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NPHP Initiatives Update
Spring/Summer 2002
Claudia L. Menashe, MSW, MPH joined the staff
at the National Health Museum (NHM) as the Project Director
of the National Public Health Partnership (NPHP) in May 2002.
Claudia comes to the Museum from Matthews Media Group, Inc.,
one of nation’s leading health communications companies,
where she served as a Vice President responsible for managing
multi-million dollar government health communication contracts.
With more than 10 years of experience in public health, communications,
partnership development, and strategic planning, Claudia will
advance the linkages that will bridge the gap between informal
public health education and museum exploration. Her creativity
coupled with her highly effective communication skills and
background in public health will enable her to successfully
develop, implement, and evaluate the programmatic steps needed
to build the NPHP.
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Dr. Mohammad Akhter, Executive Director at
the American Public Health Association (APHA), invited representatives
from the National Health Museum (NHM) to APHA headquarters
in Washington, DC to discuss APHA’s participation
in the National Pubic Health Partnership (NPHP). Dr. Akhter
was joined by Michele Late, Editor of The Nation’s
Health, APHA’s monthly newspaper. Mark Dunham,
NHM Acting President updated Dr. Akhter on the status
of the Museum’s site acquisition efforts, and Dr. Fitzhugh
Mullan, Vice Chariman of the NHM Board, and Claudia Menashe,
NPHP Project Director, gave a brief overview about
the NPHP. Dr. Akhter, a long standing supporter of the NHM,
commented on how important and historic this Partnership could
be, and enthusiastically offered to recommend to APHA’s
Board of Directors that APHA join the Partnership as
a Convener. In this role, APHA would be one of four organizations
at the forefront of this initiative, "blazing the trail"
for their colleagues–the NPHP Members–by leading
the NPHP meetings and providing guidance about the NPHP’s
overall agenda and programs, while offering an important endorsement
for the Partnership goals and objectives. In an additional
demonstration of support, Dr. Akhter offered that APHA would
be pleased to devote some priority time and space during their
annual meeting in November in Philadelphia for the first full
convening of the Partnership.
Fitzhugh Mullan, MD, Vice
Chairman, NHM Board of Directors, and Mohammad
Akhter, MD, MPH, Executive Director, APHA discuss
the NPHP initiative |
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Mark Dunham, NHM Acting
President, Fitzhugh Mullan, MD, Vice Chairman,
NHM Board of Directors, Mohammad Akhter, MD, MPH,
Executive Director, APHA, and Claudia Menashe,
NPHP Project Director in front of APHA's headquarters
in Washington, DC |
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The NPHP held its first event during the American
Association of Museums annual meeting when it hosted a luncheon
discussion that brought together leaders from the museum
and science center community. Participants discussed their
experiences with public health programming and shared ideas
about the NPHP. Lynn Dierking, from the Institute for Learning
Innovation, a non-profit group dedicated to understanding
museum education, moderated the successful luncheon. With
15 museum leaders in attendance, ranging from representatives
of the John P. McGovern Museum of Health and Medical Science
in Houston, The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, to the
Center’s for Disease Control and Prevention’s
Global Health Odyssey, participants discussed the challenges
of coordinating museum based public health programming and
shared their ideas about how the NPHP could increase public
health education in museums. Some of the ideas generated
as a result of this early NPHP initiative are certain to
inform the future work of the NPHP. Mark Dunham, National
Health Museum (NHM) Acting President, brought the Museum
to life by sharing the dramatic NHM model designed by world-renowned
architect Moshe Safdie.
Carol Parsinnen, PhD,
from The Franklin Institute, shares her experience
with partnerships as Mac Sudduth, PhD, Fernbank
Science Center, Lynn Dierking, PhD, Institute
for Learning Innovation, Marianne Reynolds, Denver
Museum of Nature and Science, and Judy Gantt,
CDC's Global Health Odyssey look on. |
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Dave Ucko, PhD, Museum
Services Board, and Rosemary Fetter, National
Museum of Dentistry swap museum stories as Louise
Shaw, CDC's Global Health Odyssey, and Martha
Kolbe, McGovern Museum of Health and Medical Science
look at NHM material. |
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In May 2002, representatives from the National
Health Museum’s (NHM) National Public Health Partnership
(NPHP) attended the American Association of Museum’s
(AAM) Annual Meeting and Museum Expo in Dallas, Texas. This
year’s meeting theme was "The Community of Museums:
Seeking the Common Good", and attracted thousands of
participants representing museums and other cultural institutions
from around the world. In addition to attending several
of the more than 140 sessions offered at the meeting, NHM
Acting President Mark Dunham and NPHP Project Director Claudia
Menashe toured the exhibit hall, learning from more than
290 exhibiting companies about the latest in museum products
and services, and spent an evening networking with colleagues
at an AAM sponsored event — Texas Hot: Art and Entertainment
at the Dallas Museum of Art. A good time was had by all,
and the NPHP hopes to exhibit and present at the next AAM
annual meeting in Portland, Oregon in May 2003.
National Health Museum (NHM) Acting Director
Mark Dunham and National Public Health Partnership (NPHP)
Project Director Claudia Menashe had a whirlwind visit down
to the Center’s for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) in Atlanta, GA in May. In and out in less than 24
hours, they were able to meet with a variety of CDC staff,
including Faye Wong, Director of the Youth Media Campaign
(and, concurrently, President of the American Public Health
Association), Judy Gantt, Director of the Global Health
Odyssey, and Martha Katz, Deputy Director of Policy and
Legislation. During these meetings Mark and Claudia shared
the concept of the NPHP and the status of the NHM, and together
the group discussed ways in which the NHM and CDC could
collaborate on joint initiatives. A highlight of the day
was when Judy Gantt gave Mark and Claudia
a tour of the Global Health Odyssey, CDC‚s museum about
its history, public
health, and the benefits of prevention. They were also invited
to "slip
into" a CDC Biosafety Level 4 suit, a twenty pound
suit worn by Biosafety
Level 4 lab workers to prevent contact with deadly viruses
such as Ebola and
hantavirus.
Claudia Menashe, NPHP
Project Director, and Mark Dunham, NHM Acting
President don CDC Biosafety Level 4 suits |
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The National Public Health Partnership (NPHP)
will bring a museum presence to the public health community
when it participates in the American Public Health Association’s
(APHA) 130th annual meeting and exposition in
Philadelphia, PA in November 2002. APHA expects approximately
13,000 attendees at the meeting where this year’s theme
is "Putting the Public Back in Public Health". In addition
to sending three NPHP representatives to network with the
public health community, participate in general sessions,
and advocate for informal public health education in museum
settings, the NPHP will be exhibiting at the meeting and
conducting an exhibitor workshop where the program’s
mission and goals will be presented.
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