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The Center for Vaccine
Awareness and Research is a collaboration among four experts who offer experience in the fields of vaccine research and
administration, pediatrics, infectious diseases and adolescent
medicine. This core team is dedicated to improving the health of children from infancy through adulthood by
promoting vaccinations and educating families and health care
providers on all available vaccines.
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Meet
The Center for Vaccine Awareness and
Research team |
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The
center's team (from left)
includes Dr. Amy B. Middleman, Dr. Carol J. Baker,
Dr. C. Mary Healy and
Dr.
Julie A. Boom. |
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Carol J. Baker, M.D.
Executive Director
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Dr. Baker is
president of the
National Foundation
for Infectious Diseases (NFID), a non-profit organization
providing education to health care professionals and the public
about infectious diseases. She is a spokesperson for many of NFID’s
public service campaigns urging parents to protect themselves and
their children from vaccine preventable infectious diseases. Dr.
Baker is a pioneer in the study of human infections caused by group
B Streptococcus (GBS). She was the first to purify and characterize
the polysaccharide capsule of this organism and suggest its use as a
vaccine to prevent perinatal infections. Dr. Baker was instrumental
in developing the first national policy to prevent neonatal
infections through use of intrapartum penicillin for women
identified as GBS carriers during pregnancy. Dr. Baker’s work on a
candidate GBS vaccine continues, and she is internationally
recognized for her research related to maternal immunization with
licensed to protect mother and infant from infectious diseases.
Learn more about Dr. Baker
Julie A. Boom, M.D. M.P.H.
Director, Infant and Childhood Immunization
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Since January 2001, Dr. Boom has served
as the director of
Texas Children’s Immunization Project where she has led the
development, implementation and expansion of the
Houston-Harris
County Immunization Registry. Following Hurricane
Katrina, the
American Immunization Registry Association (AIRA) recognized Dr.
Boom and her team for their innovative efforts that allowed the
immunization records of Louisiana’s children to be linked within the
Houston-Harris County Immunization Registry's system. Since July
2006, Dr. Boom has served on the board of the AIRA. From 2002 to
2005, she served as the principal investigator for the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention's grant Raising Immunizations Thru
Education (RITE), which analyzed the impact of an in-office,
peer-based education program to improve immunization behaviors and
immunization coverage levels. Dr. Boom is currently the principal
investigator on a grant examining barriers to determining insurance
company coverage for adolescent immunizations. In addition, she is
leading a project examining the time costs associated with obtaining
immunization registry consent. Dr. Boom’s primary interests include
improving community-wide immunization coverage levels, improving
provider immunization related practice habits and providing
immunization education.
Learn more about Dr. Boom
C. Mary Healy, M.D.
Director, Vaccinology and Maternal Immunization
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Dr. Healy has been interested in
preventing infectious diseases through vaccination since the
beginning of her career as a pediatric specialist. After completing training in
pediatric infectious diseases, she became the
first graduate from the Vaccinology and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases
Fellowship Program at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Healy's
education also includes completion of the prestigious Advanced Vaccinology
Course from the Fondation Merieux, University of Geneva, Switzerland. Her research in
meningococcal disease, pertussis and maternal immunization has been
published in national and international journals. Dr. Healy's research
interests are focused on preventing infections in mothers and their
infants through maternal immunization and on improving vaccination
rates in all age groups—from infants to adults.
Learn more about
Dr. Healy
Amy B. Middleman,
M.D., M.Ed., M.P.H.
Director,
Adolescent and Young Adult Immunization
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Dr. Middleman has conducted research on
adolescent vaccines for more than
13 years, including
research on hepatitis B vaccination compliance and needle length
requirements for obese youth. She has served as the Society for
Adolescent Medicine Liaison to the
Advisory
Committee on Immunization Practices to the CDC since 2004, a
member of the Review Panel for the CDC/APA/SAM Immunization Small
Grants Program since 2005, and a member of the
Be Wise–Immunize Advisory Panel for the Texas Medical
Association since 2006. Most recently, she was the lead author on a
position paper for the
Society
for Adolescent Medicine entitled, “Adolescent immunizations:
position paper of the Society for Adolescent Medicine” which was
published in the Journal of Adolescent Health in March 2006.
Dr. Middleman also recently helped set standards for a vaccine that
protects girls against a virus that causes cervical cancer.
Learn more about Dr. Middleman
 
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