Ellen Wild, MPH
Deputy Director for Program Development
325 Swanton Way
Decatur, Georgia 30030
404-687-5607 (Phone)
404-371-0415 (Fax)
ewild@phii.org

As the Institute's Deputy Director for Program Development, Ellen Wild brings over 15 years of experience working with public health programs ad 12 years of direct involvemen in public health informatics. Her duties include assessing opportunities for the Institute related to domestic and international public health needs in the area of information systems development, monitoring the national health informatics environment in developing interoperable information systems, and designing programs to meet the range of needs. Additionally, Ms. Wild plays a leadership role in providing strategic direction to the Public Health Informatics Institute programs and projects and overseeing the development of products to assist public health practitioners in meeting challenges in developing interoperable information systems.

Ms. Wild joined the Task Force in 1996 as a project officer for All Kids Count, a program to support the design of child health information systems. In this role, she provided technical assistance to state and local health departments developing immunization information systems. During her tenure at the Institute, Ms. Wild has been instrumental in developing two communities of practice for public health professionals: Connections, a community of practice for public health practitioners developing integrated child health information systems and InformationLinks, which is comprised of health officials interested in developing partnerships between public health and health information exchanges.  Currently, Ms. Wild directs another national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation®, Common Ground: Transforming Public Health Information Systems and directs activities for several other Institute programs to assist public health practitioners in developing information systems that meet their needs. She was involved in the design of the Institute’s Requirements Development Methodology and is responsible for applying the methodology and the Institute's collaborative approach in Institute projects.

Prior to coming to the Task Force, Ms. Wild was the Infant Immunization Program Manager for the Hawaii State Health Department. In this capacity, she was responsible for directing a statewide immunization campaign, developing and enforcing state immunization requirements for school entry, advising physicians and nurses on recommended immunizations, and assessing state immunization levels. She earned her Bachelor's degree and Master of Public Health degree from the University of Colorado.