Staff

  • David Bangsberg, MD, MPH
    Director

    David Bangsberg is the Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Global Health, Professor of Medicine at Harvard School of Medicine, Associate Member of the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Associate Member in the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Visiting Professor at the Mbarara University of Science and Technology in Uganda.

    David Bangsberg is the Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Global Health, Professor of Medicine at Harvard School of Medicine, Associate Member of the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Associate Member in the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Visiting Professor at the Mbarara University of Science and Technology in Uganda.

    Dr. Bangsberg received his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University and holds a Master of Science from Kings College at the University of London and a Master of Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Bangsberg has researched and published extensively on adherence to antiretroviral medications in treating HIV/AIDS and has collaborations across sub-Saharan Africa.

  • Shelley Amira, MPH
    Associate Director, Administration

    Shelley has worked in Academic Medical Centers for over 30 years.  She received her masters in public health at Yale University and completed her administrative internship at the Beth Israel Hospital Boston where she also served as a manager in ambulatory services.  During her tenure at the Brigham and Women's Hospital she provided leadership and management for the Emergency Services, Primary Care, Dental, Audiology and other specialties programs before coming to MGH. Her most recent clinical areas included Geriatrics and Palliative Care. 

    Shelley has worked in Academic Medical Centers for over 30 years.  She received her masters in public health at Yale University and completed her administrative internship at the Beth Israel Hospital Boston where she also served as a manager in ambulatory services.  During her tenure at the Brigham and Women's Hospital she provided leadership and management for the Emergency Services, Primary Care, Dental, Audiology and other specialties programs before coming to MGH. Her most recent clinical areas included Geriatrics and Palliative Care. 

    She was instrumental in the early phase of program development, and then the integration and expansion of these new services at the MGH and within the greater Boston community. She has extensive experience managing clinical, teaching and research activities.  Shelley is well traveled having had the opportunity to spend time in Asia, Central America and Europe.

  • Miriam Aschkenasy, MD, MPH
    Program Manager, Disaster Response

    Miriam Aschkenasy, MD, MPH, is an Instructor at Harvard Medical School, Associate Faculty at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative at the Harvard School of Public Health, and a board-certified Emergency Medicine Physician.  Dr. Aschkenasy completed her residency in Emergency Medicine at the University of Connecticut and completed a highly competitive fellowship in International Emergency Medicine and Public Health at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard School of Public Health with a certificate in Field Studies and Humanitarian Response and a Masters in Public Health. She has worked extensively both within academic institutions, and with national and international organizations including Oxfam America, The World Health Organization, American Refugee Committee, Handicapped International, CARE and Save the Children. 

    Miriam Aschkenasy, MD, MPH, is an Instructor at Harvard Medical School, Associate Faculty at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative at the Harvard School of Public Health, and a board-certified Emergency Medicine Physician.  Dr. Aschkenasy completed her residency in Emergency Medicine at the University of Connecticut and completed a highly competitive fellowship in International Emergency Medicine and Public Health at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard School of Public Health with a certificate in Field Studies and Humanitarian Response and a Masters in Public Health. She has worked extensively both within academic institutions, and with national and international organizations including Oxfam America, The World Health Organization, American Refugee Committee, Handicapped International, CARE and Save the Children. 

    During her career she has been a humanitarian and disaster responder to cholera outbreaks in Zimbabwe, displacements in Sudan, chronic drought in Ethiopia, flooding in El Salvador, earthquakes in Peru and Haiti, as well as many other countries in Africa, South East Asia, Central and North and South America including the Rita and Katrina responses. Dr. Aschkenasy’s operational work and applied research focus is on disaster management and humanitarian assistance. Additional areas of interest are the professionalization of humanitarian response with expertise in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and program management.

