Last week, the Stuy Reality Check club had a special guest presenter, Dr. Achala Talati, DO, MS, MPH, Director of the Tobacco Policy and Programs Unit at the New York City (NYC) Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). Joining Dr. Talati was Co-Presenter, Ayodele Alli, Youth Engagement Manager, Manhattan. Dr. Talati is a board certified preventive medicine physician and internist. She completed her Public Health/Preventive Medicine Residency at DOHMH and her Internal Medicine Residency at Albany Medical Center. Dr. Talati also holds a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the CUNY School of Public Health and Health Policy. Dr. Talati has led clinical initiatives at the Health Department that focus on increased education for the provider community and equitable access to care for all New Yorkers. As Director of the Tobacco Policy and Programming Unit, she managed implementation of the City’s ten tobacco bills passed in 2017, on issues such as retail licensing, retail density, hookah, and e-cigarettes. She also oversaw the local response to the e-cigarette- or vaping-associated lung injury (EVALI) outbreak in 2019 and manages ongoing surveillance for EVALI in NYC. https://www.nysmokefree.com/ ht
