Kathleen Toomey Receives National Public Health Award from American Academy of Family Physicians

NEW ORLEANS — Kathleen E. Toomey, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Division of Public Health for the Georgia Department of Human Resources in Atlanta, will receive the 2003 Public Health Award from the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) at its annual Scientific Assembly tomorrow in New Orleans.

The AAFP, which represents more than 94,300 family physicians, family practice residents and medical students nationwide, established the Public Health Award in 1992 to recognize extraordinary individuals who make outstanding contributions to improving America’s health.

An epidemiologist and board-certified family physician, Toomey has led Georgia’s Division of Public Health since 1997. She is responsible for setting public health policy and providing leadership for public health interests statewide, overseeing a budget of more than $525 million and over 6,000 state and associated county public health employees. Toomey is also a member of Georgia’s Homeland Security Task Force and spearheads the state’s medical and public health efforts regarding bioterrorism and medical emergency preparedness.

“Dr. Toomey’s service to the public, and particularly her advocacy for women’s health and care of the underserved, is exemplary,” said James C. Martin, M.D., president of the AAFP. “Her service on the AAFP’s Terrorism Preparedness Committee has helped ensure that family physicians around the country, who are often the first line of defense against bioterrorism, are prepared and ready to respond to any situation at a moment’s notice.”

A Fulbright Scholar, Toomey received her medical degree from Harvard Medical School and her master’s degree in public health from the Harvard School of Public Health. After completing her residency in family medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle, she served for three years as clinical director of the Kotzebue Service Unit with the Indian Health Service in Northwest Alaska.

Toomey was a Pew Health Policy Research Fellow at the University of California, San Francisco, Institute for Health Policy Studies before joining the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the division of STD/HIV prevention. She also served as legislative assistant on health issues for U.S. Senator John Chafee (R-Rhode Island). In 1993, Toomey joined the Georgia Division of Public Health as state epidemiologist and director of the epidemiology and prevention branch.

Toomey is currently a member of the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Board of the Institute of Medicine, and the Executive Board of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. She has served on committees and boards of many other professional organizations, including the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and the American Public Health Association. Toomey is an active member of both the AAFP and the Georgia Academy of Family Physicians.

As a researcher, Toomey’s interests have included women’s health, health services in underserved areas, and the epidemiology and prevention of STDs and HIV/AIDS. She holds appointments as adjunct associate professor in the Division of Epidemiology and International Health at the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, clinical associate professor of medicine at the Emory School of Medicine and clinical associate professor at Morehouse University School of Medicine.

Toomey has received numerous awards for her community and public-health service, including the CDC Award for Contributions to the Advancement of Women and the Public Health Service Plaque for Outstanding Leadership. She received the Shining Star Award in 2001 from the Atlanta Women’s Foundation for her work as a leader in women’s reproductive health issues and health care for the underserved.