The New IAAH Education Committee - A Focus on Global Opportunities
Risa Turetsky, IAAH Education Committee Chair
IAAH Education Committee Chair, Risa Turetsky, RN, FNP, MPH, is the Medical Director for School Based Health Centers at Mountain Family Health Centers in rural Colorado in the U.S. Turetsky is a family nurse practitioner, fellowship prepared in adolescent health and with a Masters in Public Health. She has dedicated her career to adolescent health and the health of vulnerable populations around the world, living and working in several low-income countries across the African continent and in the Pacific.
Turetsky completed the Leadership and Education in Adolescent Health Fellowship at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine where she also completed her Masters in Public Health and was certified as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Public Health and a Family Nurse Practitioner. She provided care for teens at the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center in New York City, the largest stand-alone adolescent-only health center globally, and at a male prison in the Bronx. Turetsky was recently the regional coordinator for tobacco prevention in rural Colorado and spearheaded several initiatives around youth vaping and substance use and achieved sweeping local policy changes. Currently, Turetsky practices adolescent health care in clinics in rural high schools and is developing a new school-based health care program for Mountain Family.
In her work across the globe, Turetsky has focused on the health of adolescents and young adults, particularly in reproductive health and communicable diseases such as HIV and TB, living and working abroad for five years. She worked with Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), FHI360, Baylor College of Medicine International Pediatric AIDS Initiative, University of North Carolina, and others. She coordinated services for teen clubs for HIV positive youth across Malawi, adapted health care services for youth, transgender persons and sex workers, developed a national training for trauma-informed care, and participated in the development of new national HIV care policies in Papua New Guinea.
In addition to her global work, Turetsky currently serves on the U.S. Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine (SAHM) Education Committee and was previously Chapter President of the New York State Chapter of SAHM. She is also involved with MSF as the co-chair of the Colorado Chapter of MSF’s U.S. Association, and as a founding member of the Abuse and Harassment Work Group.
In taking on the task of developing an Education Committee for IAAH, Turetsky brings a passion for ensuring excellent care for young people through anyone who engages with youth as well as her experience improving systems and health care from African villages to New York City.
To volunteer to join the IAAH Education Committee or any of our other committees (communications, scientific events, governance and policy, nominations and awards, or youth engagement), please click here.