically. The CDC Antimicrobial Resistance team works to track, prevent, and contain novel & targeted Multidrug-Resistant Organisms.
Michelle Dethloff has worked at the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services, Disease Control and Forensic Pathology Section, since 2005. She began her career coordinating influenza, West Nile virus and vector-borne disease surveillance activities. In 2010, Michelle took over the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity Grant Program. Her program manages surveillance and response for foodborne diseases, antimicrobial resistance, vectorborne diseases, zoonotic diseases, syndromic surveillance, influenza and other respiratory diseases, healthcare-associated infections, and the secton’s electronic disease surveillance system. Michelle also has experience responding to novel, and emerging diseases and often will help lead surveillance responses and planning activities.
Maxx grew up in Indiana and received his PharmD from Drake University. He completed his PGY-1 pharmacy residency at Sanford Fargo followed by PGY-2 training in infectious disease (ID) at Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, WI. After residency, Maxx returned to Sanford Fargo and eventually created a pilot position dedicated to ambulatory antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) in August 2022. He continues to drive ambulatory AMS while serving as a resource for the interdisciplinary AMS/ID team at Sanford Fargo.
Jenny Galbraith has worked at the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services since 2016. She’s worked a variety of roles in the last 7 years. Most recently she serves as the Adult Immunization Manager within the Immunization Division. This program focuses on ensuring all North Dakotans have access to the immunizations recommended to them.
Debra brings over thirty years experience in infection prevention, quality and patient safety. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in clinical laboratory science. She worked in a clinical microbiology laboratory for ten years before transitioning into infection prevention and control. She is board certified in infection prevention (CBIC) and has maintained this certification for thirty years. Debra has utilized her leadership and healthcare experience to lead clinical roles within the healthcare industry as Clinical Science Liaison, Clinical Program Manager, and Director of Clinical Affairs for several major companies in healthcare solutions before assuming the role of Vice President, Infection Prevention and Clinical Excellence, for Blue Ocean Robotics. She has developed clinical strategies to promote and optimize use of infection prevention solutions focusing on prevention of healthcare associated infections associated with the environment, the patient, and clinical procedures. These strategies included consultation and assessments with customers, national guidelines review and advocacy changes, practice recommendations for workflow efficiency, creation of clinical content for education, and identification of future product needs based on customer feedback and expectations. Debra has contributed to articles on infection prevention, environmental disinfection, and hand hygiene for several industry publications including Infection Control Today, Healthcare Purchasing News, Becker’s Hospital Review, and McKnights as well as contributing to industry blogs and national webinars. She has been a long time member of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), the Association for the Healthcare Environment (AHE) and the Association of peri-Operative Registered Nurses (AORN).
Dr. Andrew Hennenfent, DVM, MPH, DACVPM, is the Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI) Program Manager for the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) where he oversees the planning and response of antimicrobial stewardship efforts and infection prevention technical assistance provided to Iowa healthcare personnel to improve infection control practices in all settings. Dr. Hennenfent completed an applied epidemiology fellowship in infectious disease at the District of Columbia Department of Public Health then oversaw the city’s emerging and zoonotic disease program. Dr. Hennenfent has worked for the State of Iowa since 2018.
Debbie Hurst is a registered nurse with 40 years of nursing experience in healthcare, with 28 years spent specializing in the field of infection prevention and control. She has been board certified in Infection Control since 1998 and is certified by the American Hospital Association as a Healthcare Environmental Services Professional. As a nationally recognized healthcare consultant, educator and presenter, specializing in many aspects of infection prevention and control, it is her desire to help create strong partnerships with all healthcare disciplines in all settings in order to provide the safest, best patient care possible. Her passion lies in education and over the past decade, Debbie has been providing “out of the box” educational ideas related to training on infection control topics for healthcare workers. This has included the creation of fun and engaging animated infection control based training videos as well as the launching of an on‐line school for Infection Control training that promotes a fun and “hands‐on” approach to learning.
Tony Maanum is a PGY1 pharmacy resident at Essentia Health in Fargo. He is a NDSU graduate and haves special interest in infectious disease. He plans on pursuing this interest into a PGY2 specializing in infectious disease.