  • Elizabeth Bailey
    Director, CAMTech

    Ms. Elizabeth Bailey joined MGH as the Director of CAMTech in 2012. Prior to MGH, Ms. Bailey spent over a decade as an investment partner at Commons Capital, an impact venture capital fund that invests in early-stage technology companies. Ms. Bailey managed the fund's health care and education portfolios, and she led the fund's global health initiative supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

    Ms. Elizabeth Bailey joined MGH as the Director of CAMTech in 2012. Prior to MGH, Ms. Bailey spent over a decade as an investment partner at Commons Capital, an impact venture capital fund that invests in early-stage technology companies. Ms. Bailey managed the fund's health care and education portfolios, and she led the fund's global health initiative supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

    Ms. Bailey has worked with numerous health care companies in the medical device, biotech, services and IT segments, with a particular emphasis on those developing solutions for diagnosing and treating neglected diseases. She has served as a board director or observer to Apex Learning, Claros Diagnostics (acquired by OPKO Health), CodeRyte (acquired by 3M), Combinent Biomedical Systems, HistoRx, Medical Metrx Solutions, Niman Ranch, Sun & Earth, TelaDoc Medical Services and Valeo Medical. Ms. Bailey earned a Masters in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a BA from Brown University.

  • Peggy Bartek
    Grants Manager

    Ms. Bartek has worked in research administration for 6 years and previously managed Dr. Bangsberg’s research portfolio while at the University of California, San Francisco.  Ms. Bartek provides training and technical expertise to the Mbarara University of Science and Technology grants staff and administrators and advises U.S.-based administrators on foreign subcontracting in resource-limited settings.

    Ms. Bartek has worked in research administration for 6 years and previously managed Dr. Bangsberg’s research portfolio while at the University of California, San Francisco.  Ms. Bartek provides training and technical expertise to the Mbarara University of Science and Technology grants staff and administrators and advises U.S.-based administrators on foreign subcontracting in resource-limited settings.

    Her interests lie in capacity building and infrastructure development at foreign research sites.

  • Anna Baylor, MD
    Program Director, MUST Research Collaboration

    For 20 years Dr. Baylor has practiced primary care medicine to patients infected with HIV disease and their affected partners and children. She is a Board certified Family Practice physician. Her professional time was divided between teaching residents and medical students at the UCSF affiliated Santa Rosa Family Practice Residency program and providing primary care and consultation at the County of Sonoma Center for HIV Prevention and Care, where she was the Medical Director. Her particular interest and area of expertise was PMTCT, antenatal care for the HIV infected patient and testing for the exposed newborn.

    For 20 years Dr. Baylor has practiced primary care medicine to patients infected with HIV disease and their affected partners and children. She is a Board certified Family Practice physician. Her professional time was divided between teaching residents and medical students at the UCSF affiliated Santa Rosa Family Practice Residency program and providing primary care and consultation at the County of Sonoma Center for HIV Prevention and Care, where she was the Medical Director. Her particular interest and area of expertise was PMTCT, antenatal care for the HIV infected patient and testing for the exposed newborn.

    Since February of 2011 Dr. Baylor has been working in Mbarara, Uganda at Mbarara University of Science and Technology for the MGH Center for Global Health MUST Research Collaboration, serving as the Program Director. She helps manage a portfolio of approximately 11 research protocols, an extensive medical education capacity building exchange program and multiple and varied special projects.

  • Aya Caldwell
    Program Manager

    Ms. Caldwell implements evaluations, coordinates programs, and develops appropriate technologies to further the goals of the Center for Global Health. Ms. Caldwell served as a Maternal Child Health Consultant to the International Organization of Migration (IOM) to conduct an outcome evaluation on a community-based neonatal resuscitation training program in Aceh, Indonesia.

    Ms. Caldwell implements evaluations, coordinates programs, and develops appropriate technologies to further the goals of the Center for Global Health. Ms. Caldwell served as a Maternal Child Health Consultant to the International Organization of Migration (IOM) to conduct an outcome evaluation on a community-based neonatal resuscitation training program in Aceh, Indonesia.

    She was a recipient of the Harvard Catalyst Award and Vodafone Wireless Innovation Award for CoolComply: Patient Support Optimization - a solar-powered wireless detection system that monitors the doses and the temperature of the medication for patients with Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in Ethiopia. Other projects include the "Car-part" incubator and SmartBirth kit. Prior to joining CIMIT, Ms. Caldwell worked at an investment fund as a research analyst. She graduated from Dartmouth College in Anthropology and Asian Middle Eastern Studies. Ms. Caldwell has worked in Mali, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Morocco, Guatemala, and Japan.

