President's Award

Dr. Deneice Bell, Ed.D., M.S.
Assistant Division Director, Division of Public Health Protection and Safety
Kentucky Department for Public Health

Dr. Deneice Bell, Ed.D., M.S., Assistant Division Director for the Kentucky Department for Public Health, has been selected to receive the prestigious 2025 Kentucky Public Health Association (KPHA) President’s Award.

As Assistant Division Director for the Division of Public Health Protection and Safety, Dr. Bell oversees six critical branches: Food Safety, Milk Safety, Public Safety, Environmental Health Management, Radiation Health, and Public Health Preparedness. Under her leadership, the Division enforces approximately 263 statutes to safeguard the health and safety of communities across the Commonwealth. She also supports Kentucky’s 61 local health departments, which perform over 2,000 environmental health services annually.

A former KPHA board member, Dr. Bell has dedicated her career to advancing public health through policy implementation, regulatory enforcement, quality assurance, and training. Her commitment to prevention, promotion, and protection continues to strengthen Kentucky’s public health infrastructure. She also strongly advocates for harm reduction efforts, particularly in providing targeted approaches to support Black communities disproportionately affected by public health crises. She is committed to strengthening partnerships that collectively work toward eradicating systemic health disparities and examining root causes to develop sustainable solutions.

Her recognition with the 2025 KPHA President’s Award highlights her exemplary service and tremendous contributions to the field of public health.

Vivian A. Lasley-Bibbs, MPH
Previous Director of the Office of Health Equity, Kentucky Department for Public Health
Director of Disease Intervention Initiatives, Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH)
Received by Mr. Phillip Bibbs, Ms. Carrie Lasley, Ms. Maria Lasley, Heather Crabbe, Nick Crabbe, and Karla Thompson

The recipient of the 2024 President’s Award has supported KPHA in countless ways, but I think her true contributions are evident in the relationships she built with local, state, and national partners. She was known as a visionary leader, always working to address health disparities and inequities related to social determinants of health. She supported these efforts by serving on state and national committees, advisory boards, commissions, workgroups and publishing peer-reviewed journal articles addressing health and racial equity. This year’s recipient truly dedicated herself to the progression of the Commonwealth.

Looking back on the history of KPHA, our recipient was actively involved with committees and initiatives, including lending her expertise to a health equity conference committee, established in 2013. She saw the bigger picture and utilized opportunities to connect with individuals from all over the field of public health.

Our recipient also had a way of connecting with people. She earned the respect of individuals not just through her work, but because she took the time to listen to their stories and discuss personal aspirations and goals. She was seen as a mentor for so many, including myself, and for this, I am eternally grateful.

This year’s 2024 KPHA President’s Award is given in memory of Vivian A. Lasley-Bibbs, a dear colleague and friend who is greatly missed.

Michael Ballard, Ed.D
Professor and Interim Associate Dean
College of Health Sciences, Eastern Kentucky University

Richard Wilson, DHSc, MPH
Professor
Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, University of Louisville

April Harris
KPHA Secretary Accreditation Specialist
Public Health Accreditation Board

Lisa Pollock
Lincoln Trail District Health Department
KPHA Treasurer

KPHA President, Janie Cambron said about this year’s recipient: When I thought about the president’s award, i struggled to just name one person because if you are at all involved with KPHA, it’s kind of an all-in type of family. There are late nights, which are unpaid, there are lots of emails and planning calls, too many Zooms lately to count and sometimes it’s just plain hard. But there is so much behind the scenes even more than that, including looking at spreadsheets for days, trying to be fiscally responsible, supporting other board members and one person kept coming to mind. This person is always willing to help, prefers to be behind the scenes, always put needs of others before her own and is an amazingly dedicated public health professional. This person has checked in on me regularly as well as other board members during the last year, making sure everyone is ok. This year’s 2020 KPHA President’s Award goes to Lisa Pollock.

• 2019: Dr. Jeffrey Howard
• 2018: Janie Cambron
• 2017: Becky Kissick-Hake
• 2016: Dr. Angie Carman
• 2015: Jill LeMaster
• 2014: Dr. Calixto “Carlos” Hernandez