Kate Coburn

Ms. Kate Coburn is currently the Director of the Community Health Section of the Center for Continuing Education, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, a program helping regional health professionals to improve patient care and individuals to make informed health decisions. In this position she directs health education efforts for the general community, occupational groups, and for Dartmouth Medical students. As a community health educator and instructor in Community and Family Medicine at Dartmouth Medical School she works with state and local initiatives to improve individual health through collaboration and effective behavior change programming. Kate has also authored three health and wellness books published by the American Diabetes Association and Bantam books.

Kate's tobacco prevention and treatment work has sought to address the training needs of medical students and to provide science-based prevention and tobacco addiction treatment to rural communities. Specific activities include:

• teaching at Dartmouth Medical School - Partners in Health Education and the Live-Free/ Smoke-free volunteer tobacco treatment program;
• initiating, Nobacco, at Dartmouth College aimed at encouraging students and administrators to make changes which encourage tobacco-free living on campus;
• leading a Dartmouth-Karelia, Russia community improvement exchange to support the prevention of tobacco-use and its cessation: collaborating with area schools and providers
• facilitate the Great American Smokeout and Smokescream in area medical centers, schools, worksites, and medical center;
• initiating and implementing a 1992 CDC grant-supported coalition "Tobacco-free Lebanon Coalition" whose mission is to,"create a community expectation that youth will resist tobacco products and choose alternatives which promote well-being and healthy lifestyles";
• planning and evaluating the impact of New Hampshire Celebrates Wellness which fosters the creation of local wellness teams statewide to improve health of populations served;
• developing and updating means of personal health resource identification and referral for the public, professional, and employee groups.

Ms. Coburn is an active member of the US Public Health Association and Society of Public Health Educators and serves on numerous planning and advisory committees. Recent grant awards include the $196,000 State of NH Tobacco Prevention Program grant in 2001. This grant supports the Upper Valley Prevention Partnership in reducing local tobacco-use and the $10,000 American Cancer Society HELP grant to support youth involvement in tobacco policy change. Kate Coburn has mentored numerous Dartmouth College and Dartmouth Medical School students to address tobacco issues and advocate for healthy living. Kate lives in Lebanon, NH with her Husband Kevin and sons Don and Miles.