  • Hilarie Cranmer, MD, MPH
    Director of Disaster Response

    Dr. Cranmer is an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, and clinical faculty in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. Prior to being hired as the first Director of Disaster Response at the CGH, she was the Director of Education for the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, where she founded and directed the Humanitarian Studies Initiative and the Global Women’s Health Fellowship. In its first 10 years, over 500 graduate students, medical residents, nurses, and physicians have completed these training programs. Her alumni have gone on to hold leadership positions in some of the premier humanitarian agencies in the world.

    Dr. Cranmer is an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, and clinical faculty in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. Prior to being hired as the first Director of Disaster Response at the CGH, she was the Director of Education for the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, where she founded and directed the Humanitarian Studies Initiative and the Global Women’s Health Fellowship. In its first 10 years, over 500 graduate students, medical residents, nurses, and physicians have completed these training programs. Her alumni have gone on to hold leadership positions in some of the premier humanitarian agencies in the world.

    Dr. Cranmer’s research focus has been on educational initiatives to train future humanitarian providers. Her path towards program building began in post war Kosovo doing human rights investigations for Physicians for Human Rights. Her work in a mission hospital in Malawi concentrated on providing emergency obstetrical care for women, and especially those affected by AIDS. Responding to the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 with International Rescue Committee, and subsequently to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, her growing expertise in disaster relief was recognized in that she led the public health effort for the American Red Cross in Louisiana. Her most recent work after the earthquake in January 2010 was to build the largest field hospital in Haiti. In caring for over 5000 patients and their families with more than 700 international volunteers, this hospital was recognized by the UN and the US Government as being the best field hospital post disaster in the last 25 years. Her latest work includes the professionalization of humanitarian response, with a particular focus in simulation-based training, as evidenced by her recent directorship of a comprehensive simulation in Tunisia for the World Health Organization.

  • Libby Cunningham, MPH
    Program Manager

    Prior to joining CGH as the Global Primary Care Program Manager, Libby Cunningham served as Program Manager for the Lesotho-Boston Health Alliance at Boston University, working to implement systems-based strengthening initiatives in district hospitals.

    Prior to joining CGH as the Global Primary Care Program Manager, Libby Cunningham served as Program Manager for the Lesotho-Boston Health Alliance at Boston University, working to implement systems-based strengthening initiatives in district hospitals.

    Ms. Cunningham received her Master of Public Health degree with a concentration in International Health from Boston University, and attended the University of Notre Dame for her undergraduate degree in Anthropology and Pre-Medical Studies.

  • Pat Daoust, MSN, RN
    Associate Director for Nursing

    Pat Daoust, MSN, RN is a lecturer at the University of Massachusetts School of Nursing and Health Sciences and a clinical instructor at the Boston College Connell School of Nursing. She is also the co-chair of the Global Committee for the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC). She was previously the Director of Health Action AIDS for Physicians for Human Rights (PHR). Pat is a registered nurse with over 30 years of clinical, education and managerial experience. Prior to joining PHR she worked on issues related to the domestic HIV epidemic and served as the Director of Client Services for the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts. She subsequently worked with the Harvard AIDS Institute and served on the nursing faculty of the KITSO program, an HIV education partnership between the Harvard School of Public Health and the Botswana government. She then led to a large and innovative Center for Disease Control-funded Nursing leadership and Capacity and Building Project in Ethiopia, which is presently being replicated in other African countries.

  • Ashley Dunkle, MPH
    Program/Research Assistant, Global Primary Care Program

    Prior to joining the Center for Global Health, Ashley Dunkle completed her MPH from Boston University School of Public Health, concentrating in epidemiology and international health. During her studies, Ashley’s interests took her to Lusaka, Zambia where she acted as research assistant on a multi-national childhood pneumonia etiology study called PERCH, through the Zambia Center for Applied Health Research and Development. She also participated in research in OBGYN at Boston Medical Center, and completed a summer internship at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, studying Bhutanese refugee health. Before beginning her MPH, Ashley worked in Copenhagen, Denmark planning and leading academic travel at the Danish Institute for Study Abroad. In the future, Ms. Dunkle plans to attend medical school and expand her work and interests in global health medicine.

