Kim Wezik, MPH

Kim Watkins joined the Melanoma Research Foundation in July of 2022 as the Advocacy Officer. Kim most recently served as the Policy and Advocacy Manager at the American Urological Association, harnessing the power of patients and physicians advocating together on behalf of urologic conditions such as prostate, kidney, and bladder cancers. In addition, Kim has been a strong advocate for children’s health through her work with the South Carolina Immunization Coalition, the Bradshaw Institute for Community Child Health and Advocacy, and as the founder of the parent-to-parent peer-led education group South Carolina Parents for Vaccines. Kim’s innovative approach to vaccine education and policy change attracted the attention of NPR, Kaiser Health News, and the CDC. In 2019, she was awarded the Childhood Immunization Champion Award and selected as the CDC’s national award spokesperson. Kim has been featured on BBC One, NPR’s “All Things Considered,” and Kaiser Health News. She received a BA in French from Wofford College and her MPH from the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina with a concentration in health services policy and management. Kim lives in Maryland with her two daughters, Brett and Nora, rescue hound, Balto, and feline foster fails, Ichabod and Toulouse. When she’s not rescuing wayward animals, Kim enjoys hiking, cooking, and trying really hard to keep her container garden plants alive.