College of Public Health and Health Professions graduates Cindy Prins, Ph.D., M.P.H., and Lt. William Walders, M.H.A., were recognized at the University of Florida’s Outstanding Young Alumni Awards ceremony April 6.
Prins is a clinical assistant professor at the UF department of epidemiology in the College of Public Health and Health Professions and the College of Medicine. She is the epidemiology doctoral program director and a member of UF’s Rural South Public Health Training Center team.
Prins received a Ph.D. in biochemistry, microbiology and molecular biology from Penn State University. She did her post-doctoral training at UF and concurrently earned a UF Master of Public Health degree with a concentration in epidemiology in 2006. She later worked as an infection preventionist at Shands at UF, earning her board certification in infection prevention and control.
Prins’ research interests include health care-associated infections and multi-drug resistant organisms. She recently received a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s National Vaccine Program Office and JBS International to support a project on vaccine knowledge. In 2012 she was awarded the Public Health Award for Faculty Excellence by UF’s Master of Public Health students.
Walders is the chief information officer at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the Department of Defense’s largest hospital.
Walders earned a UF Master of Health Administration degree in 2007. Following graduation, he held several positions in information systems management, including deputy department head of enterprise information assurance at the Navy Medical Information Management Center, and chief information officer at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Rota, Spain. He was then deployed to the USNS Comfort, a seagoing medical treatment facility with 1,000 patient beds. As the chief information officer, he led the shipboard information technology staff and developed a humanitarian aid package for health care information technology supplies, infrastructure and training for nine South and Central American countries. Walders went on to serve as head of service design at the Military Health System Cyberinfrastructure Services.
Walders’ awards include Navy and Marine Corps Commendation and Achievement Medals, a Navy Unit Commendation, a Meritorious Unit Commendation, Navy Battle Efficiency Awards, and numerous campaign and service awards.