Speakers

Ellen Hahn, Chasity Harney, Kyle Kuykendall, Gloria Linnertz, Timothy Mullett

Ellen Hahn, PhD, RN, FAAN

Professor and Marcia A. Dake Endowed Professor
University of Kentucky College of Nursing

Ellen Hahn received her undergraduate degree in nursing from Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University. She earned a Master of Arts in Health Education from The Ohio State University and a Master of Science in community health nursing from Indiana University. In 1992, she completed a doctorate in health policy/health of the community with a minor in substance abuse and the family at Indiana University School of Nursing.

Hahn is a professor in the College of Nursing and College of Public Health at UK, and she directs the Tobacco Policy Research Program. She is co-director of the College of Nursing's NIH-funded Center for Biobehavioral Research in Self-Management of Cardiopulmonary Disease. She also is a faculty associate at the UK Prevention Research Center, an associate at the UK Center for Health Services Management and Research, and a faculty member of the UK Markey Cancer Center.

Hahn was awarded a fellowship from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Developing Leadership in Reducing Substance Abuse Program (2000-2003). The fellowship was used to enhance her tobacco policy research skills. Her current research focuses on promoting smoke-free policy in Kentucky, particularly in rural areas, and radon risk reduction. She directs the Kentucky Center for Smoke-Free Policy, created in 2004 with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Center continues to receive funding from other agencies, including Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky and the Kentucky Department for Public Health.

Her research on alcohol, tobacco, and other drug prevention with young children and families has been reported in a variety of journals including the Journal of Drug Education, Journal of School Health, American Journal of Health Behavior, Education, and Promotion, Public Health Nursing, and Nursing Research.

Hahn has received numerous awards in recognition of her leadership in health education and smoke-free policy research. In 1998, she received the Sara C. Stice Award for outstanding contribution in the field of health education from the Kentucky Public Health Association. In 1999, she received the D. Jean Wood Award for Nursing Scholarship from the Southern Nursing Research Society. In 2000, she was appointed to the Kentucky Governor's Council Expert Panel on Youth Substance Abuse Prevention. She was awarded the 2004 John D. Slade, MD, Memorial Advocacy Award from the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs section of the American Public Health Association. In 2006, the Kentucky Nurses Association Board of Directors named her the Nurse Researcher of the Year, and the University of Kentucky recognized her efforts to promote the health of Kentuckians with the William E. Lyons Award for Outstanding Service. The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department selected her as a 2007 Public Health Hero for her role in developing Lexington's smoke-free ordinance. In 2008 her Clean Indoor Air Partnership was designated a Commonwealth Collaborative. In 2010, she was inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Researcher Hall of Fame.

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Chasity Harney, MA

Radon Cancer Survivor
Covington, Kentucky

I was born and raised in Kentucky where I currently live with my husband and our three children. Never in a million years would I have believed I could get lung cancer because there is no history of the disease in my family and I have never smoked.

A cancer diagnosis is devastating. My whole entire family has learned never to take one day for granted. We live in the present, not looking at the past or future. God continues to give me strength and endurance daily to be the wife and mom I need to be.

Chasity is a part of the organization, Breath of Hope KY.

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Kyle Kuykendall, MS

Radon Program Coordinator
BREATHE, UK College of Nursing
Lexington, Kentucky

Kyle Kuykendall joined the College of Nursing as the Radon Program Coordinator for BREATHE in July 2021 He provides radon outreach and education with advocates industry leaders and the general public He creates marketing and educational materials on the adverse health effects of radon and the synergistic risk of radon and tobacco He also provides research support training on the health effects of radon exposure radon testing and how to steps to mitigate radon risk Previously he worked for both the Division of Water and the Division of Mine Reclamation and Enforcement with the Commonwealth of Kentucky He received his Bachelor of Arts in biology from Transylvania University in 2002 and a Masters degree in biology from Eastern Kentucky University in 2013

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Gloria Linnertz

Director/Founder
Radon Activist
Citizens for Radioactive Radon Reduction
Waterloo, Illinois

Since lung cancer took my husband’s life February 8, 2006, I’ve devoted my life to radon education and awareness. Our house measured over four times the EPA radon action level. Sharing our story with others in the hope of preventing future radon-induced lung cancer deaths has expanded my acquaintances to include many legislators, industry professionals, government officials, and medical personnel throughout the nation. Thanks to my state representative, Dan Reitz, and the support of AARST, the president of the Illinois Home Inspectors Association and others, the Radon Awareness Act was passed in IL on August 16, 2007, which has resulted in many more homes being tested and mitigated. Helping to activate the radon community with activities of awareness and education is an on-going effort.

Participating in TV and radio interviews, writing newspaper articles, giving presentations to all types of groups, displaying materials and stories at home shows and conferences, and organizing events has been my life for the last 16 years; attending numerous National Conference of State Legislators helping to educate our state senators and representative about the danger of radon exposure; participated in numerous state and US hearings on the need for radon policies.

In late 2013 I established a 501c3 nonprofit organization to facilitate the spread of the facts about the danger of radon exposure. I am excited about the growing participation in Citizens for Radioactive Radon Reduction and our new electronic radon news magazine, CR3 NEWS, published by lung cancer survivor and PA representative of our organization, Jackie Nixon.

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Timothy Mullett, MD, MBA, FACS

Professor, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
University of Kentucky College of Medicine
Medical Director, Network Operations
UK Markey Cancer Center
Lexington, Kentucky
Chair, Commission on Cancer
American College of Surgeons

Timothy Wm. Mullett, MD, MBA, FACS, is a professor of surgery in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Kentucky (UK). He received his medical degree and surgical training at the University of Florida, and has served on faculty at UK for the past 25 years. Although he has experience in cardiac surgery and transplantation, Dr. Mullett’s clinical practice and research focuses on the overwhelming burden of lung cancer in Kentucky. He is a member of the UK Markey Cancer Center – Kentucky’s only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center – and is chair of UK’s cancer committee. This Commission on Cancer program achieved an Outstanding Achievement Award in 2017. He served as CoC state chair for six years and was awarded Outstanding State Chair in 2019. In October of 2019, Dr. Mullett was elected to serve as the next national Chair of the CoC, a role he assumed in November 2020.

Currently, Dr. Mullett is the medical director of the Markey Cancer Center Affiliate Network, a program that provides high-quality cancer care closer to home at collaborating centers through specialty services, education and outreach programs. He also serves as medical director of the Markey Cancer Center Research Network, a collaborative network of sites that conducts a portfolio of high priority trials including therapeutic oncology trials and interventional and non-interventional studies appropriate for community centers.

Dr. Mullett’s research interests include studying quality implementation of lung cancer screening. He is principal investigator of the Kentucky LEADS Collaborative, a portfolio of studies to reduce the burden of lung cancer in Kentucky. For three years, he has been the clinical champion for the L.A.U.N.C.H. Collaborative, working with the NCI, the Federal Communications Commission, Amgen, and other stakeholders to study barriers to cancer care and the impact of limited broadband access.

In addition to his medical career, Dr. Mullett is a retired colonel with 27 years in the US Army Reserves Medical Corps, with tours of duty in Iraq, Afghanistan and with Homeland Security in response to terrorist threats. He is also an eight-year cancer survivor, having been treated successfully with targeted therapy for a metastatic sarcoma.

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