ACPM Fellows

Rachel Edet Annam, MD, MPH, FACPM, is a distinguished physician, educator, and researcher dedicated to advancing Preventive Medicine, Lifestyle Medicine, and Internal Medicine. As an Assistant Professor at Emory University School of Medicine, she is leading efforts to integrate lifestyle-focused care models into clinical practice. Her notable achievement includes establishing a new Lifestyle Medicine Clinic at Emory, providing evidence-based, patient-centered interventions for chronic disease prevention and management. The clinic also serves as a hub for research and education, driving the future of lifestyle and preventive medicine in mainstream healthcare.

Dr. Annam earned her medical degree from the University of Calabar, Nigeria, and a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University. She completed dual residencies in Internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine at Yale School of Medicine’s Griffin Hospital Program and holds triple board certifications in Preventive Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Lifestyle Medicine. Additionally, she completed a prestigious Lifestyle Medicine fellowship at Loma Linda University.

A recognized leader, Dr. Annam has an extensive portfolio of peer-reviewed publications and frequently presents her research findings at scientific meetings and conferences. Her current research focuses on designing culturally tailored lifestyle interventions for underserved populations, improving chronic disease outcomes through lifestyle-based strategies, and promoting access to equitable healthcare.

Christina DeMatteo, DO, MPH, FACPM, is board certified in internal medicine, infectious disease, and preventive medicine. She attended medical school at the University of New England and completed her subsequent residency and fellowship training at Maine Medical Center (MMC) in Portland, Maine. She has been a faculty member of the MMC Leadership in Preventive Medicine Residency since 2018 and associate program director since 2019. She serves as medical director at the Portland Public Health STD Clinic and Syringe Exchange and as a tuberculosis consultant for Maine. She is an assistant professor with Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. DeMatteo specializes in the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, HIV, and tuberculosis She is passionate about lifting the stigma associated with infections of public health significance and removing barriers to accessing care for underserved populations.

John Distelhorst, DO, MPH, FACPM, is a Colonel in the U.S. Army Medical Corps and has recently served as the Command Surgeon for Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR). In this capacity, he led his joint medical team and advised the Commanding General of SOCEUR as the senior medical officer for all health services support, medical readiness, environmental health, public health, and preventive medicine of Special Operations Forces in Europe.

COL Distelhorst currently practices preventive medicine at Bavaria Army Medical Activity in Germany. He is a dedicated member of the American College of Preventive Medicine and volunteers on the College’s Undergraduate Medical Education subcommittee.

Dr. Distelhorst is board certified in General Preventive Medicine and Public Health. He graduated with military distinction from the U.S. Air Force Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. He completed medical school at Midwestern University-Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Distelhorst completed his intern year at Eisenhower Army Medical Center, GA. He went on to complete his residency training in General Preventive Medicine and Public Health at Madigan Army Medical Center. During this time, he earned an MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Washington School of Public Health.

Tai Do, MD, MPH, FACPM, is a Captain in the Navy with 24 years of active-duty service. He graduated from Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and completed his Preventive Medicine residency at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. He has held various influential public health roles within the Navy which includes serving as Director of Public Health and the Supervisory Public Health Emergency Officer for the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. He is currently serving as the Regional Chief Medical Officer for the Naval Medical Forces Pacific. He is board certified in Public Health & General Preventive Medicine, Occupational Medicine, Clinical Informatics and Obesity Medicine.

Peter Edemekong, MD, MPH, FACPM, is the Medical Director of Adult and Geriatric Primary Care Clinic at the University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston. His civilian career in Preventive Medicine and Primary Care matches his military service. He has been practicing in the urgent care, preventive medicine and family medicine settings and enjoys being able to provide holistic care to his patients.

Dr. Edemekong is a Major in the United States Army Reserves, where he serves as Command Surgeon of 350th Civil Affairs Command and 451st Civil Affairs Battalion.

Dr. Edemekong offers Primary Health Care, HIV Medicine, Preventive Medicine and Occupational Medicine. He serves his patients with a truly integrative approach.

He has numerous publications and has provided multiple presentations in his career at both a macro level with the CDC and micro level with small workshops and lectures. Dr. Edemekong has a passion for being involved in community education. He dedicates himself to medical missions on an annual basis, providing humanitarian services and working with at-risk patient populations.

His passion continues in areas of Clinical Preventive Medicine, Global Healthcare, Acute Disease Epidemiology (HIV, TB, Hepatitis, STIs) and Health Disparities as well as Maternal-Fetal Healthcare.

He offers basic and routine health care needs with a sensitive and unbiased approach for preventive care, physical exams, and Infectious disease treatment. He promotes the highest level of health for all people by striving to eliminate preventable diseases and educating patients regarding healthy behaviors across all life stages.

