Nurse
Julie Katrichis, BSN, RN
Communicable and Infectious Disease Program manager
Milwaukee Health Department
In 2017, Julie Katrichis became the youngest person ever hired as the Milwaukee Communicable and Infectious Disease Program manager. This role includes heading the Keenan Sexual Health Clinic, the Milwaukee Health Department’s only free sexually transmitted infection testing site.
Just a few months after entering her new role, Katrichis was informed of a cluster identified as concerning due to a rise in infection incidence. Many individuals in this group had tested positive for HIV, syphilis, or both. If left untreated, both syphilis and HIV can have deadly consequences.
Per the request of the Milwaukee health commissioner and the superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools, Katrichis developed a plan to reach every public high school student in Milwaukee with prevention messages prior to their release for winter break.
She partnered with health educators from community partners to facilitate assembly-style education sessions and reached thousands of young people over just a few days, alerting them to the current STI epidemic and teaching them about prevention methods to protect their health.
Katrichis finds serving the community rewarding.
“I am most proud to work with talented, passionate and dedicated public health professionals at the health department and at our community partner agencies,” she said. “I have learned so much from them as we work together to advocate and protect community health.”
Another project Katrichis is currently helping with involves collaborating with AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin to make Keenan a site where individuals can access PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, for HIV.
