Board of Directors Provides Continuity and Proven Leadership for Iowa Cancer Consortium During Uncertain Times

CORALVILLE, IA – July 8, 2025 – All six incumbent board candidates for the Iowa Cancer Consortium Board of Directors were reelected by Consortium membership for the FY26-FY27 (July 2025-June 2027) term. Joining them for her first term is Kaitlin Emrich, MPH, director of the Black Hawk County Public Health Department.

“This continuity in strong and engaged leadership, along with Kaitlin’s experience in governmental public health, will support the Iowa Cancer Consortium through financially uncertain times,” said executive director, Kelly Wells Sittig. The Iowa Cancer Consortium, a non-profit organization that convenes and connects Iowa’s cancer control partners and maintains the Iowa Cancer Plan, receives a competitive contract from the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (Iowa HHS) Comprehensive Cancer Control Program (CCCP) to serve as the state’s cancer coalition. Funding for the Iowa HHS CCCP comes from state appropriations for cancer control and funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) CCCP – a program at the CDC that is slated to be eliminated in the president’s proposed FY26 budget.

The reelected board members are:

David Dickens, MD, Clinical Director of Pediatric Oncology Services at University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital (Iowa City). Dr. Dickens has served on the board for four years.

Georgia Hodge, CHW, cancer survivor and Founder of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. of Community Health (Waterloo). Ms. Hodge has served on the board for seven years and currently serves as Board Secretary.

Rudy Papakee, MHA, Director of Meskwaki Tribal Health Center (Tama). Mr. Papakee has served on the board for eight years.

Sneha Phadke, DO, MPH, Associate Professor and Breast Medical Oncologist at the University of Iowa Health Care Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center (Iowa City). Dr. Phadke has served on the board for two years.

Christen Sewell, MHA, Director of Humboldt County Public Health (Fort Dodge). Ms. Sewell has served on the board for three years and currently serves as Board Treasurer.

Sarah Zeidler, FACHE, Executive Director of Oncology Services at UnityPoint Health John Stoddard Cancer Center (Des Moines). Ms. Zeidler has served on the board for four years.

New to the Iowa Cancer Consortium’s Board of Directors in 2025 is Kaitlin Emrich, MPH. She is the Public Health Director at Black Hawk County Public Health in Waterloo.

“Adding Kaitlin’s wealth of knowledge and experience to the Consortium’s board of directors is invaluable, especially during a time when public health is facing so many cuts and the cancer incidence rate in Iowa continues to be one of the highest in the US,” said Mary Charlton, PhD, board president of the Iowa Cancer Consortium.

Kaitlin Emrich, MPH, was elected to the Iowa Cancer Consortium’s Board of Directors for the FY26-FY27 term.

Ms. Emrich has more than 15 years of experience in governmental public health, with previous positions as the Assessment and Health Promotion Supervisor and Public Health Epidemiologist at Linn County Public Health in Cedar Rapids. She also served as Disease Surveillance Program Manager at Black Hawk County Public Health and completed the CDC and Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists Applied Epidemiology Fellowship in Environmental Epidemiology at the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services.

She is a 2016 scholar of the Great Plains Public Health Leadership Institute, a 2017 recipient of the University of Iowa College of Public Health Outstanding Alumni Award, and a 2020 recipient of the Corridor Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 award. She received a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Master of Public Health in Epidemiology, both from the University of Iowa.

Ms. Emrich’s leadership experience includes serving as a member of the University of Iowa Prevention Research Center, Iowa Counties Public Health Association Board, Iowa Public Health Advisory Committee, the University of Iowa College of Public Health Alumni Council, City of Vinton Parks and Recreation Board, Benton County Board of Health, and a member of the Governmental Public Health Job Task Analysis workgroup.

Iowa Cancer Consortium board members who were not up for reelection this year and continue their FY25-FY27 terms are:

Mary Charlton, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Iowa College of Public Health and Director of the Iowa Cancer Registry (Iowa City). Dr. Charlton currently serves as Board President.

Richard Deming, MD, Medical Director at MercyOne Richard Deming Cancer Center (Des Moines). Dr. Deming currently serves as Board Vice President.

Cindy Fiester, MSN, RN, Chronic Disease Coordinator at Linn County Public Health (Cedar Rapids).

Devon Gurnett, MSOM, Program Manager at the Iowa Primary Care Association (Des Moines).

Morgan Newman, MSW, cancer survivor and Community Engagement Liaison at Cervivor, Inc. (Norwalk).

George Weiner, MD, Hematologist and Director Emeritus of the University of Iowa Health Care Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center (Iowa City).

For more information about the Iowa Cancer Consortium, its initiatives, or the board of directors, please visit https://www.canceriowa.org.

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About the Iowa Cancer Consortium

The Iowa Cancer Consortium is Iowa’s statewide comprehensive cancer coalition. As a leader in cancer control, the Iowa Cancer Consortium offers state cancer partners access to resources, expertise, and non-competitive collaboration across traditional boundaries for a bigger impact in cancer prevention, early detection, treatment, quality of life, and health equity. Learn more at https://www.canceriowa.org.