DENVER DISEASE INTERVENTION TRAINING CENTER 

Mariska Osborne-Wells provides guidance and training support within the Denver Prevention Training Center. She comes to the program with 15 years of lived experience in HIV/STI prevention that started as a Disease Intervention Specialist, Trainer, and Surveillance Coordinator. She brings a passion for equitable health access, culturally appropriate client engagement especially for women and youth of color. Some of her favorite things are exploring while traveling, delectable food, photography, dancing and concerts in the car on a road trip or just an impromptu joy ride. She also loves fast cars, roaring engines, and adrenaline boosters. She strongly believes in truth telling, sometimes the truth hurts, it should be received with grace and knowing the messenger means no harm. If she could be anything in the world, she envisions herself as a Criminologist (CSI), because there is something to be solved and critical thinking is one of her skills.

Misty Gutierrez (she/her/hers) provides administrative support to the Denver Prevention Training Center’s Capacity Building Assistance (CBA) program and the Disease Intervention Training Center (DITC). Misty assists with preparing and developing products, providing logistics support for training events, and managing program registration data. She is the jack of all trades around the office and enjoys every minute supporting and collaborating with her colleagues. Her previous position was in the Denver Sexual Health Clinic, where she found herself intrigued by all things STI/HIV related. She is passionate about making a difference in the community.

If you get an auto-reply from Misty, she is probably enjoying the outdoors, being a dog mom, learning a new recipe, or spending time with family and friends.

Lisa Frederick (she/her/hers) provides trainings for the PTC’s Disease Investigation Training Center and contributes to the PTC’s HIV prevention Capacity Building Assistance (CBA) services. Lisa states the best part of the job is working with such a creative, dedicated, and loving team. Lisa’s life changed in 1998 when she lost her brother to an AIDS-related illness. She has devoted 20 years to HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, and sexual health. Her expertise extends to strategic planning and capacity building in organizational sustainability. Her passion and commitment are enhancing Black women’s health focusing on reproductive health, intersectionality, and resilience. Lisa channeled that passion by creating and leading a 3-part virtual roundtable discussion focusing on Black women’s health across the lifespan with over 2,500 participants.

She's not all work and no play and believes everyone must have laughter in their life. Lisa loves shopping, traveling, and spending time with her family including her little doggie Pia.

Helen Burnside (she/her/hers) is honored to provide programmatic oversight of the Denver Prevention Training Center’s training and technical assistance programs and guidance to its program managers. Helen started her second career with a master’s degree in Community Health after reading Paul Farmer’s Mountains Beyond Mountains in Bolivia and has focused her work on HIV and STI prevention ever since. Helen is committed to advancing racial equity in health systems and believes that we can end the HIV epidemic by creating brave spaces for communities and healthcare providers to plan prevention strategies. She enjoys the people and the dynamic, changing nature of her work. Helen appreciates that she can solve complex problems by talking to her backyard bees, or hiking in the Flatirons, and still dreams of being a backup singer in a female jazz band.