The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District announced Tuesday its new Public Health Administrator and Executive Director, Dr. Mamadou D. Tounkara.
Tounkara has over a decade of experience in public health. According to the press release, Tounkara worked at the Utah Department of Health and Human Services as a senior epidemiologist and as a COVID-19 hotspot epidemiologist with the United States Department of Health and Human Services Division of Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases.
He previously served as deputy director of the CUPHD and succeeded Julie Pryde, the former public health administrator and executive director.
Tounkara has four main priorities for his new role, including improving access to healthcare in collaboration with community members, expanding access to healthy food, promoting mental and physical wellbeing and preventing violence through evidence-based harm reduction.
“I look forward to engaging with residents, community-based organizations, health care providers, educators, and public safety partners to ensure our efforts reflect the needs and aspirations of this community,” Tounkara wrote in the press release.
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