Melina is currently an intern at Men's Health Network studying Health Care Management in Germany. She is studying at American University for one semester and gaining experience in health education at the American Society.
Dr. Pat Fagan has been a grade school teacher, a clinical therapist specializing in child, family and marital therapy. During his career he has been Executive Director of the Free Congress Foundation, a member of the staff of Senator Dan Coats of Indiana, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Family and Social Policy at HHS under President George Herbert Bush, the Senior Fellow on Family and Culture at the Heritage Foundation, then as founder and director of the Marriage and Religion Research Institute at Family Research Council. Fagan now directs MARRI at The Catholic University of America. He is also the publisher and editor of Marripedia.org. He has authored over thirty synthesis papers and has commissioned dozens of original research projects in marriage, family, child development and religious practice. He and his wife Theresa have eight children and twelve grandchildren.
As a coalition builder and network strategist, Rev. Dr. Que English joins HHS from the State of New York where she served as the Deputy Director of Faith-Based Initiatives for the Governor’s Office of Faith and Community Development Services. Here she identified opportunities for the State of NY and HCR to elevate strengths and identify new opportunities to build relationships with the faith-based community. She also conceptualized and was instrumental in forming the faith-based office in the Office of the Mayor of New York City. She has brought together several roundtables and interfaith coalitions to create and implement strategic plans to tackle NY’s most problematic issues.
She is the Founder and past President of Not On My Watch, an organization formed to combat human trafficking and domestic violence through education, training and community and policy advocacy. Named 1 of 25 Most Influential Women in the Bronx, Dr. English brings to HHS a wealth of knowledge in working with the criminal justice system, substance abuse issues, health and mental health, human trafficking, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, civil rights and more. She received her masters and doctorate degrees from New York Theological Seminary where she was the recipient of the Excellence in Ministry Award, the highest award given to a graduating doctoral student.
James Wallace is the Communications and Outreach Coordinator at Men’s Health Network in Washington, D.C. He is from Killeen, Texas and graduated as a Communications Specialist from Baylor University in Waco, TX. Before working at MHN, James worked as a photographer and media coordinator on tour with a prominent music act. He has interests in writing, travel, photography, and videography. In his free time can be found taking his hound dog Roo hiking.
Ayla Barmmer, MS, RDN, LDN, is a registered dietitian nutritionist, functional medicine practitioner and the founder, and CEO, of FullWell, a fertility wellness and education brand. Her entire career focus has been to advance the health and empowerment of practitioners, patients and families through nutritional science, functional medicine and evidence-based holistic solutions. Barmmer launched FullWell to provide all families access to the same evidence-based, effective, high-quality prenatal and fertility supplements that she successfully uses with her own patients. Barmmer earned her undergraduate degree in dietetics and completed her dietetic internship at the University of Connecticut; a Master of Science in Health Communications from Boston University and has additional training in clinical nutrition, functional medicine, women’s health, herbal medicine and holistic and integrative therapies.
Janice Russell believes the only way to survive parenthood is to find the humor in it. She created Parenting Disasters so that parents would have a go-to resource whenever they needed a laugh, but also to show parents they aren’t alone. She wants every frazzled parent out there to remember that for every kid stuck in a toilet, there’s another one out there somewhere who’s just graced their parents’ walls with some Sharpie artwork!
Jack Lucero is a rising second-year medical student at The George Washington University School of Medicine, and Health Sciences and a Health Policy Research Intern at Men’s Health Network
Olivia Casey is a former journalist with the Detroit News and The Dallas Morning News. She resides in Dallas, Texas and currently works in public health.
Laurence S. Sperling, M.D., FACC, FAHA, FACP, FASPC is the current Executive Director of the Million Hearts Initiative for the Division of Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. He is the Founder and was the Director of The Heart Disease Prevention Center at Emory since 1997. He is currently the Katz Professor in Preventive Cardiology at the Emory University School of Medicine, and Professor of Global Health in the Rollins School of Public Health. He served as the President of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology from 2014-2016, served on the writing committee of 2018 the ACC/ AHA Guideline on the Management on Blood Cholesterol, and served as Chair of the World Heart Federation writing group on the Roadmap for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention among People Living with Diabetes. Dr. Sperling was the recipient of the 2017 Award of Honor from the Alumni Association of Emory University School of Medicine. He has received awards for excellence in teaching (including 4 Golden Apple Awards and The Dean’s Teaching Award), mentorship (Emory SOM 2018 Mentorship Award), and the R. Wayne Alexander Research mentor award. He has authored over 350 manuscripts/ abstracts/ books, and has been an invited speaker on every continent except Antarctica.