  • Katelyn Fleming, MA, MS
    Program Manager, Seed Global Health

    Prior to joining CGH as the Program Manager for Seed Global Health, Ms. Fleming was a Senior Research Associate at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services working on program development, recruitment, management in health information technology for clinicians and IT professionals.  Ms. Fleming also managed and delivered international training programs including a monthlong program sponsored by the World Health Organization and The Chinese Ministry of Health to learn about the US Health System.  Ms. Fleming holds a MA from The George Washington University, a MS from Simmons College, and a BA from Saint Anselm College.

  • Jennifer K. Goldsmith
    Chief Administrative Officer, Director of Planning and Partnerships, Seed Global Health

    Ms. Goldsmith is the Chief Administrative Officer for Seed Global Health, based at the MGH. Jennifer has previously worked as Director of Finance and Administration for the Harvard AIDS Prevention Research Project, as Assistant Dean for Finance at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University and as Director of Strategic and Financial Planning at Brigham and Women's Hospital. She was Special Advisor to the Global Task Force on Expanded Access to Cancer Care and Control in Developing Countries based at Harvard Medical School and Development Consultant to Women of Means, an organization providing healthcare to homeless women and families in Boston. Most recently Ms. Goldsmith was Director of Strategic Initiatives in Graduate Medical Education at Partners HealthCare where she developed programming in many areas including global and humanitarian medicine. Ms. Goldsmith earned her MS in Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, her MEd at Boston College and BA from the University of Michigan.

  • Sarah Graham
    Program Manager

    Ms. Graham, a graduate of Carleton College, joined the Center for Global Health in 2010. Prior to joining CGH, she worked at the Teagle Foundation in New York City. Recently, Ms. Graham's love of adventure brought her to New Zealand where she was a beekeeper and spent much of her time traveling the country.

    Ms. Graham, a graduate of Carleton College, joined the Center for Global Health in 2010. Prior to joining CGH, she worked at the Teagle Foundation in New York City. Recently, Ms. Graham's love of adventure brought her to New Zealand where she was a beekeeper and spent much of her time traveling the country.

    She has also traveled extensively throughout Central America, Australia, and spent a summer volunteering at a hospital in Gambia.

  • Jessica Haberer, MD, MS
    Research Scientist

    Dr. Haberer received her bachelor's degree in the Biological Sciences and a master's degree in Health Services Research from Stanford University, as well as a medical degree from Yale University. After finishing her training, Dr. Haberer worked for the William J. Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative in Beijing, China, where served as a Clinical and Research Advisor to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention/ National Center for AIDS, Division of Treatment and Care.

    Dr. Haberer received her bachelor's degree in the Biological Sciences and a master's degree in Health Services Research from Stanford University, as well as a medical degree from Yale University. After finishing her training, Dr. Haberer worked for the William J. Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative in Beijing, China, where served as a Clinical and Research Advisor to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention/ National Center for AIDS, Division of Treatment and Care.

    Upon returning to the United States, she joined the faculty in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco as a Clinical Educator. In 2008 she joined Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard Global Health Institute, where her current research focuses on wireless technologies for monitoring adherence to medications and healthcare states in developing settings.

  • Jason Davis Harlow, MPH, MA
    Associate Director for Global Programs

    Before joining the Center for Global Health, Mr. Harlow served as the Uganda Country Manager for the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative. He has also worked for the Partners AIDS Research Center at MGH, the Medical Research Program at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and the Africa Bureau of the United Nations Development Program. Mr. Harlow received his Master of Public Health and Master of International Affairs degrees from Columbia University, and attended Wesleyan University for his undergraduate studies in molecular biology and biochemistry.

  • Mohammad Viqar Hussain
    Project Coordinator, CAMTech

    Prior to joining the Center for Global Health, Mr. Hussain served as the NASA Project Coordinator at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and also worked as a business analyst for a technology consulting firm. Mr. Hussain received his Masters in biotechnology and Bachelors in biomedical sciences and biochemical pharmacology. He is currently managing the Center’s research regulatory and IRB portfolio. Mr. Hussain is an alumnus of Harvard University and State University of New York at Buffalo.

  • Kate Hutchins
    Executive Assistant to David Bangsberg

    Ms. Hutchins graduated from Scripps College in Southern California with degrees in French and European Studies. She has volunteered in Costa Rica, Nepal, and Paris and has worked in admissions, journalism, and nonprofits. Combining her interests in international affairs and healthcare, she joined the Center for Global Health in 2013.