Sara Owens, BSN, RN, VA-BC is a Vascular Access certified nurse who worked at St. Louis Children's Hospital for 14 years. During her tenure at SLCH, she worked on a surgical/burn/wound unit and eventually on the Vascular Access Team. She served as the VA Manager from 2011 until her departure in 2017. Sara served as the committee chair of the house wide CLABSI prevention team and helped implement Lean Management strategies and products that positively impacted the hospital's CLABSI rates. In 2017, Sara moved to the industry side, first working for PDI as their Clinical Marketing Manager and now works as the Regional Director of Clinical Operations for Kurin, Inc. Sara enjoys her current role and values the opportunity to educate clinicians and assist facilities in improving patient outcomes.
Dr. Perry serves as the Antimicrobial Stewardship pharmacist at the Center for Collaboration and Advancement in Pharmacy at North Dakota State University. In this role, she works as the antimicrobial stewardship lead for the North Dakota’s Department of Health and Human Services. She is working to improve antibiotic usage across all healthcare settings, implement antimicrobial stewardship initiatives, development processes to track interventions, and provide education to stakeholders across the state.
Dr Perry earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 2006 from NDSU. She has practiced in both community and hospital pharmacy. While working at Sanford Health Fargo for eleven years as an infectious disease pharmacist, she completed a course to become certified in antimicrobial stewardship by the Society of Infectious Disease Pharmacists. She is a member of North Dakota’s Pharmacist Association, North Dakota Society of Health Systems Pharmacists, and a member of SIDP.
Dr. Presser graduated from NDSU College of Pharmacy in 2012 and began her pharmacist journey at Sanford Health in Bismarck. In 2015, she helped establish an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program and has served as Co-Lead ever since. She has completed Antimicrobial Stewardship certificates from the Society of Infectious Disease Pharmacists and Making a Difference in Infectious Diseases (MAD-ID). Aside from her passion for Antimicrobial Stewardship, she is also an emergency medicine pharmacist. When she is not stewarding, she enjoys reading, throwing darts, and travelling. Please catch her later if you have any great book recommendations.
Karoline Sperling is the professional clinical services manager at Ecolab. In this role, Karoline provides direction on generating clinical evidence, partnering with healthcare organizations, associations, and key opinion leaders, and incorporating best practices into Ecolab healthcare programs and solutions. Prior to joining Ecolab in October 2023, Karoline was the manager of infection prevention at Park Nicollet Health Services in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has over 15 years experience in infection prevention in acute, ambulatory, surgery center and behavioral health practice settings. Karoline holds a Master of Public Health in Environmental Health from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and a Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology also from the University of Minnesota. She has been an active member of APIC, most recently serving as Director-at-Large and co-chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Taskforce from 2021-2023. She has been certified in infection prevention and control (CIC) since 2013 and has earned the Fellow of APIC designation. She is currently a member of AHE, AORN and SHEA.
Claire is a registered nurse and quality improvement coordinator with the Midwest Kidney Network. Prior to joining the team at the Network in January 2022, she worked as a charge nurse clinical coordinator for an outpatient hemodialysis unit in Minnesota since July 2011. It was during that time when Claire joined the American Nephrology Nursing Association and discovered the joy of quality improvement, which eventually led to her current role at the Network. As part of the QI team at the Network, Claire leads projects focused on reducing hospitalizations, readmissions, and emergency department visits, improving health equity and implementation of CLAS standards, and increasing vaccination in dialysis patients. In addition to her work at the Network, Claire continues to be involved in her local chapter of the American Nephrology Nurses’ Association as the President Elect. She has professional interests in improving patient outcomes and equitable care in dialysis patients, as well as rural health and population health.
Christine Yount is an Environmental Health Scientist in the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion. She brings her wealth of experience in environmental health to the healthcare industry. She completed her Master of Public Health at the University of Georgia and her Bachelor of Science at the Georgia Institute of Technology. At CDC, she has responded to multiple public health responses including Zika, hurricanes, COVID, mpox, and Ebola.
Christine is an advocate for environmental services and is passionate about cleaning and disinfection, water management, and infection prevention and control.