UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh's Division of Community Health staff is a multidisciplinary team of professionals who strive to understand the needs in our communities, work in partnership with others to improve health equity and health outcomes, and elevate quality of life for all children and families.
Anne Marie Kuchera, MS, MA, RD, LPC
Anne Marie is the Director of Community Health for UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Her career has focused on the application of evidence-based methods to understand and elicit change in support of health, equity, and wellbeing. Her current responsibilities include identifying health needs in the community and integrating services between community-based and hospital systems that address these needs, with particular attention to the social, behavioral, and environmental factors that influence health. Ms. Kuchera’s clinical background includes working with young people who experienced significant weight challenges. Anne Marie serves on Boards of Directors for Grow Pittsburgh and the Midwife Center for Birth and Women’s Health. Her favorite day is spent in the outdoors, hiking or biking in a local park with her family.
Sarojini (Selvi) Ramaswamy, MBA, MPA
Selvi, is currently a Senior Business Analyst in the Division of Community Health at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. She has been working in this division for almost 20 years in various capacities. Her academic qualifications include Bachelor of Science in computer science, Master’s in Business Administration, and Master’s in Public Administration. Her responsibilities are diverse. She manages budgets, contracts and grants, and works with the leadership and the foundation on various projects. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, yoga and taking long walks.
Kristi Burry, MPH, CHES, CPH
Kristi serves as the Manager of Health and Prevention for the Community Health Division at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. In this role, she oversees implementation of the Healthy Schools, Healthy Out-of-School Time, and Healthy Early Childhood programs focused on creating healthier environments that support children’s health through implementation of health-supportive policies and best practices. Through these programs, Kristi helps school staff, out-of-school time providers, and early childcare teachers connect with local and national resources to support their goals. Her favorite part of her job is helping staff bring their ideas to fruition. Outside of work, Kristi enjoys spending time with her family, running, and trying new recipes.
Jodi Krall, PhD
Jodi is a member of UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh’s Community Health Division where she leads initiatives to promote health equity and well-being of children and families, particularly by strengthening policy, practice, and partnerships. She also works with the University of Pittsburgh Diabetes Institute addressing barriers to optimal diabetes care through system changes and application of strategies to promote informed health decisions. Dr. Krall is an investigator on several studies and quality improvement projects in the areas of health promotion and chronic disease prevention and treatment. She received her Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences from The Pennsylvania State University and completed a research assistantship with the Pennsylvania Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Education (SNAP-Ed).
John M. Burwell, AA, BA, FDC
John Burwell is the Community Program Specialist/Fatherhood/Adult Education at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. He is currently the chairperson of the Father’s Collaborative of Southwestern Pennsylvania. He coordinates with multiple service providers, internal and external to the organization to identify and address community health and safety concerns and communicates information to all responsible parties. He also is responsible for all the Fatherhood Programs at the 6 Family Care Connection centers. Outside of UPMC Children's, John enjoys teaching music education at The Center for Urban Biblical Ministry, weightlifting, cooking and being involved in his local community council.
Corliss Gunn-Ray BA
Corliss is the Health and Prevention Community Program Specialist for the Division of Community Health at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. In her role, she works directly with schools and community partners to create healthier environments for youth and school administration by implementing policies and best practices related to improving health outcomes. Corliss brings a wealth of experience in program development that holistically engages parents, caregivers, and schools to become a catalyst of change for long-term impact. She is a champion of growing supportive systems for schools to ensure all students have the opportunity to learn, grow and develop into healthy and successful members of society. In her free time, Corliss enjoys reading, theater, and art.
Abby Carpenter, MPH, MSW, LSW
Abby is the Clinical-Community Connections Manager for UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh's Division of Community Health. With a passion for public health and social justice, she strives to expand and support health systems that value the social health of patients. Abby focuses on facilitating stronger relationships between providers and community organizations in an effort to better connect families with supportive resources to help meet basic needs. She provides education and training around the impact of food insecurity on child health, while also supporting the implementation of evidence-based approaches to identifying and addressing household food insecurity. Abby spends her personal time attending concerts, exploring new places, and finding television shows worthy of her attention.
Angelica Paletta
Angelica Paletta is a Project Coordinator within the Community Health Division at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. She is interested in creating resilient food systems and supporting thriving communities with strong social support systems. In this role, she maintains and supports school partnerships for AnywhereCare@School. In addition, she provides project assistance within Clinical Community Connections, where she is most interested in creating community-focused solutions for food insecurity and other social needs that impact health and access to healthcare. In her free time, Angelica enjoys gardening, knitting and crocheting, reading, music festivals, and traveling.
Melanie Haynes, DNP, RN, CSN
Melanie serves as the School Nurse Navigator for the School Care Connect Program. She works as a liaison between health care providers, school nurses and patient families to support and promote quality care of students with chronic health conditions. Melanie facilitates the partnership between health care providers and school nurses to address students’ medical treatment needs during the school day. She also connects school nurses with resources to promote best practices related to the care of students. Melanie served as a school nurse for 19 years in public, private and boarding school settings. In her free time, Melanie enjoys spending time with family, cooking and being outdoors.
Mikaeli Slack
Mikaeli Slack is a Service Coordinator within the Clinical Community Connections team for UPMC Children's Community Health. A large part of her role includes connecting patients who have transportation barriers to programs that will assist them in getting to and from their medical appointments. Her role also includes the maintenance of food security interventions available to UPMC Children's patient families. Mikaeli has a deep passion for removing barriers to better health and feels that being a member of the Community Health team allows her to be a part of making that happen! In her free time, Mikaeli enjoys outdoor activities, crafting, reading, and spending time with friends and family.
Jack Taylor
Jack is an AmeriCorps Member completing his National Health Corps service year with the Division of Community Health at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. As the Community Health Educator, Jack delivers health education to children and their families across Pittsburgh. Jack focuses on topics including nutrition, hygiene, health literacy, and sleep, with the goal of supporting children and their families in their ability to make informed choices surrounding their health. Jack also works with schools, out-of-school time programs, and family centers to develop specific health education materials that are tuned to the needs of the community. In his spare time, Jack enjoys reading and watching soccer.
