TB Education and Training Network

2016 Project Excellence and TB Educator of the Year Awards

The 2016 TB Training and Education Conference marked the sixth year for the TB Educator of the Year Award and TB Project Excellence Award. These awards were established in 2010 to recognize excellence in TB health education and training by TB ETN members around the world.

The TB Educator of the Year award recognizes an individual who has shown dedication and leadership in the field of TB education and training. There were many excellent nominations and two winners were selected for of this year’s award, Denise Dodge and Renee Simmons-Wilkins.

Denise Dodge is the Assistant Director and Nurse Consultant for TB Control at the Virginia Department of Health. Denise is in charge of responding to clinical questions from nurses in more than 80 local health departments. She also creates and provides trainings for all of the new TB nurses. Previously, she was employed as a Nurse Consultant at the Southeastern National TB Center. Denise’s life work has been to train and educate everyone on the importance of TB control and prevention in the most enjoyable way possible. She has been described as “uniquely gifted” and as a “powerhouse” and has made a tremendous impact in the TB community.

Renee Simmons-Wilkins is a master trainer/disease investigator who has worked in the field of communicable disease investigation since 1994. Renee currently serves as course faculty for the Curry International TB Center, where she receives rave reviews from training participants. Comments from participants note how they enjoy Renee’s engaging teaching style and wonderful spirit. Renee has made tremendous contributions to the field of TB education and training and is one of the most respected and valued members of Curry International TB Center’s esteemed faculty.

The Project Excellence award recognizes exceptional health education and training products or activities that have been developed by TB ETN members within the past 2 years. The 2016 TB Project Excellence Award goes to the “Child TB Project.”  This project was developed by the Bangladesh Pediatric Association and the lead for the project was Dr. Shakil Ahmed.

Bangladesh is the 6th highest TB-burdened country in the world, and childhood TB is considerably under reported. Over ten months, the TBCARE II/USAID funded project targeted health care providers in the Dhaka Division of Bangladesh. Using principles of adult learning and systematic health education, the Child TB Project Team developed training modules and materials. The training consisted of interactive sessions, assigned readings, role playing, group work, case studies, and center visits. The Child TB Project Team led workshops for over 9,500 health care providers at three levels of service delivery including clinicians, community health workers, and facility managers.

Congratulations to the 2016 award winners!

Please check this website in April of 2018 for nomination information about the 2018 awards.