Katreena Merrill, PhD, RN, CIC, FAPIC

Dr. Katreena Collette Merrill is a Professor at Brigham Young University (BYU) College of Nursing, Provo, Utah, where she teaches interprofessional education, Ethics in Nursing, and pediatrics. She also works as a nursing research consultant for Intermountain Healthcare. She has been a nurse for over 40 years. She started her career at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, specializing in infection prevention (IP) control and continuous improvement (CI). She continued her nursing quality and research work with Intermountain Healthcare and served as a Magnet Program Coordinator. Dr. Merrill’s research focuses on patient safety in healthcare, emphasizing the prevention of healthcare-associated infections (HAI). She has published and presented nationally and internationally about HAI prevention. She is Certified in Infection Control (CIC), a Fellow of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (FAPIC), and a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN).In her spare time, she enjoys walks with her golden retriever, visiting grandchildren, and refinishing old furniture.

Joan N. Hebden, MS, RN, CIC, FAPIC, FSHEA

Joan received her baccalaureate and master’s degrees from the University of Maryland School of Nursing.  She is currently the President of IPC Consulting Group LLC, a Maryland-based company providing infection prevention consultation in acute and non-acute healthcare settings and is a research coordinator for the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health. She served as the Director of Infection Prevention and Control for 28 years at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland. An accomplished practitioner, Ms. Hebden is an invited speaker at national epidemiology conferences, participates in research to identify best practices for the prevention of healthcare-associated infections, and has multiple publications in medical and infection control journals. She is certified in infection prevention and control through the Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology, is an active member of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiologists of America (SHEA) and the Association for Professionals in Infection Control (APIC), serves as a board member and reviewer for the American Journal of Infection Control and is a fellow of APIC and SHEA. She was the recipient of the 2018 SHEA Advanced Practice IP award.

Contact info: jhebden1302@comcast.net
jhebden@som.umaryland.edu

Dana Piatek, MPH, MSN, RN, CIC, FAPIC

Dana Piatek, MPH, MSN, RN, CIC, FAPIC is a Registered Nurse with over 30 years of healthcare experience in various settings including acute care, long term care, and public health. She began her career in Infection Prevention in 2010 in a dual role as a Staff Development Coordinator/Infection Preventionist within the long-term care setting. Dana also has extensive experience managing the Infection Prevention department for multiple hospitals and hospital-based outpatient sites. She has been an Infection Preventionist with the Bureau of Epidemiology in the Pennsylvania Department of Health where she was the regional lead for Northwest Pennsylvania’s Infection Control Outbreak Response Team as well as the Infection Preventionist Supervisor for the Project Firstline Grant. Currently Dana is a Clinical Consultant with GOJO Industries as part of their PURELL SMARTLINK® team.

Dana began her nursing career with a diploma in nursing from St. Francis Hospital School of Nursing, New Castle. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing science from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree in nursing science with concentration in education and leadership from Carlow University, and a master’s degree in public health with focus in epidemiology from George Washington University. She achieved board certification in Infection Prevention and Control with the CIC® designation in 2015 and in 2022, she was awarded status as a Fellow of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (FAPIC). Dana is a member of multiple professional organizations including APIC, SHEA, and CSTE. She has contributed to the profession as a subject matter expert including publication and peer review activities for the American Journal of Infection Control, presentations at invited seminars and scientific meetings as well as podcasts.