  • Ingrid Theresa Katz,M.D.
    Research Scientist

    Dr. Katz obtained a B.A. from Amherst College, and a Master's in Health Science from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health before pursuing her degree in Medicine at University of California at San Francisco. After completing her medical training in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, she received a Global Women's Health Fellowship to study HPV vaccine uptake among adolescents in Soweto, South Africa. Her current research focuses on factors affecting refusal to participate in HIV treatment programs among HIV-infected, treatment eligible adults presenting for testing.

    Dr. Katz obtained a B.A. from Amherst College, and a Master's in Health Science from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health before pursuing her degree in Medicine at University of California at San Francisco. After completing her medical training in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, she received a Global Women's Health Fellowship to study HPV vaccine uptake among adolescents in Soweto, South Africa. Her current research focuses on factors affecting refusal to participate in HIV treatment programs among HIV-infected, treatment eligible adults presenting for testing.

    She has worked with multiple NGO's and multinational organizations, including the Population Council, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization. Dr. Katz has also served as an Editorial Fellow at the New England Journal of Medicine. She has been the recipient of the Harvard Catalyst KL2 Medical Research Investigator Training (MeRIT) Award, the Harvard Global Health Institute Travel Award, the Eleanor and Miles Shore Award, the CROI Young Investigator Award, the Center for AIDS Prevention Scholar Award, and most recently a K23 Career Development Award. Dr. Katz is on faculty at Brigham and Women's Hospital in the Division of Women’s Health.

  • Vanessa Bradford Kerry, MD, MSc
    Associate Director for Partnerships and Global Initiatives

    A graduate of Yale University, Dr. Bradford Kerry attended Harvard Medical School for her medical degree, and completed her Master of Science in Heath Planning, Policy and Financing at the London Schools of Economics and of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

    A graduate of Yale University, Dr. Bradford Kerry attended Harvard Medical School for her medical degree, and completed her Master of Science in Heath Planning, Policy and Financing at the London Schools of Economics and of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

    Her global health experience has focused on clinical work and policy in Rwanda and Haiti, the impact of public and foreign policy on health, and global health education for capacity building.

  • Eric M. Kostegan
    Director of Development

    Eric is currently Director of Development at Massachusetts General Hospital.  He is attached to the Center for Global Health and works collaboratively with MGH Trustees, members of the Center for Global Health Advisory Board and key medical leadership to plan and implement broad-based, coordinated approaches, to identify and develop opportunities to support Center for Global Health programs and faculty projects. 

    Eric is currently Director of Development at Massachusetts General Hospital.  He is attached to the Center for Global Health and works collaboratively with MGH Trustees, members of the Center for Global Health Advisory Board and key medical leadership to plan and implement broad-based, coordinated approaches, to identify and develop opportunities to support Center for Global Health programs and faculty projects. 

    Eric comes to MGH after most recently serving at Firm Adaptive in Boston and San Francisco where he successfully led sustainable development projects with budgets ranging from $50K to $15M throughout the U.S. and internationally, and also conducted capacity building and program development work with organizations in Africa, South Asia, and the Americas.  Eric has graduate training in sustainable development and holds a Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurial Studies and Organizational Behavior from Babson College.

  • Brett MacAulay
    Web Manager

    A graduate of Bard College at Simon's Rock, Brett has developed and managed web sites at Mass General since 2004. He previously served as Manager of Information Technology for Cambridge-based e-learning company NetLearningInc and as Application Developer for Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California. His recent work includes the development of Partners Infectious Disease Images, an interactive tool for teaching and learning infectious diseases.

  • Lynn Matthews, MD, MPH
    Research Scientist

    Lynn Matthews is an Assistant in Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in the Division of Infectious Diseases and at the Center for Global Health; and an Associate in Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in the Division of Infectious Diseases.

    Lynn Matthews is an Assistant in Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in the Division of Infectious Diseases and at the Center for Global Health; and an Associate in Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in the Division of Infectious Diseases.

