VPI Staff
John Meurer, MD, MBA
Director, Institute For Health and Society (VPI)
John Meurer, MD, MBA, is Principal Investigator of the Youth Violence Prevention Initiative of the Medical College of Wisconsin Healthier Wisconsin Partnership Program. Dr. Meurer is Professor and Director of the Institute for Health and Society at MCW which aims to improve health and advance equity through partnerships. John leads initiatives to improve the health of populations of employees, patients and communities. He serves on the Clinical Translational Science Institute Community Engagement key function. Dr Meurer directs the primary care research fellowship in the Institute and in Pediatrics. He enjoys caring for patients and teaching pediatric residents at the Downtown Health Center. He also likes teaching health policy, management and systems improvement for medical and graduate students and community members.
Staci Young, PhD
Senior Faculty Director, Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI)
Staci Young is the Senior Faculty Director for the Violence Prevention Initiative and has been part of the VPI since February 2010. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine and the Institute for Health and Society. She earned her MS and PhD in Urban Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She has extensive experience forming, sustaining and evaluating community-academic partnerships to improve health. She is a medical sociologist that uses qualitative methodology to investigate how health organizations and systems influence provider behaviors and health outcomes. Her research interests include health professions advocacy for vulnerable patients and populations, the organization of work among health professionals in traditional and community-based clinical settings, and the relationship between the urban environment, acute and chronic life stressors, and health status.
Kerry Solum
Program Manager, Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI)
Kerry Solum currently serves as the Program Manager for the Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI) with the Medical College of Wisconsin. Kerry manages the financial and budgetary needs for the Initiative including supporting the four partnership teams with their financial requirements. Kerry has been with the Medical College of Wisconsin for over ten years and brings over five years experience working with Community-Academic partnerships. Kerry is a native Wisconsinite and earned her Bachelors of Science degree in Communications at Carrol Universtiy.
Anthony Caples, M.Div.
Community Outreach Coordinator, Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI)
Anthony Caples has been an advocate for the majority of his career to serving the needs of the community with an emphasis of working with youth and victims of violence. Anthony currently serves as the Community Outreach Coordinator for the Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI) with the Medical College of Wisconsin. Anthony works to establish and nurture partnerships in the community with an emphasis of educating the community of violence and how it has become a public health issue. Anthony, a native of Milwaukee, is an ordained minister and Associate Pastor at Community Baptist Church of Greater Milwaukee. Anthony holds a Master of Divinity from Grace Theological Seminary.
John Rakowski
Program Coordinator, Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI)
John L. Rakowski currently serves as Program Coordinator for the Medical College of Wisconsin’s Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI), primarily supporting the Holton Youth and Family Center Collaborative and the Ripple Effect Milwaukee partnership teams. John brings over ten years of experience leading community-based youth engagement and violence prevention efforts throughout Milwaukee and Chicago. John is committed to fostering sustainable collaborations, including community-academic partnerships, that positively impact youth and the greater community. A proud product of Milwaukee Public Schools, John grew up on the city's north side and graduated from Harold S. Vincent High School. John earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is currently completing his Master’s Degree in Educational Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Ann Bria
Program Coordinator, Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI)
Ann Bria provides support to the Medical College of Wisconsin – Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI) community, awarded partner teams, and area youth to facilitate the achievement of the Violence Prevention Initiative goals. Ann’s prior experience includes four years with United Neighborhood Centers of Milwaukee (UNCOM) as Director of Innovative Programs. Ann identified and executed trainings, developed advocacy and affinity strategies that sustained value for member agencies and other UNCOM stakeholders. Ann oversaw all aspects of engagement for member agencies as it related to professional development, affinity management and advocacy execution. Ann directed assessments of UNCOM’s training and affinity infrastructure and built organizational capacity through relationship management. Currently, Ann also serves as a part-time instructor at Milwaukee Area Technical College and provides at risk youth and adults the necessary skills to obtain their General Education Diploma (GED). Ann has over 18 years in the hospitality industry as a sales manager with extensive experience in the hotel event management industry specializing planning flawless events in the professional & collegiate sports arrangements, entertainment, and corporate market. Ann developed, cultivated, and maintained relationships locally and nationally.