Biography:
Public Health Focus/Interests:
Instructor Valacak’s main interests are in communicable and chronic disease prevention, infant mortality reduction, reducing health disparity, and protecting the public from environmental hazards to health.
Education:
Master of Public Health, Public Health Administration and Environmental Health
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Bachelor of Science, Biology
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Public Health Courses Taught:
PH 101: Introduction to Public Health
PH 823: Public Health Partners in Medicine
PH 827: Principles of Public Health Leadership
PH 858: Occupational Health and Safety
Professional Experience/Expertise:
From September 2009 until October 2017, Mr. Valacak served as health officer and director of the Genesee County Health Department. Previously, he served as director of the Community Health Division of the Genesee County Health Department. He was responsible for directing the clinical services provided by the local health department, which included: immunizations, family planning, breast and cervical cancer screening, senior health screening, TB, STD and HIV counseling and testing, the communicable disease reporting and follow-up services mandated by the Public Health Code, and management of the nine county Region 4 Michigan Care Improvement Registry. Mr. Valacak has also previously served as acting director of both the Environmental Health and Personal Health Divisions of the Genesee County Health Department. He also teaches environmental health, occupational health, health science applications and the capstone course for health science majors at the University of Michigan-Flint.
Professional Activities or Current Research:
National Association of County & City Health Officials HIV/STI Prevention Workgroup
Flint Community Research Advisory Committee MSU College of Human Medicine
University of Michigan Injury Prevention External Advisory Board
MSU Flint Center for Health Equity Advisory Board
MSU Public Health Workforce Development Committee
University of Michigan-Flint Public Health Advisory Committee
Recent Publications, Presentations:
2010 Leadership Award (for advancing health equity and building healthy communities), REACH Coalition,
2012 Director’s Award (for the Creating Community Change Initiative), Michigan Department of Community Health
2012 Visionary Leadership Award, Genesee Health Plan
2012 Collegiate Lecturer of the Year Award nominee, University of Michigan-Flint
2012 poster presentation on: “High STI incidence in racial geographic isolates at the 2012 American Public Health Association Annual Meeting
2012 published “African-American youth perspectives on sexuality education” in the August 2012 Journal of Sex Education
2012 served as faculty for CDC Orientation for New Health Officers in Atlanta, Georgia October 2012
2013 Preventing Injury from Research to Practice conference presenter, Midwest Injury Prevention Alliance conference
2013 APHA conference poster Making Data Useful: Using Multiple Methods to Share the Results of a Community Health Survey to Improve Community Health Outcomes
2014 poster presentation Improving Infant Mortality and Birth Outcomes in Genesee County Michigan Public Health Conference
2014 Bruce and Lillian Wright Teaching Award for online education University of Michigan-Flint
2016 Flint Water Crisis co-presenter on Responding to the Flint Water Crisis with Dr. Marc Edwards of Virginia Tech at the 2016 National Environmental Health Association Conference
2016 The Flint Water Crisis from a Local Public Health Perspective--National Association of County City Health Officials National Conference
2016 Presentation--Declaring a Public Health Emergency in Flint--National Public Health Law Conference, Washington DC 2016
Co-author APHA 2016 roundtable on a collaborative bi-directional approach to educating the Flint Community during the Flint Water Crisis
2016 Michigan Association of Local Environmental Health Administrators Distinguished Service Award
2017 New York City Department of Health presentation “The Flint Water Crisis from Lead to Legionella”
2017 Michigan Environmental Health Association Conference presentation “An Update on the Flint Water Crisis and Understanding the Lead Copper Standard”
2018 Genesee Health Plan Special Recognition Award for serving on the Board of Directors from 2011-2018
