Northwest Georgia Public Health Epidemiology Director Melissa Atkins honored

(Photo,  left to right) Northwest Georgia Public Health's Dr. Wade Sellers; Atkins; Georgia Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald and Dr. W. Douglas Skelton, Vice Chancellor Trinity School of Medicine and former GPHA President

Media release: Northwest Georgia Public Health Epidemiology Director, Melissa Atkins, has won the 2013 Sellers-McCroan Award for her public health advocacy work promoting primary prevention through infection control, vaccination and appropriate use of antibiotics.  Atkins was also honored for outstanding disease surveillance in the ten-county public health district and for the excellent job she does keeping primary care physicians, school administrators and nurses and health department staff informed about emerging infectious diseases and local disease outbreaks.

Atkins received the award at the Sellers-McCroan Luncheon at the GHPA's 84^th Annual Meeting & Conference.  Established in 1985, the award is given annually by the Georgia Public Health Association (GPHA) to a State of Georgia public health professional to recognize and encourage outstanding achievement and service to Georgians in epidemiology and/or laboratory services.