Gerrit Bakker
Gerrit Bakker is the deputy director of the Emergency Preparedness and Response Division (EPRD) of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. EPRD is the coordinating agency for public health response to emergencies in Colorado and has taken a leadership role in the use of new technologies and Web 2.0 social media applications. Bakker has had primary roles in responses to the salmonella outbreak in Alamosa, Colorado, the H1N1 flu response, and the Democratic National Convention. A self-described “public health lifer,” he has performed a wide range of activities, including epidemiology and surveillance, risk communication and public education, program development and management, mediation, and facilitation. He has also been involved regularly in legislative and regulatory issues.
Bakker has been with the department for more than 26 years and has served in programs that include sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS, communicable disease control, immunization, and viral hepatitis. A Denver native, Bakker is a graduate of the University of Iowa. He is a former president of the Colorado Public Health Association and currently serves on many national committees for public health preparedness and response agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Preparedness, the Department of Homeland Security, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, and the National Association of County and City Health Officials.