III.E.2.b.iii.a. MCH Epidemiology Workforce

MCH Epidemiology Workforce 

The Illinois Title V program places a strong emphasis on improving data capacity and infrastructure to support maternal and child health (MCH) programs. Since 2010, Title V has dedicated one of its ten state priorities to improving data capacity and infrastructure. The 2020 Title V Needs Assessment demonstrated substantial growth in this area, but also affirmed the need for continued emphasis on strengthening the MCH epidemiology workforce in Illinois. As a result, Illinois chose to continue a state MCH priority centered on data for 2021-2025.This priority demonstrates the ongoing commitment of the Title V to ensuring evidence-based practice and data-driven decision-making. 

Over the course of 2022, the core Illinois Title V MCH epidemiology team included: 

•       CDC MCH Epidemiology Program Field assignee, funded through an inter-agency agreement between CDC, HRSA, and IDPH, with partial funding from the Illinois Title V program (80%) and CDC (20%). Amanda Bennett, PhD, MPH, has held this position since December 2014. Dr. Bennett received her MPH and PhD in maternal and child health epidemiology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Prior to this role, Dr. Bennett was a CSTE Applied Epidemiology Fellow in Illinois and a research specialist at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Bennett serves as the senior MCH epidemiologist for the Illinois team and leads the strategic planning for improving state MCH data capacity and infrastructure. She provides scientific leadership, advises on evidence-based practices, supervises the scientific work of state epidemiology staff, and mentors fellows/interns during temporary positions at IDPH. 

•       Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Analyst, funded by CDC Enhancing Reviews and Surveillance to Eliminate Maternal Mortality (ERASE-MM) grant. Cara Bergo, PhD, MPH, started this position in February 2020. Dr. Bergo received her PhD in maternal and child health epidemiology from the University of Illinois at Chicago and her MPH in epidemiology from Emory University. Prior to this role, Dr. Bergo was a CSTE Applied Epidemiology Fellow in Louisiana and an epidemiologist at the Louisiana Department of Public Health. Dr. Bergo serves as the project director for the ERASE-MM grant and oversees the implementation of maternal mortality review in Illinois. 

•       Maternal and Infant Health Epidemiologist, funded by Title V. This position was vacant from February 2020 until May 2021. Ashley Horne, MSPH, started this position in May 2021. Ms. Horne received her MSPH in epidemiology from Emory University. Prior to this role, Ms. Horne was a CSTE Applied Epidemiology Fellow in Illinois and a research specialist at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Ms. Horne provides epidemiologic support to the Illinois Title V program for the women’s/maternal health and infant/perinatal health population domains, including surveillance, needs assessment, program evaluation, data linkage, and analysis for the Title V annual report measures. 

•       Child and Adolescent Health Epidemiologist, funded by Title V and State System Development Initiative (SSDI) funds. This was a new position created in 2021. Julia Howland, MPH, PhD started this position in May 2021. Ms. Howland received her MPH in maternal and child health from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Prior to this role, Ms. Howland was a CSTE Applied Epidemiology Fellow in Illinois and an epidemiologist with the IDPH Division of Patient Safety and Quality. She recently completed her PhD in maternal and child health epidemiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago in May 2023. Ms. Howland provides epidemiologic support to the Illinois Title V program for the child health and adolescent health population domains, including surveillance, needs assessment, program evaluation, data linkage, and analysis for the Title V annual report measures. She also serves as SSDI Project Director. 

In addition to these core staff members positions, the MCH epidemiology team also included two full-time short-term positions that were added through partnerships with external organizations. 

•       CSTE Applied Epidemiology Fellow in maternal and child health, funded by CSTE. Bria Oden, MPH, has held this position August 2020-April 2022. Ms. Oden received her MPH in epidemiology from Kent State University. Her main projects included: youth suicide analyses, evaluating the utility of syndromic surveillance data for pregnant persons, analyzing data on infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome, investigating details related to maternal deaths caused by homicide. Ms. Oden completed her fellowship in April 2022 and took an MCH epidemiologist position with the Ohio Department of Public Health. Dr. Bennett served as the primary mentor for this fellowship position. 

•       CSTE Applied Epidemiology Fellow in maternal mortality, funded by CSTE. Jelena Debelnogich, MPH, has held this position since August 2021. Ms. Debelnogich received her MPH in epidemiology from Kent State University. Her main projects have included: analyzing PRAMS data on health insurance stability and the association with perinatal healthcare utilization, analyzing community-level data related to pregnancy-related mortality, chart abstraction for the SET-NET COVID-19 project, comparing chronic disease indicators across MCH datasets, and conducting an in-depth analysis of pregnancy-related deaths due to mental health conditions and substance use disorders. Dr. Bergo serves as the primary mentor and Dr. Bennett serves as the secondary mentor for this fellowship position. 

The Title V program also increases internal MCH epidemiology capacity by hosting and mentoring  students seeking internships in maternal and child and/or epidemiology. During 2022, Title V hosted five MPH students for internships. These students completed projects on a wide variety of topics, including social determinants of health, maternal mortality, risk-appropriate perinatal care, and infant mortality. They significantly contributed to the work of the health department by taking on projects that internal staff did not have time to complete.  

Title V has a strong history of collaboration with the Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health (CoE-MCH) at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health (UIC-SPH). Since the mid-2000s, the Illinois Title V programs has developed formal agreements to receive technical assistance and epidemiologic consultation from the UIC-SPH CoE-MCH. Through such agreements, Illinois Title V substantially increases epidemiology capacity by expanding the number and types of projects that are undertaken for public health surveillance, needs assessment, program evaluation, and applied research. In January 2023, we executed a new 2.5 year intergovernmental agreement between IDPH and CoE-MCH to go through June 2025. This supports time contributions from four faculty members, two staff members, and two graduate student research assistants. During 2022, Illinois Title V directed the CoE-MCH to focus on several main projects: implementing an evaluation plan to monitor impact of Illinois Medicaid’s 12-month postpartum extension, analyzing the impact of COVID-19 during pregnancy on maternal and infant outcomes, and using PRAMS data to identify patterns of infant safe sleep practices to inform a statewide initiative on safe sleep support. We continue to work with UIC on projects related to emerging issues and in summer 2023 will work with them to begin planning our 2025 Title V needs assessment.