Executive Leadership Team Bios

Brenda Fitzgerald, M.D., serves as the Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) and State Health Officer. Dr. Fitzgerald, a board-certified Obstetrician-Gynecologist and a Fellow in Anti-Aging Medicine, has practiced medicine for three decades.

As Commissioner, Dr. Fitzgerald oversees various state public health programs including Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Maternal and Child Health, Infectious Disease and Immunization, Environmental Health, Epidemiology, Emergency Preparedness and Response, Emergency Medical Services, Pharmacy, Nursing, Volunteer Health Care, the Office of Health Equity, Vital Records and the State Public Health Laboratory. Dr. Fitzgerald also directs the state’s 18 public health districts and 159 county health departments. Prior to joining DPH, Dr. Fitzgerald held numerous leadership positions.

Fitzgerald served on the board and as president of the Georgia OB-GYN Society and she worked as a health care policy advisor with House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Senator Paul Coverdell. She has served as Chairman of the Board for the Georgia Public Policy Foundation and remains a Senior Fellow. Additionally, she served on the Military Academy Selection Boards for Senators Paul Coverdell and Saxby Chambliss, and was a founding board member for the Paul Coverdell Leadership Institute. She also contributed to Leadership Georgia serving as a program chair, served as the 7th District Representative to the Georgia State School Board, and held board posts with Voices for Georgia’s Children, the Advanced Academy of West Georgia, the University of West Georgia Foundation, and the Carrollton Rotary Club.

Dr. Fitzgerald holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology from Georgia State University and a Doctor of Medicine degree from Emory University School of Medicine. She completed post-graduate training at the Emory-Grady Hospitals in Atlanta and held an assistant clinical professorship at Emory Medical Center. As a Major in the U.S. Air Force, Dr. Fitzgerald served at the Wurtsmith Air Force Strategic Air Command (SAC) Base in Michigan and at the Andrews Air Force Base in Washington, D.C.

Sid Barrett joined the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) in June 2011, after 11 years as Section Chief for the Consumer Interests Section in the Office of the Attorney General. As General Counsel, he advises the Commissioner of DPH and supervises a staff of legal service officers within the agency.

Before entering public service, Mr. Barrett was a partner in the firm of Porter & Barrett, engaged in the litigation, arbitration and mediation of complex commercial disputes. In addition, he served as a mediator and arbitrator for several courts and private organizations, including the American Arbitration Association, American Stock Exchange, and the National Association of Securities Dealers, for whom he helped design and implement a nationwide arbitrator training program. Mr. Barrett received a Bachelor of Arts from Davidson College and a Juris Doctorate from Emory University School of Law.

Kenneth Bramlett was appointed Inspector General for the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) on June 1, 2011.

Mr. Bramlett was formerly the State Registrar and Director of the Office of Vital Records from 2009 and led the Georgia Department of Human Resources’ (DHR) Office of Investigative Services (OIS) from 1999 to 2009. Under his leadership, the agency led the Southeast Region in investigating and recovering tax dollars misappropriated through welfare fraud.

Prior to his work at DPH, Mr. Bramlett served 23 years with the Cobb County Police Department as Commander of Internal Affairs, Criminal Investigations, Hostage Negotiations Team and Assistant Commander of the Marietta/Cobb/Smyrna Narcotics Unit. He also served as Deputy Director of the Georgia Professional Standards Commission from 1998 to 1999.

Mr. Bramlett graduated from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Academy in Quantico, Virginia in 1990 and served as President of the Georgia Chapter of the FBI National Academy in 2000-2001. In 2002, he served as a member of the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange 10th Delegation to the State of Israel. He also graduated from the Georgia Law Enforcement Command College in 2005, received a Bachelor of Arts in Management from Shorter College in 2006, and a Masters in Public Administration from Columbus State University in December 2009.

An active duty Marine from 1972 to 1975, he currently serves as Commandant of the North Georgia Mountains Detachment of the Marine Corps League and is a member of the Greater Atlanta Marine Corps Coordinating Council.

Janie Brodnax serves as Chief Operating Officer for the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH).

Since coming to DPH in 2005, she has served as Director of DPH Transition Team Lead, Public Health Contracts Administration, Department of Human Resources (DHR)/Department of Community Health (DCH) Transition Member, Senior Director of Contracts and Insurance Management, Administrative Services Section Director, and Administrative Operations Manager.

Prior to coming to DPH, Ms. Brodnax worked at Georgia Regional Hospital Atlanta under the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD), where her responsibilities consisted of Agency Procurement Officer and Manager of the Business Office.

Ms. Brodnax has over 30 years experience in Finance, Operations, Consultation, Facilitation, Projects Management, Change Management, Management Consultation and Corporate Leadership.

Russell Crutchfield serves as the Deputy Chief of Staff for the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH).

Prior to this role, Mr. Crutchfield served as DPH’s first Director of Government Relations and held positions with the Governor’s Office and Planning and Budget and the Georgia Department at Labor. His experience working in the public health arena began while previously serving as the Director of Legislative and External Affairs for the Georgia Department of Community Health that formerly included the Division of Public Health. During previous legislative sessions, Mr. Crutchfield served as a legislative aide in Georgia’s State Senate and House of Representatives.

Mr. Crutchfield holds a Bachelor’s degree in political science and a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of West Georgia.

