Drug & Poison Information Center (DPIC)
The Drug & Poison Information Center (DPIC) is committed to reducing the incidence and severity of poisoning injury through early intervention, treatment, education, and research. To accomplish this mission, DPIC provides 24/7 hotline support to 5.8 million Ohioans within 24 counties at no cost to the caller. The helpline also supports questions regarding medications, household safety, and a wide variety of other topics. It doesn’t need to be an emergency to call the poison control helpline.
Poison control centers are our nation’s primary defense against injury and death from poisonings. Ohio’s poison centers respond to a toxic or venomous exposure roughly every 5 minutes. Poisonings involve all age groups and just about anything that can be found in our surrounding environments. In most poisoning situations, DPIC is able to effectively prevent or reduce the need for medical care and hospitalization. This vital service saves Ohioans over 60 million dollars in unnecessary healthcare spending every year.
Shan Yin, MD, MPH, FACMT, FAACT, FACEP
Shan Yin is an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine. He currently serves as the medical director of the Cincinnati Drug and Poison Center, one of 55 regional poison centers in the US. He is also a faculty member in the division of emergency medicine at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. His research interest includes child abuse via medication administration.
He graduated from Dartmouth College and then received his MPH from the University of Michigan. In 2001, he graduated from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He finished his general pediatrics residency training at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in 2004. He then went on to complete a pediatric emergency medicine fellowship at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago and most recently completed a medical toxicology fellowship in 2010 at the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center in Denver, CO.
Jonathan Colvin, RN, MS, CSPI
Jonathan Colvin has expertise in the fields of toxicology, occupational medicine, and public health. Mr. Colvin is technically versed in quality improvement science, public health surveillance and emergency response planning. He is currently the Managing Director of the Drug & Poison Information Center (DPIC), a division of the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, with over 20 years’ professional experience supporting poison control and public health programs in a variety of roles. He maintains professional certifications in clinical research, toxicology, and quality improvement science.
Alysha Behrman, RN, MSN, CSPI, OCPC
Alysha Behrman is a Manager with the Cincinnati Drug and Poison Information Center (DPIC), a division of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Ms. Behrman has over 25 years of experience in drug information, overdose, overdose prevention, drug abuse outreach and prevention, teaching, research, and leadership. Ms. Behrman has supported DPIC in a variety of administrative and clinical roles including toxicology, occupational medicine, public health, higher education, medical communication, emergency response and quality improvement science. Ms. Behrman obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) at the University of Cincinnati, Master of Science in Nursing Education (MSN) at Indiana Wesleyan University, and is professionally certified in toxicology and prevention. In addition, Ms. Behrman holds an adjunct faculty position with the University of Cincinnati, College of Nursing.
Sheila Goertemoeller, BS Pharm, PharmD, DABAT, ICPS, OCPC
Sheila Goertemoeller has been part of DPIC since 1995. She is a Clinical Toxicologist certified by the American Board of Applied Toxicology. For nearly 30 years she has directly managed thousands of overdoses on the poison control hotline of the Cincinnati DPIC that serves a population of approximately 6 million in 24 counties in the state of Ohio. As the DPIC clinical educator, she instructs and trains all 28 of her colleagues including pharmacists, nurses, and paramedics. She is responsible for clinical quality initiatives and is the department clinical coach. She prepares toxicology monographs, guidelines, and literature to enable standardized clinical treatment plans for overdose patients. She is a toxicology consultant for heightened overdoses and takes on the challenge of researching in-depth drug information questions. She provides weekly journal reviews to keep staff up to date on current toxicology articles and guidelines and runs a monthly staff education meeting.
She has an interest in addiction and substance use prevention and is certified by the Ohio Chemical Dependency Board as both an Ohio Certified Prevention Consultant and an Internationally Certified Prevention Specialist. She partnered with the local health department to implement a nicotine cessation hotline to serve the Hamilton County community.
She has lectured on numerous toxicology topics to a wide audience of health care providers and remains an invited guest speaker for local public health organizations. She has regulatory experience in legal poisoning consults and has worked closely with both the FDA MedWatch safety reporting and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxicosurveillance programs.
She proudly serves on several national committee roles in toxicology societies including Americas Poison Centers, Specialists in Poison Information, American Academy of Clinical Toxicology, and the American College of Medical Toxicology. She has attended and presented at over 20 professional conferences.
She has authored over 50 toxicology publications, over 100 toxicology newsletters and blog topics, and serves in an editorial role for the department newsletter and peer reviews colleagues’ publications. She has been sought out for podcasts and interviews for television, newspaper, and the radio on trending toxicology news.
She holds a faculty position as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice and Administrative Sciences at the University of Cincinnati James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy. She serves in a clinical preceptor role for pharmacy students on Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiential rotations, pharmacy residents, medical residents, and medical fellows. She has helped build toxicology curriculums for allied health programs in area universities.
She is certified in Emergency Management Response to Chemical and Biological Warfare and has an interest in naturally occurring toxins and historical poisonings. Her true passion lies in teaching others to love toxicology as much as she does.
Julia M. Conroy, BA
Julia is the Community Health Engagement Specialist with the Drug and Poison Information Center (DPIC) at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Julia completed her bachelor’s degree in speech communication and public relations at Miami University of Ohio in 2003 and is currently working towards completing her master’s degree in community health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Julia has a wide range of experience in communication, community health partnerships, event planning, and quality improvement science. In addition, she currently serves on the following educator committees through America’s Poison Centers: Nominations & Elections, National Poison Prevention Week (NPPW) Planning and North American Clinical Congress of Clinical Toxicology (NACCT) Conference Planning. She is responsible for community education and outreach to raise awareness of poison control services in Southwest and Northeast Ohio.
Jewel A. Page, BS
Jewel has supported the Drug & Poison Information Center in a variety of roles since 1995. She obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Wilberforce University. She currently serves as a program coordinator and public educator for prevention services oriented to substance use disorder and poison prevention. She is a highly talented vocalist who enjoys organizing outreach events and building partnerships within the local community