Suzet McKinney
Dr. Suzet McKinney was born in 1973 in Chicago, Illinois. She is currently a Deputy Commissioner with the Chicago Department Of Public Health where she oversees the Bureau of Public Health Preparedness and Emergency Response. Dr. McKinney grew up in Chicago, Illinois and attended Howard University, Brandeis University, Benedictine University and the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is married and is the mother of one daughter.
Family and Education
Suzet Meylieu Montgomery was born in Chicago, Illinois. Her father, Tom, is a retired doorman and her mother, Marilyn Suzet, teaches cosmetology in the Chicago Public Schools. Dr. McKinney's parents are from Birmingham and Enterprise, Alabama, respectively. Dr. McKinney spent her adolescent and teens years in the South Shore community of Chicago. She grew up in a somewhat strict, but loving home and her parents encouraged her to focus on her education. From the beginning, Dr. McKinney showed herself to be an extroverted person who enjoyed church and cheerleading and actively pursued academic goals.
Dr. McKinney attended Whitney M. Young Magnet High School in Chicago where she participated in student government, was a member of the school choir and the cheerleading team, and served as vice-president of both her junior and senior classes. She lived in South Shore for most of her career at Whitney Young and had a 2 hour commute each day by public transportation to school, yet never missed a day of school.
After graduating from high school, Dr. McKinney enrolled at Howard University in Washington DC where she majored in Chemistry. She found her time at Howard liberating. At Howard, she was active with the gospel choir and Ladies of the Quad, a service-oriented club for freshman women. She also worked a number of jobs to help pay for school, including in the admissions office. Despite her best efforts, she struggled to keep her tuition current. In The Spring of 1993, while walking to class, she discovered a notice for a summer research opportunity at Brandeis University, which was sponsored by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The fellowship sought to engage undergraduate students in scientific research. She was admitted and spent the summer working in the laboratory of Dr. Susan T. Lovett, a Professor of Biology at Brandeis. In Dr. Lovett's lab, Suzet learned how to map DNA, which was still a new and rapidly developing technology at the time. After completing her internship, she was offered and accepted the opportunity to continue at Brandeis for a semester, continuing her laboratory work, while taking a full academic load. She subsequently applied for and was admitted as a transfer student in 1994.
Dr. McKinney found her time at Brandeis rewarding, and humbling. It was at Brandeis that Suzet connected her interest with science and its practical application to people’s everyday lives. In order to cover her expenses, Dr. McKinney continued to work in Dr. Lovett's lab, became a resident assistant responsible for freshman students and worked on weekends at various local establishments. She graduated from Brandeis in 1996. She subsequently attended Benedictine University where she obtained her Master’s in Public Health and certificates in Managed Care and Healthcare Administration. She also attended the University of Illinois at Chicago where she earned her Doctorate in Public Health becoming the first graduate of the School of Public Health's DrPH Leadership program. Her Doctoral thesis was “Evaluating the Effectiveness of Using Video Game Technology to Train Public Health Workers in Their Emergency Response Roles”.
Work
Dr. McKinney has presented on preparedness related issues to multiple organizations, including:
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, National Biowatch Workshop, Biowatch Exercises Lessons Learned Panel, “Chicago Biowatch Exercise”;
American Bar Association, Business Law Section, “Payments and Pandemic Influenza";
Chicago Public Safety Consortium, “Update of Federal Antiviral Guidance and Implications for Chicago”;
CDC/NACCHO 2009 Public Health Preparedness Summit, “Comprehensive Emergency Management Planning: A Proactive Approach to Performance-Based Planning for Public Health”, and “Local Health Department Collaboration to Form a Joint Special Needs Advisory Panel (SNAP)”;
Presentation to Wuhan, China Emergency Preparedness Delegation “Public Health Emergency Preparedness in Chicago”;
American Public Health Association, “A Dispensing Center Game”;
Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas “Disaster Management and Emergency Preparedness: Creating an Effective Public Health Emergency Response System”.
Dr. McKinney has provided editorial support to Dr. Bernard Turnock, her mentor, for his book "Public Health Careers: Choices That Make a Difference." She also serves as a book reviewer, reviewing public health textbooks used in graduate level teaching programs. Her articles, "Evaluating the Effectiveness of Using Video Game Technology to Train Public Health Workers in Their Emergency Response Roles" and "Harnessing 21st Century Simulation Technology in a 19th Century Public Health Agency" are to be published in early 2011. Dr. McKinney teaches at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Benedictine University in Lisle Illinois.
Public service
Dr. McKinney serves as Secretary of the Board of Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago and Executive Committee member of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials Directors of Public Health Preparedness Workgroup.
In December 2009, Dr. McKinney gave the commencement address to the graduating class at Malcolm X College in Chicago.
References
Turnock BJ. (2006) Public Health: Career Choices That Make a Difference. Sudbury MA; Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
External links
http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/cdph/provdrs/preparedness.html