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BAM’s Founders and Staff
Dr. Ananda Erickson earned the distinction of PhD in
Health and Human Performance from the University of Florida in
1991, where her studies included
Exercise Physiology and Dietetics. She earned certification as a Health
Education Specialist in 1992. During her graduate studies, she
volunteered with
the Putnam County Public Health Unit. She later became a Licensed
Dietician,
where she focused her work on disadvantaged families. Dr. Erickson
developed a
program that assisted families by improving their access to health
care, and
her latest research involves an investigation of the importance of
nutritional
counseling for special populations. Her role in BAM is to assess the
nutritional needs for low-income minority mothers, babies, and
mothers-to-be.
Dr. Tina Huge graduated from Harvard
University in 1991
with a PhD in Health
Science Education where she specialized in Environmental Health and
Health
Administration. In 1993, she received certification from the
International
Board of Lactation Consultants (IBLC). She later worked in the Central
Florida
Women’s Health Clinic as a Lactation Counselor. She
published “The Importance of
Evaluating Community Health Initiatives” in the New England
Journal of
Medicine. Tina is responsible for
evaluation of the effectiveness of BAM’s continuing education seminars
for
health professionals. Her evaluation
programs help to procure grants and funding for BAM.
Dr. Diana Medina earned her PhD in 1990 from Georgia
State University,
where she specialized in Community Health through her minor in Family,
Youth,
and Community Services. After graduation, she started her internship
with the
Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC), where she worked with
mothers of
low socioeconomic status from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. In 1992,
she was
CHES certified and moved to Miami, Florida. Diana speaks fluent Spanish, so she focused
her work on immigrant families. Later, she created a health education
program
that promoted breastfeeding education in non-English speaking families.
Diana
is BAM’s Information Specialist. She is
responsible for website maintenance, and for keeping BAM’s educational
materials current. Diana has worked
closely with Miami-area health professionals, so she enjoys
coordinating
marketing and promotions.
Dr. Melissa Register graduated from the University
of Miami with a Bachelor of
Science
in Health Science, where she became CHES certified. She continued
through
graduate school to earn a Masters of Public Health, and later her
Doctor of
Philosophy in Health and Human
Performance from the University of Florida in 1991. She is involved in many
health education organizations. She has
organized programs and taught many families about the importance of
health
awareness and prevention of health problems in the elderly population.
Currently,
she is the director of the Prenatal Care Program at Weston
Hospital in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida. At
Babies
and Mothers Incorporated, she develops two sets of educational
materials that
are suitable and culturally appropriate, one for health educators and
one for
low-income minority families.
Our Staff
Babies
and Mothers Incorporated is
proud to host five student interns from the alma mater of two of its
founders,
Dr. Ananda Erickson and Dr. Melissa register. The University of Florida
College
of Health and Human Performance places interns for six to fifteen weeks
with
BAM after CHES certification. Additionally,
BAM enjoys matching health care majors such
as
pre-medical, pre-dental, and pre-pharmacy students with volunteer
opportunities
in health education to strengthen their applications for professional
programs. By developing strong
relationships with health professionals early in their careers, BAM
will be
able to plant strong ideals concerning their community involvement for
the
future.
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