CHAIR

Wilma J. Wooten, M.D., M.P.H. is currently the Public Health Officer (PHO) for the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency.  As PHO, she has oversight of a public health jurisdiction for a 3.1 million population, over 500 employees, and a budget of approximately $100M that includes over 225 contracts. She is board-certified in Family Medicine and has a master’s degree in public health. She received both professional degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, followed by residency training at the Georgetown/ Providence Hospital Family Practice Residency Program in Washington, D.C. Dr. Wooten practiced medicine as a faculty member in the UCSD Department of Family and Preventive Medicine from 1990-2001.

She remains a volunteer Associate Clinical Professor in the Department and is an Adjunct Professor at San Diego State University, Graduate School of Public Health. Her research interests related to women’s health have included studies that assess risk factors and prevalence of cardiovascular disease, and osteoporosis, in African-American women; she continues to be involved in research efforts at UCSD. Dr. Wooten is outgoing President of the San Diego Society of the National Medical Association (NMA) and a national Board of Trustee member from Region VI of the NMA, serving the past year as Chair of the Board. Dr. Wooten is committed to public health and its mission to prevent disease and disability, promote healthful behaviors, and protect against disasters and other threats to the public’s health.


CO-CHAIR
(Chair – NMA Ophthalmology Section)

Dr. Everton Arrindell, M.D. is an Honors College graduate of Michigan State University and received his Medical Doctors degree from the University of Iowa College of Medicine. He completed an Ophthalmology residency at the University of Michigan’s W.K. Kellogg Eye Center. Following a two-year Vitreoretinal Fellowship at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, he was appointed Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Surgery and served as Chief of the Division of Ophthalmology at Meharry Medical College for eight years. He also held an academic appointment as Assistant Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at Vanderbilt University. Prior to joining Tennessee Retina he maintained a solo private retinal practice.

Dr. Arrindell is a nationally recognized retinal surgeon and educator. He has served as Chair of the Retina Section of the National Medical Association since 1998 and as a reviewer for several scientific journals. He is widely published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and has received several honors and teaching awards including the 2000 Vanderbilt Resident Education Award. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Ophthalmology (1991) and has served as an Associate Examiner of the American Board of Ophthalmology since 1997. Dr. Arrindell maintains active membership in a number of professional societies including the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), the American Society of Retinal Specialists, the National Medical Association, the Tennessee Academy of Ophthalmology, the Tennessee Medical Association, the Nashville Academy of Ophthalmology, and the Nashville Academy of Medicine. He is a graduate of the AAO Leadership Development Program (2001-2002) and served on the association’s advisory body as an AAO Council Member from 2002 to 2007. He serves as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Academy of Ophthalmology and has served as Chairman of the Ophthalmology Departments at Baptist Hospital and Centennial Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

He is an active member of several civic organizations. These include the Nashville Downtown Lions Club, the Board of Prevent Blindness Tennessee and the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) where he has been a Board Member since 1998. He was recognized for his work with the ADA in February 2008 as a recipient of the organization’s Distinguished Community Service Award.

Dr. Arrindell’s clinical areas of interest and expertise include diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, and surgical management of complex retinal detachments.

Dr. Arrindell is happily married with one child. He is a sports enthusiast, amateur musician (drums), and writer.


Mildred M.G. Olivier, M.D., is an Adjunct Associate Clinical Professor at Midwestern University/St. James Osteopathic Hospital and Associate Clinical Professor at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science/John H. Stroger, Jr., Hospital at Cook County. She received her bachelor’s degree from Loyola University and her medical degree from Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, formerly The Chicago Medical School.  After completing an ophthalmology residency at Columbia University at Harlem Hospital Center in New York, she pursued a postdoctoral fellowship in glaucoma at the Kresge Eye Institute at Wayne State University under the direction of Dong Shin, M.D., Ph.D. She is currently the CEO of Midwest Glaucoma Center, P.C. and teaches part time. 

Dr. Olivier has served on the Advisory Council of the National Eye Institute, the Women’s Eye and Health Task Force, and Women and Diversity Committee at the Association for Vision and Research in Ophthalmology. She is a Delegate for the American Academy of Ophthalmology to the American Medical Association.  She heads the Education and Training Committee on the Commission to End Health Disparities, striving to increase awareness among physicians. Dr. Olivier serves on the Board of Prevent Blindness America. She is Past President of the Chicago Chapter of the Haitian Physician’s Association and the Midwest Association of Haitian American Women, which she founded in Chicago. She is currently the President of the Chicago Glaucoma Society. Previously, she served as Vice President for the Society, heading up that organization’s educational sessions. In addition, Dr. Olivier is Membership Chair and on the Board of Women in Ophthalmology and was Chair of two summer symposia. She is an active member of the American Glaucoma Society.

Dr. Olivier has published in major, peer-reviewed journals and is one of the co-authors for the Glaucoma Section in Clinical Eye Atlas. She is co-author of the book:  Maintaining the Target Intraocular Pressure.  She served on the AAO’s COMPASS panel for glaucoma.  Dr. Olivier conducts regular medical missions to Haiti and serves on the boards of numerous voluntary health organizations. She is frequently called upon to speak on glaucoma at national and international medical conferences. She presented at the 114th Congress of the French Society of Ophthalmology in Paris, France, which was conducted as a joint symposium with American Academy of Ophthalmology. Black Enterprise Magazine named Dr. Olivier to the list of America’s Leading Doctors, making her one of only three ophthalmologists in the United States to be thus recognized in 2008.

DIRECTOR OF MARION COUNTY HEALTH DEPT.

Dr. Virginia A. Caine, M.D. has worked tirelessly to promote and advance public health nationally.  As Director of the Marion County Health Department, she demonstrated strong leadership and direction in coordinating Indianapolis/Marion County’s emergency response to the H1N1 virus, joining Memphis as one of the first two cities in the U.S. to receive the nasal mist for H1N1.  Dr. Caine’s efforts have allowed thousands of citizens to receive the H1N1 vaccination very efficiently.

Dr. Caine, one of the nation’s premier public health practitioners, is the past president of the American Public Health Association, the nation’s oldest and largest public health organization, and is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine Infectious Disease Division. 

Dr. Caine led a collaborative effort among hospitals and the Regenstrief Institute for Health Care to sign onto the nation’s best and nationally recognized Indiana Health Information Exchange.  In 2000, when Indianapolis had the highest rate of syphilis in the nation, Dr. Caine led an intensive, coordinated effort of over 100 organizations to contain the outbreak and help Indianapolis achieve the lowest syphilis incidence among large U.S. cities.  Dr. Caine also set up the first countywide HIV/AIDS integrated health care delivery system involving major hospitals, community health centers, social service agencies, and the first HIV dental clinic.  Dr. Caine was also instrumental in setting up the first nationwide physician education program regarding AIDS for the National Medical Association, which was later duplicated by the American Medical Association. 

She is receiving this national recognition for what her community already sees:  that she is an innovative, inspiring leader who has devoted her life to improving the health of all communities.