Melissa Feskin, MPH

Melissa Feskin, MPH, is an Infection Prevention and Control Epidemiologist working with the Healthcare-Associated Infections & Antimicrobial Resistance (HAIAR) section of the Washington State Department of Health in Shoreline, Washington. Since 2019, she has been supporting emergent response efforts by performing aggregate data analyses on Infection Control Assessment & Response (ICAR) data, and working closely with community health partners, long-term care facilities, and local health jurisdictions. Melissa is also a member of Washington State Department of Health’s HAI Advisory Committee and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE).

Melissa obtained her master’s in applied Epidemiology from the University of Arizona’s Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, and a bachelor’s in public health applied Epidemiology from Lake Washington’s Institute of Technology. She has 12 years combined experience serving in public hospitals and long-term care, focused on wound care, oncology, and infection prevention & control (IPC) audits. Her 12 years of experience in both practical and data-driven IPC response, and expertise with translational research databases exemplify her collaborative approach to public health engagement and advocacy. 

Lisa Hannah, RN, CIC , CDIPC

Lisa Hannah, RN, BS, CIC, CDIPC, is the Infection Prevention Team Supervisor for the Washington State Department of Health’s Healthcare-Associated Infections & Antimicrobial Resistance Section.  She has over 23 years of experience in the field of nursing and infection prevention. Lisa has been Certified in Infection Control (CIC) since 2014 and Dental Infection Prevention (CDIPC) in 2024. She has been active in the Puget Sound APIC chapter since 2013 and has help both board member and advisor positions and has participated in workgroups with the Certification Board of Infection Prevention (CBIC) and the National APIC Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity.

Her many years of experience include long term care, acute care, dental, ambulatory surgery, emergency medical services, rural health, and critical access hospitals.  She has a Bachelor of Science Degree as a Paramedic from Central Washington University and completed her nursing education at Lower Columbia College.  Lisa was awarded the 2022 McKnight Prize for Healthcare Outbreak Heroes in response to her leadership during the Covid-19 Pandemic response.

Lisa strives to facilitate the development of systems to improve and sustain quality infection prevention practices in rural areas, joining together local, regional, and state partnerships.

Sara Podczervinski, RN, MPH, DNP, CIC

Dr. Sara Podczervinski (she/her) has over twenty years of public health, nursing, and infection prevention experience.  She has her Bachelor’s in Science and Nursing from Western Michigan University, Master’s in Public Health from University of Michigan, and Doctorate in Nursing Practice from University of Washington. Sara has worked as a local and state public health communicable disease epidemiologist and has clinical experience as a charge and admissions nurse for long-term care.  She was the infection preventionist at a large cancer center for ten years, where she specialized in infection prevention during bone marrow transplantation. Sara received the 2014 Infection Prevention Hero Award from the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) for her work on respiratory virus prevention. She has been published in infection control and epidemiology journals, including articles on public health’s COVID-19 response, healthcare worker influenza vaccination, healthcare-associated hepatitis C, and Legionnaires’ disease. She is Chair of APIC’s Member Engagement Committee, a position she’s held since 2022.  Additionally, she has held several board positions at Puget Sound APIC and is a board member for the Lake Washington Technical College’s bachelor’s in public health advisory committee.  She has been Certified in Infection Control (CIC) since 2006 and has an APIC fellow designation.

Since 2015, she has managed the Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance Section at the Washington State Department of Health.  Her team responded to the first COVID-19 case and long-term care outbreak in the United States.  Her newest role is as a faculty member at the University of Washington’s School of Nursing and Health Studies, where she’ll teach public health courses. Sara is passionate about applied public health practice and works to forge strong connections between healthcare infection prevention and public health entities.