15th ANNUAL EARLY HEARING DETECTION & INTERVENTION MEETING
March 13-15, 2016 • San Diego, CA
THE ANTONIA BRANCIA MAXON AWARD FOR EHDI EXCELLENCE
Jacque Cundall
Jacque Cundall has dedicated her professional life to improving the health and well-being of others. From 1972 to 1991, Jacque impacted individuals and families as a public health nurse in Washington State, Arkansas, and Missouri. After moving to Tennessee in 1991, she has specifically made a commitment to Tennessee children and their families through her work in various leadership roles associated with maternal and child health. Jacque has also served as Nurse Consultant for the Tennessee Medicaid Bureau (1991-1992), Program Director of the Health Genetics Program (1992-1996), and Program Director for Children's Special Services (1996-2002). In her current role as Acting Program Director Tennessee's Department of Health Family Health and Wellness Division, Jacque coordinates statewide newborn screening and follow-up for metabolic/genetic blood spot screening; hearing screening; and critical congenital heart disease pulse oximetry screening, while working collaboratively with Tennessee's Genetics Advisory Committee, genetic centers, hematology centers, endocrinology centers, pulmonologists, and cardiologists that serve the newborn population across the state.
In her tenure as EHDI/NHS Coordinator (2002-2015), Jacque has overseen significant advances in the system of care for children moving through the hearing screening and follow-up process. She has spurred many successful initiatives to improve the documentation of newborn screening results and efficient tracking of follow-up in conjunction with more than 80 hospitals, pediatric audiologists from approximately 40 offices, early interventionists from nine Part C Districts, four university programs, two schools for the deaf, as well as a multitude of parents, physicians, midwives, home visitors, early childhood educators, and public health providers. Jacque's name is familiar to everyone statewide who is involved in EHDI services. Two instrumental EHDI laws were passed in Tennessee while Jacque was the EHDI/NHS Coordinator: the 2008 mandate known as Claire's Law, which requires universal newborn hearing screening for all babies prior to one month of age and the 2011 Children's Hearing Aid legislation. In addition, Jacque provided valuable guidance and instrumental support to Tennessee parents as they established a Tennessee Hands and Voices chapter in 2010 and a TN H&V Guide By Your Side Program in 2014. Jacque can also be credited with breaking through the often impenetrable "silos" of state government when she successfully facilitated a Department of Education-Department of Health collaboration that allows a specifically-assigned Part C Newborn Hearing Coordinator to have direct access to the DOH newborn hearing database.
Jacque has been a long-time member of the Directors of Speech and Hearing Programs in Health and Welfare Agencies (DSHPSHWA), serving as President in 2006-2007. She has been a frequently-requested panelist, presenter, committee member, consultant, and judge at national EHDI conferences, which is indicative of the respect she has earned from her national community of EHDI colleagues.
Jacque Cundall is an exceptional person and deserving of the Antonia Brancia Maxon Award for EHDI Excellence. Her humble spirit and gentle ways allow her to lead, mentor, and guide those around her to be their best - to themselves strive toward the same exceptionality.