Wyoming Pediatrics Sponsor HPV Vaccine Expert

Deanna Kepka, PhD

As part of its efforts to improve HPV vaccination rates, the Wyoming Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics has sponsored a presentation by Deanna Kepka PhD, at the 2017 Wyoming Medical Society Annual Meeting, June 2-4 at Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park.

Kepka is the Team Leader for the Health Disparities and Cancer Prevention Initiative Group in Cancer Control and Population Sciences at The Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City. She is also the Director and Founder of the Intermountain West HPV Vaccination Coalition, which includes more than 300 members from 10 Intermountain West states who are working together to meet the Healthy People 2020 goal of 80 percent vaccination coverage among girls and boys in the Intermountain West.

Kepka earned her undergraduate degree from the Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, followed by a Masters degrees from Illinois State and The University of North Carolina. Her PhD is in Health Services, Child Health and Maternal. She also completed a post-doctorate fellowship in Cancer Prevention and Control from the National Cancer Institute. She is currently an Assistant Professor, College of Nursing at the University of Utah.