Mehrhoff receives award

Marinea Mehrhoff, supervisor of radiochemistry, recently received the Board of Directors Award for Outstanding Achievement from the Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors (CRCPD).

Marinea Mehrhoff

The award recognized Mehrhoff's development of roundtable programming for the Committee on Fostering Partnerships and Developing Operational Guides. The roundtable scenario focused gaps found in communication, awareness and preparedness for radiation emergencies following the 2006 radiation terrorism event during which a Russian spy was poisoned. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funded the roundtable.

The roundtable brought together representatives from radiation control programs, and from state, local and federal public health organizations and agencies.

"We brainstormed to identify gaps in radiation response knowledge from the various public health agencies and how we can work to improve the ability to respond to a radiation event," said Mehrhoff. "We looked at how we could better partner with those agencies and started forming alliances and a plan to move forward for the coming year."

For Mehrhoff, the award is symbolic of progress in her field. "It gives me personal satisfaction, not that I won the award, but that those of us in radiation emergency preparedness are making progress with national emergency plans," said Mehrhoff. "The 'silos' of different disciplines are being broken down, and we are starting to work as one. We are starting to bridge the communication and networking gaps. Plus, it's been a lot of fun working with different people. I enjoyed it."