Congratulations to Our 2024 IACW Immunization Champions!

IACW Advocate, Tara Cullinan, a dedicated clinic supervisor at Pediatrics for You, has been a tireless advocate for immunizations for nearly two decades, training her students and staff in best practices and ensuring safe vaccine administration. Affectionately known as “The Evil Shot Lady”, Tara excels at building trust and communicating with vaccine-hesitant families, ensuring children from birth to 18 receive recommended vaccines. Her efforts, including successful COVID-19 campaign, school vaccination outreach, and participation in the Center for Disease Control’s 2D Bar Code Implementation Project, have consistently earned her practice Immunize Washington Seals and significantly improved community immunization rates.

IACW Collaborator Elizabeth Bowman-Clark breaks the mold as a vaccine coordinator and LPN/triage nurse at Island Health Primary Care through her dedication in leading the vaccine program, engaging staff through interactive training and enhancing vaccine tracking with IT integration. Her innovative leadership and collaboration led to over 8,000 childhood vaccines administered in 2023, doubling the clinic’s previous year’s figures. Balancing this with her role as a triage nurse, Elizabeth’s tireless efforts contributed significantly to protecting her community from vaccine preventable diseases.  

IACW Respiratory Season Champion, Dr. Maria Huang, a dedicated pediatrician, exemplifies leadership, collaboration, innovation, and advocacy in immunization efforts.  As co-chair of the WCAAP Vaccine Committee, she has provided monthly vaccine tips and resources through the “Vax Corner” segment of the WCAAP and WAFP newsletters. In collaboration with the WA DOH and fellow colleagues, she has been instrumental in preparing for the respiratory season by promoting all available vaccines to prevent severe outcomes from COVID-19, flu, and RSV. Dr. Huang’s advocacy contributed to the passage of Washington Senate Bill 5982 and companion HB 2157, which updated the definition of “vaccine” to include all FDA-approved immunizations recommended by the CDC, making Nirsevimab (RSV immunization) available to all WA kids. Her leadership in the Power in Partnership Project has outreached to 19 counties in Washington, enhancing communication between schools, providers, and local public health entities.  Her efforts have significantly advanced vaccine access and addressed healthcare gaps across Washington.