Sara McDowell serves as the Manager of Disease Intervention Initiatives at the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH). In her role, she supports project activities, deliverables, and reporting for the CDC-funded Disease Intervention Specialist (DIS) Certification Project to establish an industry standard board certification for disease interventional professionals and establish educational pathways to the workforce and certification.

Prior to assuming her role at ASPPH, as the Quality Improvement Specialist for a large, regional family practice physician's group in North Florida, she attained experience in population health management, and health program planning and evaluation. Sara also served as a founding board member establishing the Public Health Alumni Network for her alma mater public health program, developing the Network's vision to foster networking, professional development, and scholarship among members and stakeholders. Sara is dedicated to improving the reach of public health in communities, through robust program development and continuing education opportunities for the public health workforce.

Sara received her Master of Public Health and Graduate Certificate of Nonprofit Management from the University of North Florida and Bachelor of Science in Biology from Florida Southern College. She is board certified in public health by the National Board of Public Health Examiners.