NAQC Welcomes New Director and Officers to the Board!
Tuesday, July 26, 2022
Posted by: Natalia Gromov
NAQC Welcomes New Director and Officers to the Board!
Dear Colleagues,
Thank you to all members who participated in the recent election of the Board. I am pleased to announce that Thomas Ylioja, PhD, MSW, has been elected to the Board. Please join me in welcoming him as NAQC’s newly elected director.
Thomas Ylioja, PhD, MSW is the clinical director for health initiatives and a faculty member in the department of medicine at National Jewish Health. He is a licensed social worker with clinical and research experience working with underserved populations to reduce and eliminate commercial tobacco-related disparities. His experience in commercial tobacco control includes working with at-risk youth, medically ill adults, and research with hospitalized smokers. He completed a PhD in social work, with dissertation research examining quitline reach, engagement and cessation success with LGBTQ+ populations.
Dr. Ylioja’s professional experience as a medical social worker and as a researcher in health disparities drive him to focus on people most affected by commercial tobacco use. In his role as clinical director for statewide programs, he integrates the quitline with health and social care systems, educates providers to deliver brief interventions, and collaborates with CDC networks and state funders to ensure the quitline responds to the evolving needs of their constituencies. At National Jewish Health, he leads development and evaluation of quitline services to optimize reach and engagement through specialized programs, clinical protocols, and emerging technology. His recent leadership includes work to promote youth vaping cessation and enhance quitline care for people with behavioral health conditions. He is devoted to ensuring that quitlines equitably meet the needs of diverse populations of individuals who are trying to quit. On a personal level, Dr. Ylioja is passionate about helping people quit in part because of his own experience using and quitting commercial tobacco.
Board Officer Election: I have one more year remaining in my term as Chair of the Board and am also pleased to announce the newly elected Board officers and executive committee member-at-large!
Chair-elect: Miranda Spitznagle
Treasurer: Robert McCaffree
Secretary: Delmonte Jefferson
Executive Committee Member-at-Large: Catherine Bonniot
To learn more about NAQC’s directors, please browse the Board webpage.
Thanks to Candidates, Nomination Committee and Exiting Director: I would like to give special thanks to the candidates who were willing to have their names put forward for the election, NAQC members who nominated potential candidates and those who voted in the election, and to members of the Nomination Committee.
Finally, I would like to extend a special thank you to exiting director, Mary Kokstis, for her excellent service on the Board during her term.
If you have questions about the responsibilities of the Board or suggested nominees for next year’s election, please contact the Board at Board@naquitline.org. Please note that you can submit potential candidates for the NAQC Board throughout the year.
Submitted on behalf of the Board,
Paula Celestino
Board Chair | |
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