Yvette Daniels serves as the Director of Health Promotion for the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH), where she oversees four programs including Maternal and Child Health, Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, the Volunteer Health Care Program and the Office of Health Equity.

Previously she was the Deputy Director of Legislative and External Affairs, where she was responsible for the development and direction of the legislative goals and agenda for areas impacting Public Health. She also worked to strengthen relationships with key policymakers and provide oversight for the resolution of legislative constituent issues and concerns. Ms. Daniels was previously the Director of Legislation and Policy for the Division of Public Health during its tenure in the Department of Human Resources (DHR), and also served as Legal Services Manager where she reviewed Division legal actions to ensure compliance with state and federal law and provided guidance concerning the statutory responsibilities of the Division and County Boards of Health statewide.

Before joining DPH, Ms. Daniels was an Assistant State Attorney with the State Attorney’s Office in Jacksonville, Florida. As an Assistant State Attorney, Ms. Daniels was assigned to the Sexual Assault Unit with responsibility for prosecuting sex offenses against children and women. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Georgia and her Juris Doctorate from the University Of Georgia School of Law.

Ryan Deal serves as the Director of Communications for the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH). As the chief communications officer, Mr. Deal oversees all aspects of internal and external communications for the Department and its programs and divisions. His team within the Office of Communications manages all marketing and communications plans and vendors while leading communicators in Georgia’s 18 public health districts. Mr. Deal most recently served in the same capacity at the Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH), which recently also housed Public Health.

Mr. Deal joined public health in 2010 to serve as the State Public Health Risk Communicator in the Section of Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR), managing all aspects of the Public Health/Emergency Preparedness and Response Risk Communication Program to plan, prepare for and respond to statewide disease outbreaks, natural and man-made disasters.

Before joining the public sector, Mr. Deal worked as an Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist. He drew on that experience to lead crisis and emergency communication teams during the H1N1 pandemic response, a national foodborne disease outbreak, and he served as a public relations and marketing consultant for a variety of Fortune 500 corporations and non-profit groups. Mr. Deal also served as an instructor at East Carolina University.

Mr. Deal earned a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism at Emerson College in Boston and recently studied Radiological Emergency Planning: Terrorism, Security, and Communication at the Harvard University School of Public Health.

James C. Howgate, II, MPH serves as the Chief of Staff for the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH).

Mr. Howgate first joined public health at the Fulton County Department of Health and Wellness in Atlanta in 2005, where he served as the Director of the Division of Population Health Department of Health and Wellness, and later as an Epidemiologist. In 2009, he joined the Division of Public Health under the Department of Community Health (DCH) as the Departmental Enterprise Coordinator, where he acted as a conduit between Departmental administrative functions and all Public Health Programs across the state. Prior to his work in Public Health, Mr. Howgate worked for the Georgia Emerging Infections Program in the Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases where he managed several federally funded epidemiological studies.

Mr. Howgate earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia in 1991, and later earned a Master of Public Health degree in Epidemiology in 2000 from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Carole C. Jakeway, MPH, BSN, RN, NEA-BC serves as the District and County Operations Director for the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH), where she oversees the Pharmacy and Nursing programs. Prior to her role as director in 2009, Ms. Jakeway served as the Chief Nurse for the Georgia Division of Public Health under the Department of Community Health (DCH) for 20 years.

She has over 40 years of public health nursing experience in the states of Washington, South Carolina and Georgia that include staff nursing, school health, home health, supervision, consultation and administration. This experience includes 15 years with local county health departments and the remainder with official state public health agencies. Ms. Jakeway served as President of the Association of State and Territorial Directors of Nursing (ASTDN), the nursing affiliate of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) during 2001-2002 and has served on multiple ASTDN Committees.

She completed the scholars program with the national Pubic Health Leadership Institute, sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

She received her Master of Public Health degree from the University of South Carolina and a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Mercy College of Detroit. Ms. Jakeway is a member of Delta Omega, the honorary public health society and is currently certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center as Nurse Executive, Advanced.

J. Patrick O’Neal, MD serves as the Director of Health Protection for the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH), where he has oversight responsibility for Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Trauma, Emergency Preparedness, Epidemiology, Infectious Disease, Immunizations, and Environmental Health.

Since 2002, Dr. O’Neal served as the Medical Director for the Office of EMS/Trauma in the Georgia Division of Public Health under the Department of Community Health (DCH). For 29 years prior, he practiced emergency medicine at DeKalb Medical Center in Decatur. In his final seven years at Dekalb Medical Center, he served as the Regional Medical Director for EMS throughout the Greater Atlanta area. Dr. O’Neal formerly served as Director of the Outpatient Clinic at the Medical Center of Central Georgia for two years before his work at Dekalb.

He completed an undergraduate program at Davidson College in North Carolina and received his medical education at the Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana. Following medical school, he completed a rotating internship at Providence Hospital, Portland, Oregon, prior to entering the United States Air Force for training in flight medicine. Dr. O’Neal served as a flight surgeon in Viet Nam in 1970-71.

Kate Pfirman serves as the Chief Financial Officer for the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH), where she oversees the financial services, grant management and budget offices.

Ms. Pfirman has been with state government since 1995. Over her 16-year career with the state, she has held various positions, including Treasurer at the Department of Transportation (DOT), Chief Administrative Officer at Georgia Technology Authority (GTA), Division Director at the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget (OPB), and Deputy Commissioner at the Department of Human Resources (DHR).