Columbia Mailman Welcomes Eight New Alumni Board Members
Eight Columbia Mailman alumni recently joined the School’s now 35-member Alumni Board, beginning their three-year terms on July 1. They include Jeanine Bortel, John Brennan, Stacey Cameron, Betty Chang, Mareyba Fawad, Jijo James, Angela Moore, and Shahbaz Salehi.
Members of the Alumni Board bring diverse experiences across business, government, and nonprofit sectors. Members volunteer their time and expertise to support students, foster a vibrant alumni community, and further the School’s mission of creating a healthy and just world.
“We are thrilled to welcome Jeanine, John, Stacey, Betty, Mareyba, Jijo, Angela, and Shahbaz as colleagues on the Columbia Mailman Alumni Board,” said Kyle MacDonald, Board president. “Their diverse experiences, commitment to public health, and dedication to our School will be invaluable to our community.”
The School’s Alumni Summit takes place on September 27. The event provides an opportunity for alumni, alumni board members, staff, and faculty to connect. The first in-person Summit since 2019, the event will take place in the Allan Rosenfield Building; parts of the program will be accessible virtually.
Jeanine Bortel, MPH ’97 is an executive director at Pfizer where she leads the Oncology Development Technologies team to advance oncology drug development and patient experience through digital innovation. Since joining Pfizer in 2001, she has held various clinical operations leadership roles across multiple therapeutic areas, delivering over 50 major regulatory submissions and accelerating availability of important medicines for patients. She also has a history of supporting Columbia Mailman students. Bortel founded and has been hosting an annual student career event at Pfizer for seven years.
John Brennan, MD, MPH ’11, is the former inaugural President and CEO of the Joint Pediatric Enterprise and Pediatric Health Management Services for the University of Texas Southwestern and Children’s Health System of Texas. He continues to serve as an adjunct professor for the newly established Peter O’Donnell School of Public Health at UT Southwestern, and he is a member of the board for Family Gateway in Dallas, an organization focused on decreasing family homelessness. Prior to joining UT Southwestern, Brennan served in leadership roles at Wellstar Health System in Atlanta, where he led the efforts to create a Center for Healthcare Equity as well as RWJBarnabas Health in New Jersey, and Newark Beth Israel Medical Center/Children’s Hospital of New Jersey, where he co-led efforts to create an organization, the Greater Newark Healthcare Coalition, which is focused on providing vulnerable community members with sustainable healthcare. He is a USAF veteran, having served as Chief of Emergency Medicine and Director of Quality before his honorable discharge as a Major in 1992.
Stacey M. Cameron, JD, MPH ’15, is an attorney and social justice advocate from Memphis and Atlanta. With over 17 years of legal experience, she focuses on estate planning, probate administration, guardianship law, and dispute resolution through her law firm, S. M. Cameron Law and Mediation, PLLC/LLC, in New York and Georgia. Cameron views public health as a human right, particularly in her work with guardianship clients. She graduated from Mercer School of Law where she also serves on the State Bar of Georgia Board of Governors. Cameron is an active Silver Star member of Tau Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Betty Chang, MD, MHA ’21, is a board-certified emergency physician with over 20 years in academic medicine. As the medical director of the CUIMC Adult Emergency Department since 2014, she has led efforts to integrate social determinants of health into emergency care, including opioid treatment and community health initiatives. She was named NewYork-Presbyterian’s Physician of the Year and was inducted into CUIMC’s Academy of Community and Public Service. She now serves as senior director of social emergency medicine and health equity. Her work with Columbia Mailman’s applied practice experience (APEx) program and the health care simulation course help to enhance the School's mission of training the next generation of public health leaders.
Mareyba Fawad, MPH ’22, is a federal health policy and data consultant at Acumen, LLC, where she supports various offices of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Fawad is a public health advocate in her home state of Oklahoma. She directed the state’s annual public health conference in 2023 and founded the Minority Health Sciences Conference to educate high school students about the health sciences. She is the recipient of the Bernard Challenor Prize for Columbia Mailman graduates. She is the 2024 Distinguished Young Alumni Award recipient for the University of Oklahoma, recognizing her accomplishments since her undergraduate graduation.
Jijo James, MD, MPH ’01, is the chief medical officer at Johnson & Johnson MedTech and Interventional Oncology, where he ensures the safety and efficacy of the company’s medical devices and innovations. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Medical Device Innovation Consortium (MDIC), the first-ever public-private partnership that brings together various sectors through a shared mission of advancing medical device regulatory science to deliver innovative and informed solutions for patients and the MedTech industry. He received his medical degree from St. John's Medical College in India and began his career as a primary care physician.
Angela Moore, MPH ’07, is vice president at Bristol Myers Squibb. With more than 20 years of leadership experience, she brings an extensive background in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries to the board. Moore is also a long-standing board member of The Wandering Scholar, which works to make international study accessible to high school students from marginalized communities, empowering them to become engaged, globally-minded citizens. With a passion for health equity, which she centers in both her professional and volunteer efforts, Moore is motivated to support the Columbia Mailman community.
Shahbaz Salehi, MD, MPH ’15, is the director of infection control and employee health at Foothill Regional Medical Center, where he has led initiatives that significantly reduced life-threatening hospital infections. He also teaches Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology at UCLA Extension. Since graduating from Columbia Mailman in 2015, he has served as a Columbia Mailman Case Challenge judge and student mentor. Salehi hopes to help advance Columbia Mailman by contributing to the mission of student success and a commitment to lifelong learning.
“We are so pleased to have Jeanine, John, Stacey, Betty, Mareyba, Jijo, Angela, and Shahbaz as members of our Alumni Board,” said Linda P. Fried, Dean and DeLamar Professor of Public Health. “Each has a commitment to Columbia Mailman’s mission, vision, and values that will be critical as we continue to educate our world’s future public health leaders.”