    She completed her undergraduate training at Swarthmore College, her medical degree at the University of Miami, internship and residency in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, an MPH at Harvard School of Public Health, and infectious disease fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Her research aims to understand HIV-risk behavior in the context of fertility desires and to develop pharmaco-behavioral risk reduction strategies for HIV-discordant couples who choose to conceive.  Her research is based in Durban, South Africa and Mbarara, Uganda.

  • Rumbi Mushavi
    Project Coordinator, HopeNet Study

    Rumbi Mushavi, a recent graduate of Harvard College, is based in Mbarara, Uganda where she works as a project coordinator for the HopeNet Study. HopeNet couples poultry microenterprise projects with clean water interventions and social networks research. A native of Zimbabwe, Rumbi hopes to pursue a degree in medicine in the near future and fulfill her dream of returning to Africa to help build and strengthen health systems on the continent.

  • Kristian Olson, MD, MPH, DTM&H
    Associate Director for Education and Technology Innovation

    Dr. Kris Olson is a Clinician Educator at the Massachusetts General Hospital in the Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics. Since 2006, he has served as the Program Leader of CIMIT’s Global Health Initiative directed at developing effective catalyst health technologies for low-income countries. He attended medical school at Vanderbilt University as a Justin Potter Scholar and was a US Fulbright Scholar to Australia where he completed a Masters of Public Health Degree in Epidemiology and International Health.

    Dr. Kris Olson is a Clinician Educator at the Massachusetts General Hospital in the Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics. Since 2006, he has served as the Program Leader of CIMIT’s Global Health Initiative directed at developing effective catalyst health technologies for low-income countries. He attended medical school at Vanderbilt University as a Justin Potter Scholar and was a US Fulbright Scholar to Australia where he completed a Masters of Public Health Degree in Epidemiology and International Health.

    Dr. Olson was the first Thomas S. Durant Fellow in Refugee Medicine during which he obtained a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in London before spending most of 2003 working in refugee camps along the Thai-Burmese Border. He has since worked in Darfur, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Ethiopia. He was named as one of the Scientific American Top 10 Honor Roll in June 2009 as an individual who has demonstrated leadership in applying new technologies and biomedical discoveries for the benefit of humanity. In Utne Magazine (November 2009), he was recognized as one of the 50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World.

  • Jessica Perkins
    Research Specialist

    Jessica Perkins is a Ph.D. candidate in the Program in Health Policy at Harvard University with a concentration in Medical Sociology. Previously, she received her Bachelors degree in Psychology from Davidson College and an M.S. in Population and International Health from the Harvard School of Public Health. Her primary area of research concerns social networks in resource-limited settings, particularly rural Uganda, where she lived for 2 years while directing a sociocentric social network study of health, economic, and development outcomes among 8 villages.

    Jessica Perkins is a Ph.D. candidate in the Program in Health Policy at Harvard University with a concentration in Medical Sociology. Previously, she received her Bachelors degree in Psychology from Davidson College and an M.S. in Population and International Health from the Harvard School of Public Health. Her primary area of research concerns social networks in resource-limited settings, particularly rural Uganda, where she lived for 2 years while directing a sociocentric social network study of health, economic, and development outcomes among 8 villages.

    Jessica continues this work through her role as a Research Specialist for the Center for Global Health at MGH where she participates in the design, implementation, and analysis of a longitudinal RCT studying the economic, health, and social network impact of microenterprise introduction and new access to water in rural Uganda. Jessica’s dissertation research focuses on how individuals’ network characteristics are related to a variety of health outcomes (such as depression, food security, intimate partner violence, alcohol use, and HIV) and perception of community norms.  She is also involved in other studies on social norms and perceived norms in relation to health outcomes among UK youth, and social capital and HIV treatment adherence in urban Peru.

  • Raquel Reyes, MD, MPA
    Site Chief, Global Primary Care Program

    Raquel Reyes is the newly appointed Uganda Site Chief for the Global Primary Care Program at Massachusetts General Hospital.  She completed her combined residency training in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at MGH in June 2012. Dr. Reyes’s work to date has been inspired by her particular commitment to women and children’s health in resource-poor settings at home and abroad. Dr. Reyes’s ambition is to use her formal training in public policy, public health, clinical medicine, and medical education to improve sustainable health systems globally.

