BOARD OF HEALTH CANDIDATES

I first moved to Canton in 1979, and graduated

from Canton High School in 1992.  I returned

to Canton after completing my graduate

studies, and now live here with my husband

and two children.  My children currently attend

Canton High School and the John F. Kennedy

Elementary School.  I have served as an

elected member of the Board of Health since

2008.  If re-elected, this will be my seventh term.  ​ 

 

I rely on my formal education and training as a

scientist in public health to shape the recommendations I make for our community.  I am an epidemiologist and board-certified toxicologist with expertise in human health risk assessment.  I am a fellow of both the American College of Epidemiology and the Academy of Toxicological Sciences (ATS), and am currently on the Board of Directors of ATS.  I am a Principal at Gradient, an environmental and risk sciences consulting firm and, from 2009 to 2017, I was an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.  

 

A lot has happened during my 18 years on Canton’s Board of Health, and I am proud of what we have accomplished and motivated to continue.  I am most proud of voting to be one of the first towns in Massachusetts to raise the age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21, along with our outright bans on sales of vapes and other nicotine products that are marketed towards children and the general public.  Last year, we also banned the sale of kratom in convenience stores.  If re-elected, I will continue to work with the Health Department to help prevent the sale and use of these and other addictive and harmful substances in Canton. 

 

Also, as the Commonwealth of Massachusetts works to provide sound vaccine mandates and strong insurance coverage for vaccine administration, I plan to continue supporting local programs working with the Canton Health Department to make free vaccines available and widely accessible to our community, along with ensuring accurate information about vaccine effectiveness, safety, and importance to public health is available to Canton residents.

 

Finally, the Health Department has many responsibilities, including being prepared for natural and other emergencies, conducting inspections and issuing hundreds of licenses for a variety of businesses and summer camps throughout the town, investigating communicable diseases, providing advice on environmental health issues, and providing public health nursing services to residents, to name a few.  Almost everything the Health Department does plays a large role in keeping workers, customers, campers, and residents in Canton educated, healthy, and safe.  I would be honored to continue serving as a member of the Board of Health.