Category: Communications & Outreach

Heather Huntsman
Director of Technical and Scientific Support

Heather D. Huntsman is a solutions-focused and resourceful professional equipped with more than 15 years of training and experience in basic, applied, and translational science environments. Throughout her career she has been driven by asking the right questions which has led her to gain extensive experience in reviewing, evaluating, and interpreting findings in a broad range of biomedical disciplines, including stem cell biology, physiology, aging, and women’s health issues across all domains of medicine, and the influences of sex/gender and race/ethnicity on public health trends. She has used her expertise to support biomedical research at the NIH and DoD in various capacities including scientist, communications specialist, and grants manager. She also has a unique background as an athlete and coach which is a mentality that she brings to the workplace every day allowing her to excel in fast-paced team settings, lead through her work ethic and determination, and inspire others to do the same. Heather earned a Masters’ degree in exercise science from George Washington University, and a PhD in muscle physiology from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana and prides herself in being a leader that listens and never stops learning.

Martha Ngoh
Deputy Director of Program Management
and Policy

Martha Ngoh, Deputy Director of Program Management and Policy at Ripple Effect, brings over 7 years of experience supporting and managing federal-funded public health and healthcare projects involving policy development and implementation, communications, and partnerships. Ms. Ngoh has worked on projects and programs aimed at improving patient safety and the quality of healthcare delivery related to healthcare infection prevention and control, healthcare-associated infections (HAI) and antimicrobial-resistance (AR), and maternal safety. Ms. Ngoh served as a Senior Analyst at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials and was later promoted to Director of Healthcare Connections within the Infectious Disease Infrastructure and Policy team, where she provided leadership on a portfolio to foster collaboration between public health and healthcare through key activities. In this role, Ms. Ngoh managed the Council for Outbreak Response: HAI/AR where she developed processes for efficient Council operations and member engagement and contributed to the development of the Council’s Framework on HAI Outbreak Notification which aims to guide notification and communication in the context of a possible HAI outbreak. Ms. Ngoh received her MPH from the George Washington University in 2016. Ms. Ngoh was also selected as a fellow into the 2020-2021 cohort of the Johns Hopkins University Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative. Ms. Ngoh currently serves as the Deputy Director of Program Management and Policy, where she provides leadership on the Program Management and Policy team.

Debbie McCarron
Deputy Director of Communications and Outreach

Debra McCarron has professional experience in strategic communications, project management, outreach and event planning, as well distance learning. She is the project manager for the Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network which involves the creation of materials such as fact sheets, infographics, white papers, Power Point reports, videos and learning modules and she has managed graphics teams in all aspects of the design process from conception to development to final production. Previously, she co-owned Quality Design Solutions, a full-service company specializing in web design and marketing as well as database development for non-profit and small business. She also has experience in community marketing and facilities management. Ms. McCarron helped brand and grow a small business to over $1.5 million per year where she assisted in the day to day operations of three facility sites including budget, human resources, facilities management, and internal and external communication. She has experience in WordPress, the Adobe Creative suite and has become versed in 508 compliance. Ms. McCarron received her Bachelors of Science in Biology from Virginia Tech. Her early experience in basic research at both Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Cambridge Biotech was to support grants from the NIH. She also has over 4 years of experience in clinical research performed at the University of Maryland, Department of Cardiology, where she worked with Interventionist developing IIb/IIIa inhibitors.