Odilichi Ezenwanne, MD, MPH, DipABLM, FACPM, is a board-certified Preventive Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine specialist. He completed his medical school education at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He obtained a preliminary degree in General Surgery from the University of Connecticut and completed his Preventive Medicine residency at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Dr. Ezenwanne has extensive experience in providing public health services and preventive medical care to diverse hard-to-reach communities internationally and to medically underserved populations locally. Currently, he serves as a site director at the Aaron Henry Community Health Services Center, an FQHC located in the Mississippi Delta region.

Major Terra Forward, DO, MPH, MBA, FACPM, currently serves as the chief of epidemiology and disease control and the associate program director, preventive medicine residency program, at Joint Base Lewis McChord, Washington. She has also served as the public health director for Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Dr. Forward earned her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine at The Ohio University and her Master of Public Health degree at the University of Washington School of Public Health. She currently resides in Washington with her husband.

Mark E. Humphrey, MD, MPH, FAAFP, FACPM, is a distinguished physician based in Columbia, SC, with a wealth of experience in family and preventive medicine. He earned his MD from Wright State Boonshoft School of Medicine and an MPH from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he also completed his residency in Public Health and General Preventive Medicine. Dr. Humphrey has held various clinical and leadership roles at Prisma Health and the University of South Carolina School of Medicine since 2013, including Program Director for the Preventive Medicine Residency and Medical Director of the Family Medicine Residency Clinic.

His career includes significant military service as a Medical Officer in the United States Navy, achieving the rank of Commander. Dr. Humphrey is also an accomplished educator, serving as an Associate Clinical Professor. His commitment to medical education is demonstrated through his active involvement in teaching, mentoring, and curriculum development.

Dr. Humphrey has a profound interest in population-based quality improvement, community medicine, health care policy, and global health. He has led and participated in medical missions and health projects both domestically and worldwide, focusing on improving health outcomes in underserved populations. He has led numerous global health initiatives in countries such as Honduras, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua.

Lia Lombardo Kostiuk, MD, MPH, FACPM, is a Director, Clinical Safety Physician at Daiichi Sankyo, where she supports oncology clinical trials, focusing on patient safety. Before joining Daiichi Sankyo, Dr. Kostiuk held senior roles at Kyowa Kirin and Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, supporting drug safety for products in oncology, immunology, and infectious diseases. She has also worked with the World Health Organization (WHO), contributing to global health policies to reduce low birth weight rates and improve vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy.

Dr. Kostiuk earned her MD from the University of Carabobo in Venezuela and her MPH from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she also completed her residency in General Preventive Medicine. She co-chairs the Pharmaceutical Medicine Special Interest Group at the American College of Preventive Medicine, fostering collaboration at the intersection of public health and pharmaceutical medicine.

Christina Metzler Miller, MD, MPH, FAAPF, DipABLM, FACPM, is an Assistant Professor, Residency Associate Program Director, and Director of Sustainability, Grants, and Research in the Preventive Medicine Department at Loma Linda University Health. She serves as a faculty mentor and evaluator for grant-funded programs in the department, and consults on research and writing through the nonprofit organization, Cornerstone Group Consultants. She completed a combined residency in Family and Preventive Medicine and an MPH in Population Medicine at Loma Linda University before spending 8 years serving in the southeastern country of Malawi through World Medical Mission and the Christian Health Service Corps. She helped start the Cornerstone Community Health nonprofit and free clinic in San Bernardino during residency, and remains passionate about creating sustainable systems for helping underserved populations, and helping physicians thrive as they pursue their callings. A graduate of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, she is specialized as a Lifestyle Medicine Intensivist with the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine, and certified through American Academy of Family Physician’s Leaders in Physician Wellbeing program.

Lahila Ojeda, MD, MPH, FACPM is a Director, Medical Safety Officer at Johnson & Johnson. In this role she assesses the safety profile of several oncological products in early and late phase development, contributing to the expansion of options available to patients with cancer. Prior to joining J&J, Dr. Ojeda started her pharmacovigilance career through Otsuka’s Pharmacovigilance Physician Program in 2019 and joined Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development and Commercialization in 2020 as an Associate Director in Oncology. During her Pediatric Residency at University of Maryland, Baltimore, Dr. Ojeda fostered her passion for preventive medicine, participating in multiple community health events and advocating for children in the State and Federal legislature. After graduating from Pediatric Residency, she continued to pursue her passion through the Preventive Medicine Residency at the University of Maryland. Dr. Ojeda is board certified by the American Board of Preventive Medicine in Public Health and General Preventive Medicine.