    Raquel Reyes is the newly appointed Uganda Site Chief for the Global Primary Care Program at Massachusetts General Hospital.  She completed her combined residency training in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at MGH in June 2012. Dr. Reyes’s work to date has been inspired by her particular commitment to women and children’s health in resource-poor settings at home and abroad. Dr. Reyes’s ambition is to use her formal training in public policy, public health, clinical medicine, and medical education to improve sustainable health systems globally.

    Prior to residency, Dr. Reyes earned a BA in English from Harvard College, an MD from Harvard Medical School, and a Masters in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She has served as a Volunteer In Service To America, advocating for access to health care for refugees and migrant farm workers in rural California. She has policy experience in Geneva and Washington, D.C and clinical experience in Ethiopia and Liberia. Her public health work has included studies of maternal health in Afghanistan and rural Mali.

  • Rachel Rifkin, MPH
    Project/IRB Coordinator

    Prior to joining the Center for Global Health at MGH, Ms. Rifkin worked at Brigham and Women's Hospital. She was a Project Manager at the Center for Surgery and Public Health, a Clinical Research Coordinator in the Division of Vascular Surgery, and started a smoking cessation program. Before that, she served as an RA at the Harvard School of Public Health, where she worked on a research study investigating the effects of racial discrimination on people's health outcomes.

    Prior to joining the Center for Global Health at MGH, Ms. Rifkin worked at Brigham and Women's Hospital. She was a Project Manager at the Center for Surgery and Public Health, a Clinical Research Coordinator in the Division of Vascular Surgery, and started a smoking cessation program. Before that, she served as an RA at the Harvard School of Public Health, where she worked on a research study investigating the effects of racial discrimination on people's health outcomes.

    Ms. Rifkin received her MPH from Boston University, with a focus on International Health. She received her BA from the University of California, Santa Cruz; with a degree in International Political Science. She loves to travel, and has spent time living abroad both in the Netherlands and Thailand.

  • Mark Siedner, MD
    Research Scientist

    Mark Siedner is a clinical and research fellow in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. His main research interests include discernment of barriers to effective HIV care in rural, resource-limited settings and evaluation of novel technologies to health outcomes. He currently works in Boston and Mbarara, Uganda as an HIV clinician and researcher investigating the feasibility of cell phone messaging to improve patient-provider communication of abnormal laboratory results to patients at the clinic. His long-term career goal is to develop expertise in the study of acceptance and implementation of low-cost medical technologies to improve healthcare delivery for people living with HIV/AIDS.

  • Noortje Trienekens
    International Program Manager

    Prior to joining the Center of Global Health, Ms. Trienekens was a research coordinator at the Division of Sleep Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In the past, she has also worked as a consultant for a European management firm. She well traveled through Asian and Central American regions, and spent several summers volunteering at an orphanage in India and one summer volunteering at a hospital in Guatemala.

    Prior to joining the Center of Global Health, Ms. Trienekens was a research coordinator at the Division of Sleep Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In the past, she has also worked as a consultant for a European management firm. She well traveled through Asian and Central American regions, and spent several summers volunteering at an orphanage in India and one summer volunteering at a hospital in Guatemala.

    Ms. Trienekens is working in Uganda at Mbarara University of Science and Technology for the MGH Center for Global Health Research Collaboration, where she is managing international programs portfolio.

    Ms. Trienekens received a dual degree Bachelors in Psychology and Pedagogical Sciences as well as a double Masters in Clinical Neuropsychology and Pedagogical Sciences from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 

  • Alexander Tsai, MD
    Research Scientist

    Dr. Tsai's research aims to understand how large-scale social forces affect the health and mental health of people in resource-limited settings, and to develop and deploy anti-poverty interventions with the aim of improving health and mental health, particularly among people living with HIV/AIDS. He is currently implementing a randomized field experiment of an anti-poverty intervention for women, embedded within a longitudinal sociocentric social network study, in rural Uganda. Dr. Tsai is a Lecturer in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a staff psychiatrist in the Chester M. Pierce, MD Division of Global Psychiatry at Mass General. Prior to his appointment here, he was a Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar at Harvard University and a resident in general adult psychiatry at the University of California at San Francisco. He and his wife Kristin are non-resident premedical tutors for Harvard undergraduate students at Eliot House.