Meet the Team: ASPPH’s Newest Staff Members

We are excited to welcome five new staff members to ASPPH, including two grant and donor-funded positions. We are committed to finding the best possible candidates to support our work in advancing academic public health, and we attract talent from a diverse pool of applicants, allowing us to embrace the tenets of gender, racial, ethnic, and geographical representation in the workplace. Due in part to our generously being awarded grants and receiving funding, we were able to fill the following new positions.

• Lizz Billinson- Lizz Billinson is the Executive Assistant for ASPPH's President and CEO, Dr. Laura Magaña. Prior to joining ASPPH, she was the Executive Assistant for the Director of Diversity & Inclusion at Investment Company Institute in Washington, DC and before that she worked as the Executive Assistant for both Senior Vice Presidents of Merchandising at the corporate office of Total Wine & More in Bethesda, MD. Lizz also comes to ASPPH with a background in Human Resources in Big Law, where she spent the start of her career. Lizz went to college at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA, where she studied art.
• Kaysie Justice- Kaysie Justice serves as a Graphic Design Specialist. Before joining ASPPH, she worked as a designer within the government contracting industry, creating social media graphics and marketing materials. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Electronic Media & Film from Towson University and recently completed a 12-week UX design certification through General Assembly.
• Maanasa Kanimilli- In her role as the Project Manager for the Institute for Innovation, Discovery, and Excellence in Academia (IIDEA), Maanasa works with the Academic Division team and supports ASPPH's work on the Transforming Academia for Equity (TAE) grant. Maanasa joins ASPPH with an understanding of and passion for health equity and social justice. They hope to include their lived experiences and education in their efforts to create more equitable and inclusive academic spaces for public health students.
• Sandra Kum- Sandra Kum joins ASPPH as a Research Analyst where she will be supporting institutional research and grant-funded projects through data collection and analyses. Prior to joining ASPPH, she worked as a Data Analyst at the DC Department of Health and also served as a Public Health Advisor for the CDC during the 2020-2022 global vaccine order. She holds a master's degree in public health specializing in epidemiology from ASPPH Member University of Texas Medical Branch School of Public and Population Health and received her bachelor's degree in public health from the University of Maryland, College Park.
• Ciera Locklear- Ciera Locklear serves as the Senior Manager of Partnerships and Community Engagement. In this role, Ciera supports the ASPPH Center for Public Health Workforce Development in identifying, developing, and maintaining relationships with public health partners and engaging with diverse communities to build and sustain culturally relevant programs. Ciera's preliminary focus of relationship building is with Tribal Nations and Tribal Health Departments across the continental US. Ciera obtained her undergraduate degree in Health Promotions and Sociology from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, and she brings a diverse skill set in program and grant management.