Advancing Health Equity through Technology: A Focus on Maternal Health and SDOH

Speakers

LTC Melissa Boyd

Deputy Chief, Division of Behavioral and Social Health Outcomes Practice (BSHOP)  at Directorate of Clinical Public Health and Epidemiology, Defense Centers for Public Health – Aberdeen

LTC Melissa Boyd is a board-certified Clinical Psychologist and has served on active duty in the Army since 2008. She is a proud graduate of Hampton University where she earned her Bachelors in Psychology and LaSalle University where she achieved her Master's and Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. 

Dr. Boyd completed her internship and residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC. In 2011, she deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan, where she served as the Behavioral Health Officer-in-Charge and oversaw behavioral health services for US and NATO forces. Subsequent assignments have entailed serving as Chief of Behavioral Health for the Fort Belvoir Community Hospital/ Fairfax Health Center, Lead Psychologist and deputy medical advisor at the Pentagon/ Army Discharge Review Board, Chief of Outpatient Behavioral Health Services at Brian D. Allgood Hospital- South Korea, Chief Psychologist for the Eighth Army- South Korea and most recently as a the Deputy Chief for the Division of Behavioral and Social Health Outcomes Practice at the Defense Center for Public Health- Aberdeen. Her awards and decorations include the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Achievement Medal, and Article 5 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Medal. Her professional interests include the impact of mental health on families, suicide prevention and awareness, and promoting healthy emotions and coping skills through children’s literature. LTC Boyd is an author of children’s books focused on emotional learning, social development, and healthy coping skills. Her books include B is for Breathe; Better Together; and Creating Calm. Dr. Boyd is married and has 3 children.

Dr. Vijay Kannan

Director of the Office of Clinical Performance and Health Impact at Indian Health Service Headquarters

Dr. Vijay Kannan is the Director of the Office of Clinical Performance and Health Impact at Indian Health Service Headquarters. In this role he oversees the agency’s work data-driven optimization clinical care delivery across its 140 federally operated sites. He previously worked as a Regional Director of Quality Management for the Southwest region of IHS. His work there focused on identifying systemic issues in quality of care and addressing them in a context-relevant manner. Prior to working for IHS he served as a Technical Officer at the World Health Organization (WHO) Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. He worked in the Clinical Services and Systems Unit, where he was the clinical focal point to the Quality Team and worked to develop emergency, surgical, and intensive care capacity in resource-limited settings as well to optimize the integration of care platforms across the care continuum. Before joining WHO, he served as faculty at Harvard Medical School, where his academic focus was on the use of registry-based analytics and applied implementation science methodology for quality improvement. He spent approximately one-third of his time in Africa as a consultant to WHO. He is an emergency physician by training, with Master’s in Public Health and fellowship in Global Health from the Harvard School of Public Health and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.