Priti Patel, MD, MPH, FACPM, is a medical epidemiologist in the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In her >20 years at the agency, Dr. Patel has led outbreak investigations, public health surveillance, and prevention initiatives, including adult vaccination programs, and participated in multiple public health emergency responses. While in CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Dr. Patel implemented policies and programs to prevent infections among dialysis patients nationwide and helped to disseminate best practices and empower patients as Medical Director for CDC’s Making Dialysis Safer for Patients Coalition. Dr. Patel currently serves as the Senior Advisor for Long COVID in NCIRD, where she provides strategic and scientific leadership for CDC’s Long COVID activities and contributes to US government-wide initiatives.

Dr. Patel is a graduate of the University of Chicago, Columbia University School of Public Health, Howard University College of Medicine, and CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS). She completed her Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Pennsylvania and Preventive Medicine Residency at CDC and the Maryland Department of Health, Center for Maternal and Child Health. Dr. Patel has provided primary and urgent care at the Atlanta VA Medical Center. She is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Family and Preventive Medicine at Emory University and AJPM Focus editorial board member. She served on CDC’s Preventive Medicine Residency Advisory Committee for 7 years, is a former President of the EIS Alumni Association, and has participated in committees of the American Society of Nephrology and Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. Dr. Patel recently completed the Society of General Internal Medicine Leadership in Health Policy Program (LEAHP 2022-2023) and is a current Health and Aging Policy Fellow (HAPF 2024-2025).

Marco Ruiz, MD, MPH, MSc, MBA, FACPM, is a Hematologist-Oncologist working at Miami Cancer Institute/ Baptist Heatlh South Florida. He is also a Preventive Medicine physician dedicated to medical education, preventive and public health research for HIV-infected patients. He also and administrative duties including residency and fellowship endeavors. Dr. Ruiz is a Professor of Medicine at Florida International University where he directs preventive medicine efforts to improve dissemination of preventive medicine strategies in the College of Medicine.

Dr. Ruiz is also very actively involved in research, working as a American Society of Hematology grant reviewer, and HIV-associated malignancy management and treatment strategies. He is also works on social determinants of health affecting HIV-infected patients with hematologic malignancies.

Dr. Ruiz is also actively involved with the American College of Preventive Medicine activities. He has worked with the Membership, Maintenance of Certification, Science and Translation committees.

Clyde Lanford (Lanny) Smith, MD, MPH, DTM&H, (he/his pronouns), is the founding president of Doctors for Global Health, DGH and is Global Community Health Advisor and Substance Use Disorder/Healing Recovery and Wellness Champion of Southern Jamaica Plain Community Health Center of Brigham and Women's Hospital in the Division of General Medicine and Primary Care, Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Assistant Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; and Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Departments of Medicine and Family & Social Medicine. He is Board Certified in Preventive Medicine & Public Health as well as Internal Medicine. After 12 years as a practicing community health physician in the South Bronx, he now lives in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, and continues as a clinician-educator in primary care and tropical medicine. For six and a half years (1992-8), Lanny served as the volunteer Coordinator of the Salvadoran Mission of "Médecins du Monde-France" (Physicians of the World-France) in Morazán, El Salvador (a program using "health as reconciliation" and "building health where the peace is new"). From that experience, he pioneered the concept of Liberation Medicine (the conscious, conscientious use of health to promote social justice and human dignity). Currently on the Advisory Counsel of the Global People’s Health Movement, PHM, he served for many years on the PHM Global Steering Council. He Co-Founded the journal Social Medicine/Medicina Social and continues to serve on its Editorial Board. His research interests include health equity, addressing structural racism, tropical medicine, cancer prevention and disparities, and community engagement.

Christine Thorne, MD, MPH, FACPM is a HS Clinical Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Founding Faculty of the Wertheim School of Public Health and Longevity Science at University of California San Diego. She practices primary care and is the clinical lead for ambulatory diabetes care at UCSD. She also serves as the physician lead for UC Diabetes Way Initiative. Her current research involves implementation of diabetic teleretinal screening and work as a coinvestigator on the All of Us Research Program. Dr. Thorne was involved as a clinician and then medical director for the Asylum Seeker Medical Screening and Stabilization Program serving San Diego and Imperial Counties through January 2025.

Previously, Dr. Thorne was Medical Director for Be There San Diego, a regional clinical quality collaborative focused on preventing heart attacks and strokes. She has previously worked at FQHC’s, the San Diego County health department in the Chronic Disease and Health Equity Unit and STD Clinic, and in the population health department of Sharp Rees-Steely Medical Group. Dr. Thorne received her Medical Degree from University of Washington School of Medicine and an MPH in Epidemiology from San Diego State University. She completed her internship in Internal Medicine at University of Chicago, and her residency in General Preventive Medicine at UCSD.