Nava has a MPH in Health Education and Behavioral Health Sciences from Rutgers University School of Public Health, New Jersey. Prior to her current role, since 2017, Nava has worked with the NY/NJ HIDTA program as New Jersey’s Public Health Analyst under the Overdose Response Strategy enhancing public health-public safety collaboration and strengthening and improving efforts to reduce drug overdose deaths. She has also served as a Subject Matter Expert and represented overdose fatality reviews (OFRs) across the Nation, sharing best practices and providing technical assistance to NJ and National partners. Professionally, she has also worked at the Institutional Review Board of Rutgers University dedicating her work in protection of human subjects engaged in research. Alongside her job, she devoted her time at various maternal and child health agencies, locally and globally in reducing health disparities. Originally Nava is from Nepal, South Asia and grew up in South Jersey. In her spare time Nava loves to go for bike riding and Zumba, because she loves dancing.

Tiana Conner joined the Overdose Response Strategy (ORS) team as the ORS Communications Coordinator in early August, bringing a background in internal communications, branding and graphic design. As the ORS Communications Coordinator, she will be responsible for overseeing the department’s communications strategy as the ORS expands. Tiana grew up in Burlington, New Jersey and earned a BA in English from Montclair State University and a Master of Communications and Information Studies degree from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. She completed a fellowship with Rutgers and Johnson and Johnson (J&J) several years ago. During her fellowship, she lived in Brussels, Belgium and provided communications support to J&J’s corporate social responsibility team in Zaventem, a Belgian municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant. Tiana enjoys embracing her creative side, creating publications, collaborating with others and taking on complex projects. Prior to joining the ORS, Tiana served as the Assistant Director of Publications for Emory University School of Medicine’s Ophthalmology department. She also has worked with Special Olympics and Booz Allen Hamilton. Tiana lives in Atlanta, Georgia and enjoys spending time with her family, watching college football (Roll Tide!), traveling, roller skating and shopping. She’s excited to bring her expertise to the role and help advance the mission of the ORS.

Beth Suraphel is a new member of the ORS team serving as a program assistant. She is a public health advocate with a passion for improving health outcomes for all and a strong background in public health knowledge, communications, and program management. In 2020, Beth graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Science in Health Policy and Management from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and a minor in Information Systems (Go Tar Heels!). During her academic career, Beth served as a student assistant program coordinator at the UNC School of Medicine. Within this role, she acquired skills in conducting research, development, and implementation of organizational strategies, as well as program management designed for resident recruitment and engagement through social media tools. Within the communications field, Beth has also served as a social media coordinator summer intern for an Emory initiative. Most recently, Beth was able to work as an account coordinator with the digital health team at a public relations firm, where she gained insight into working within the intersection of health and communications. Beth is very excited to be joining the CDC Foundation ORS Team and look forward to taking part in the great work done by the team.

Irene Walker worked for the Georgia Department of Public Health for over 6 years as an epidemiologist in varying chronic disease topics. From January 2017 to August 2020, she worked as a drug surveillance epidemiologist, where she analyzed and developed reports on overdose and other drug-related data, collaborated with the former Georgia ORS State Team and the Atlanta-Carolinas HIDTA, and supported Georgia’s opioid strategic planning efforts. She has 9 years of experience in public health research, epidemiological analysis, and evidence-based prevention. Irene received her Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Georgia and a Bachelor of Science in Biology and minor in Chemistry from Georgia State University. Irene has joined the ORS team as an ORS Program Coordinator and works remotely from Georgia.

Miranda, a Hispanic from Española, New Mexico completed her bachelor’s degree in Neuropsychology from the University of New Mexico. She has experience working in behavioral therapy, case management, law enforcement, and public health. Miranda is engaged to a US Service Member and loves to be with her family in the outdoors. “I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the combat against drugs and substances that are killing our communities. Since I was younger, I have always wanted to one day save a life, and being the New Mexico Public Health Analyst, that’s my number one goal.”