Resilience & Impact: Advancing Infection Prevention Through Collaboration and Action

Presented by the Presidents of APIC and SHEA, this session highlights how each organization is advancing infection prevention collaboratively and how working together strengthens impact across healthcare and public health. Attendees will gain insight into current priorities and initiatives at both organizations and take away practical ideas for applying collaborative approaches within their own roles to advance infection prevention at the local, national, or global level.

Kathy Ward

Infection Prevention Specialist, Roper St Francis

Kathy Ward, RN, BSN, MPH, CIC, is an Infection Preventionist at Roper St. Francis Healthcare located in Charleston, SC. She received her MPH from Emory University and has been Certified in Infection Control since 1993. Her skills include the application of a written document into a guide which provides direction for the infection preventionist.

Lisa Maragakis

Senior Director of Infection Prevention, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Dr. Lisa L. Maragakis, MD, MPH, FSHEA, FIDSA is a professor of medicine, infectious disease, and epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is the Senior Director of Infection Prevention for The Johns Hopkins Health System. Her research interests are the epidemiology, prevention and control of healthcare-acquired infections and antimicrobial-resistant pathogens. Dr. Maragakis served as Incident Commander for Johns Hopkins Medicine’s COVID-19 response, the Infectious Disease Society of America Co-Chair for the 2022 Update of the Compendium of Strategies to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections and as the Co-Chair of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC). She is currently the President of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

Roger Stienecker

Medical Director for Clinical Care Reliabilty--Growth Markets, Parkview Health

Roger Scott Stienecker MD FACP FSHEA FIDSA is a graduate of The Ohio State University School of Medicine with Internal Medicine Residency at Wake Forest University then fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Emory School of Medicine. After 22 years in private practice seeing over 27,000 unique patients, he pursued hospital epidemiology with a desire to better serve population health. Starting 2012, he became the Medical Director of Epidemiology Infection Prevention, Antimicrobial Stewardship, and Infectious Diseases Clinical Trials for Parkview Health System. The department has 25+ members in IP, epidemiology and data analytics. Parkview Health is a 1284 bed, 15 hospital system, plus several affiliated hospitals. As of January 2026, he assumed responsibility to provide Infection Prevention and Stewardship services to the affiliated hospitals as the Medical Director for Clinical Care Reliability--Growth Markets. He is on the planning committee for Association for Professionals of Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) national meeting.

Lerenza Howard

Manager of Infection Prevention and Quality Improvement, La Rabida Children’s Hospital

Dr. Lerenza L. Howard, DHSc, MHA, CIC, LSSGB, is the Manager of Infection Prevention and Quality Improvement at La Rabida Children's Hospital, where she also oversees Employee Health. A Board-Certified Infection Control professional with 10+ years of healthcare experience, her work sits at the intersection of clinical expertise, systems thinking, and data-driven strategy. Formerly System Infection Control Manager at Sinai Chicago, she has driven measurable outcomes across complex, multi-site environments. Notable achievements include founding a World Hand Hygiene Day initiative that educated 600+ healthcare workers and community members, driving environmental compliance to >90% at Advocate Christ Medical Center, and earning the prestigious 2023 APIC Emerging Leader Award. Dr. Howard obtained a Doctorate in Health Science at the University of Indianapolis, she brings Lean Six Sigma, FMEA, and continuous improvement principles to every challenge. She also volunteers with Girl Scouts, mentoring the next generation of science and healthcare leaders.