Smoke Free Homes Planning Committee

Dana Best, MD, MPH, FAAP, Principal Investigator and Project Director.
Dr. Best is a physician at Children's National Medical Center and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She is a Co-Principle Investigator for the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Julius B. Richmond Center's Dissemination of Best Practices to Promote Smoke Free Homes Project. In addition, Dr. Best is the co-founder of the Ambulatory Pediatrics Association Pediatric Tobacco Issues Special Interest Group, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Environmental Health, is published in the field of tobacco, and is an expert on smoking cessation counseling of parents. She is one of the lead authors of the Ambulatory Pediatrics Association Policy on Tobacco and on the revised American Academy of Pediatrics Policy on Tobacco.

Carmella Canada, Liaison.
Ms. Canada currently serves as Program Coordinator for the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology. Ms. Canada assists in the standardization of key processes and continued interaction with program participants. Ms. Canada oversees and manages the site logistics in multiple locations to facilitate AAAAI meetings and physician presentations. She is responsible for developing contracts for resources in support of meetings and presentations. Ms. Canada performs similar functions for this project, in addition to providing administrative oversight on website development and online continuing education course development.

Judith Dolins, MPH, Advisor.
Ms. Dolins is currently the Director of the Department of Community, Chapter and State Affairs at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The department supports pediatrician led community-based programs and resident training activities that improve children's access to quality health care; provides management and advocacy consultation to the Academy's 66 chapters; and houses the Chapter Alliance for Quality Improvement; a network to assist chapters in promoting quality improvement activities at the practice level. Ms. Dolins is also a Principal Investigator for the AAP Julius B. Richmond Center of Excellence for Children.

Sawida Kamara, MPH, Senior Project Coordinator.
Ms. Kamara is the Senior Project Coordinator for Smoke Free Homes at Children's National Medical Center. She manages programmatic and logistical activities for the project and the related Dissemination of Best Practices to Promote Smoke Free Homes Project at the AAP Julius B. Richmond Center. Ms. Kamara is responsible for planning and coordinating training, research, and workforce development efforts with the AAP Richmond Center, AAAAI, and other project partners and sponsors. She previously served as a health education specialist in the State of Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, where she conducted smoking cessation counseling training to local health professionals working with teen and pregnant smokers.

Jonathan Klein, MD, MPH, FAAP, Advisor.
Dr. Klein is Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Preventive and Community Medicine at the University of Rochester, and is the Director of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Julius B. Richmond Center of Excellence for Children. He also serves as a Co-Principle Investigator for the Center's Dissemination of Best Practices to Promote Smoke Free Homes Project. He was the founding Chair and continues as a member of the Tobacco Consortium. Dr. Klein is recognized for his groundbreaking anti tobacco studies of candy cigarettes and other look alike products' effects on children's perceptions of smoking as glamorous or socially acceptable. In addition, Dr. Klein is an expert on primary care quality improvement interventions in child and adolescent health practice. He helped design the original child and youth cessation guideline for AAP and NCI, and has developed smoking cessation curricula for clinicians in various settings.

Faiza Khan, MPH, Liaison.
Ms. Khan is the Program Coordinator for the AAP Julius B. Richmond Center of Excellence for Children. As the Program Coordinator, she is closely involved with several of the Center's projects including the Dissemination of Best Practices to Promote Smoke Free Homes. In this capacity, she provides administrative support and acts as a liaison between the national AAP office and the Smoke Free Homes. With her participation in the 2007 Dissemination of Best Practices Smoke Free Homes Conference, Ms. Khan was recognized as a "Smoke Free Champion".

Heleen Le Roux, MS, HSA, Liaison.
Ms. Le Roux is the Senior Health Project Coordinator at the AAP Julius B. Richmond Center of Excellence for Children and has extensive experience in the coordination and administration of projects including clinical trials, health services research and faculty development. She serves as the Center's principal liaison for the project. Ms. Le Roux participates in conference planning calls and other administrative activities as needed.

Laura Murray, MPH, CHES, Liaison.
Ms. Murray is the Program Manager at the AAP headquarters in Elk Grove Village, IL for the Julius B. Richmond Center of Excellence for Children. In this role she supervises, manages, and coordinates the preparation and follow-up work, planning, and implementation of the project activities. Previously she worked for four years at the AAP as the Program Manager of the Bright Futures Education Center. Ms. Murray used to work for the Cook County Department of Public Health in the Tobacco Prevention and Control Service Unit.

Tracy Sesselberg, MA, MPH, Liaison.
Ms. Sesselberg is a Senior Health Project Coordinator at the University of Rochester. She has 6 years of experience working with Dr. Klein on a number of studies related to primary care quality improvement interventions, including smoking cessation. Ms. Sesselberg assists with evaluation development, data analysis and other project activities as needed.

Paul Spire, Liaison.
Mr. Spire is Manager, Division of Technical and Medical Services at the American Academy of Pediatrics. Mr. Spire provides administrative management for the Academy's Committee on Environmental Health and Nexus on Environmental Health. Mr. Spire serves as the AAP Committee on Environmental Health staff liaison to the Smoke Free Homes and the Dissemination of Best Practices projects.

Lauri Sweetman, BA, Liaison.
Ms. Sweetman currently serves as Program Manager for the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology. In this position she oversees the development of educational activities for allergist/immunologists and primary care health care professionals; administers the activities of assigned Committees and Interest Sections; and serves as project manager for a variety of programs and activities. Ms. Sweetman performs similar functions for this project including providing expertise on conference planning and educational curriculum development.

Susanne Tanski, MD, FAAP, Advisor.
Dr. Tanski is a Senior Instructor of Pediatrics at the University of Rochester and a Research Associate of the AAP Center for Child Health Research. She is a member of the Tobacco Consortium and has been involved in a number of epidemiologic studies examining parents' patterns of smoking and cessation attempts, parents' rules against smoking in homes and vehicles, and parents' attitudes towards pediatric practitioners' advice and assistance with quit attempts. Dr. Tanski was involved in conference planning, curriculum development, and other project activities as needed.

Carol Touloukian, MD, FAAP, Advisor.
Dr. Touloukian is an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine and an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Dr. Touloukian is board-certified in pediatrics, and is the former President of the Indiana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Dr. Touloukian has significant experience in community pediatrics and public health and has served as a medical advisor on various maternal, child, and adolescent health committees. In addition, Dr. Touloukian is a first generation Smoke Free Homes Champion. She participates in planning calls and in the recruitment, training, and coaching of future Smoke Free Homes Champions.

Planning Committee Alumni Members