OUR TEAM
DEBRA FRASER-HOWZE
PRINCIPAL
Before launching D. Fraser Associates, Ms. Fraser-Howze was the Senior Vice President , Government and External Affairs at OraSure Technologies, a leader in the development, manufacturing and distribution of oral fluid diagnostic and collection devices and other technologies designed to detect or diagnose critical medical conditions. Ms. Fraser-Howze was charged with developing business opportunities in new markets, she worked with lawmakers to ensure resources were available to communities in need of testing, and developed external opportunities with clients, stakeholders and business partners.
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While at OraSure Technologies, Ms. Fraser-Howze played a critical role in launching the Company’s OraQuick In-Home HIV Test (2012) and the OraQuick Rapid HCV Test (2010). Both innovations are the first and only such tests to be approved by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). She was also instrumental in securing $30 million in government funding for the clinical development of the Company’s OraQuick Rapid Ebola Test (2015) and the OraQuick Rapid Zika Test (2016) – the former of which is currently being deployed in West Africa under FDA Emergency Use Authorization.
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Prior to joining OraSure, Ms. Fraser-Howze served as the President/CEO of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS (NBLCA), an organization she founded in 1987. NBLCA conducts policy, research and advocacy on HIV and AIDS to ensure effective participation of its leadership in all policy and resource allocation decisions at the national, state and local levels of communities of African descent nationwide. NBLCA is now the largest black HIV and AIDS non-profit organization of its kind in America.
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Ms. Fraser-Howze has been widely recognized for more than three decades of global leadership to communities of color regarding teenage pregnancy, social welfare, and HIV and AIDS. She advised two U.S. Presidents while serving on the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS from 1995-2001.
Fraser-Howze was the Vice Chair of the HIV Human Services Planning Council in New York City and chaired the National Institute of Heath’s Public Education Technology Committee. In 2003, she was appointed to the New York City Commission on AIDS and in 2007 to the New York State Governors Health Advisory Council. In 2009, she was the recipient of the National Medical Association’s (NMA) highest honor, Scroll of Merit, and in 2010 she was inducted into the Hunter College Hall of Fame for distinguished achievement.
RON TICHO
ASSOCIATE
Ron Ticho is President of Advance MarCom Strategies, LLC and has more than 25 years of strategic marketing and communications experience in the areas of healthcare, life sciences, technology, and higher education. He most recently served as the Vice President of Corporate Strategy and External Affairs for Coordinated Health, a privately-owned specialty hospital and health network . Prior to joining Coordinated Health, Mr. Ticho served for over a decade on the executive management team at OraSure Technologies, a publicly-traded medical diagnostics company, where he led corporate communications and strategic marketing. During his tenure the Company grew revenues over 35% and launched several new products. Prior to his tenure at OraSure, Mr. Ticho spent nearly 15 years at Lehigh University in a variety of capacities. As the head of University Relations, he reported directly to the President and served as the institution’s first chief marketing and communications officer. Mr. Ticho serves on the board of the Miller Keystone Blood Center, the United Way Cabinet, and the Parkland Education Foundation.
DALE DIRKS
ASSOCIATE
Dale P. Dirks is the President Emeritus of the Health and Medicine Counsel of Washington, a government relations firm that specializes in health policy. He is the Washington Representative for the Association of Minority Health Professions Schools, known as AMHPS. AMHPS is comprised of the 12 historically black medical, dental, pharmacy, and veterinary schools in the country. In his capacity working with AMHPS for nearly 30 years, Mr. Dirks has worked to develop the Minority Centers of Excellence Program at HRSA, the Research Centers at Minority Institutions Program at NIH, the recently established National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities at NIH, and other federal programs focused on improving the health status of minorities in this country. More recently, Mr. Dirks has begun to work with the National Council on Diversity in Health Professions. NCDHP is a consortium of health professions institutions which has been formed to revitalize annual funding for the Minority Centers of Excellence Program (COE) and the Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP).
Sandra Thurman
ASSOCIATE
Sandra Thurman is a globally recognized expert in AIDS policy and global health. She began her career in AIDS activism at AID Atlanta, later becoming its executive director. Her impactful work led to her appointment as the first director of the Office of National AIDS Policy under President Bill Clinton. Ms. Thurman was a Member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS and a founding member of Cities Advocating Emergency AIDS Relief (CAEAR). She has served on the Board of Directors of numerous AIDS organizations and other health related organizations including the March of Dimes, and the National Kidney Foundation. She is one of the world's leading experts on AIDS issues and has provided testimony before the United States Congress, the White House Conference on HIV/AIDS, and the National Commission on AIDS. Currently, she serves as a Senior Advisor to the Division of Global HIV and Tuberculosis at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Chief Strategy Officer at the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, and Professor of Practice at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University.
Caya Lewis-Atkins
ASSOCIATE
Caya Lewis Atkins is a domestic and global health strategic management, governance
and policy expert with a specialization in public health, sexual and reproductive health
and rights, and advocacy. She is the former Chief Advisor for Policy and Strategy
Advisor in the Office of Global Affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services that represent the United States at the World Health Organization and in a
myriad of other bilateral and multilateral forums. Prior to this position, she was the senior
Technical Coordinator for AGYW at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria in
Geneva Switzerland. In this role, she coordinated work across the Global Fund to reduce
HIV incidence in adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) and managed the AGYW
Strategic Initiative for the 13 AGYW focus countries.
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She has been a member of several advisory committees, including the Presidential
Advisory Committee on HIV/AIDS under the Clinton and Bush administrations. She has
given frequent presentations and speeches at national and community-level forums.