District 5450 PolioPlus Committee Speakers List
Please contact speaker(s) directly to make arrangements for your club’s program. You should consider what areas of information are of greatest interest to your members.
Marny EulbergWheat Ridge Rotary Club
Contact: marnyeul@me.com or 303-829-1538
Marny is a polio survivor and a family physician, who has run a post-polio clinic in the Denver metro area since 1985. She is active in polio-related organizations in Colorado and nationally. She initiated the Colorado Post-Polio Wellness Camp in 2014 and, in 2015, a mobile “post-polio clinic" that travels throughout Colorado.
Marny’s speaker topics include:
- What the polio virus does to the body; how it is transmitted (pathophysiology/pathology)
- The history of polio
- Personal and professional experiences with polio
- What is Post-Polio Syndrome?
- Current statistics about the polio eradication effort: cases/dollars/etc.
- Benefits of the polio eradication effort despite not yet being "At Zero"
Peg JohnstonDenver Rotary Club
Contact: peg.johnston@yahoo.com or 720-217-9800
The retired owner of a business-brokerage firm, Peg has has been a Rotarian for 25 years, serving in many capacities: Director (twice), Club Foundation Chair (1998-2000), and District Polio Chair (2010-2015). In 2015, she traveled with Rotarians to India for a National Immunization Day (NID) event north of Delhi.
Peg received the Regional Service Award for a Polio-Free World (2015-16). In 2017, she and her son, Jim, led an effort that raised $130,000 for PolioPlus in honor of longtime Rotarian Grant Wilkin's commitment to the eradication cause.
Peg’s speaker presentation includes:
- The history of polio, Rotary's involvement, and partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- About the polio virus, planned change in immunization, ratio of infection to paralysis
- Current endemic countries and cVDPV (circulating virus-derived polio virus)
- Ongoing concerns and challenges
- Our District’s support to date
- Legacy to date of the Polio Plus effort
Audrey LeavittDenver Mile High Rotary Club
Contact: audleav2@aol.com or 610-805-7579
Audrey became involved with polio eradication in 1999 when she traveled to Madagascar to do inoculations with a team from Rotary District 7450. That experience had a profound effect on her. Since then, she has helped with National Inoculation Days (NIDs) in Nigeria and several times in India.
Audrey’s speaker topics include:
- On-the-ground experience giving "drops" to children
- How local Rotarians have contributed to the program
- The logistics of an NID
- Observing children affected by polio
- How the vaccine is changing lives
Mike Oldham Parker Rotary Club
Contact: meoldham@msn.com or 303-453-9067
Mike has served his Club in multiple capacities, as well as being a Past District 5450 Governor. With his extensive knowledge of our District's and Rotary International's polio-eradication efforts, plus his family history with polio, Mike brings passion to his presentation.
Mike’s speaker topics include:
- The history and impact of polio the US, including FDR, and its lasting impact for living survivors
- The personal toll of polio: His family’s experience with the disease in the 1950s, including the loss of his brother
- Rotary Club’s involvement with eradication
- Achievements with Rotary's leadership, including our district's amazing contributions and how close we are
- Why our continued support is vital, and what a polio-free world means
Dave TalbotMountain Foothills Rotary Club
Contact: c4a@crutches4africa.org or 303-877-2803
David contracted polio at age 2 ½ years, just 2 weeks after the announcement that the Salk vaccination had been developed. He went through several years of rehab. David put his focus on overcoming his physical challenges and even ran with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain.
He felt he had whipped polio, but after working in several careers, he now is back in the struggle against polio (post polio syndrome with its muscle and bone pain and increasing loss of strength in his polio-affected leg). After 45 years of freedom from mobility equipment, he now uses crutches and a leg brace. In the fall of 2016, he experienced a life threatening heart attack but has made an excellent recovery.
In 2005, when David was in Uganda with his wife, Candice, they witnessed a incredible need for mobility devices. This was the seed that grew into Crutches 4 Africa, which has delivered over 100,000 free mobility devices to people in need in 16 countries in Africa and 10 other countries in the developing world.
David is a Paul Harris Fellow and was the 2011 recipient of the International Service Award for a Polio Free World.
David "Woody" WoodlandSummit County Rotary Club
Contact: woody1630@gmail.com or 518-637-7162
David (Woody) Woodland spent his career running an independent research laboratory focused on molecular immunity to pandemic pathogens. He sat on commissions that studied the impact of pandemic viral infections in the US and was also a member of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity which regulates US research into highly dangerous pathogens. He currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the international journal – The Journal of Cytokine and Interferon Research. His research background, coupled with his friendship with a number of polio survivors, has led to a passion for polio eradication. He is proud to be a Rotarian and has served his club in a number of roles, including president, and worked to raise funds for this critical cause.
Woody can speak about various aspects of Polio eradication and can present fascinating aspects of Poliovirus biology suitable for lay audiences.