TEAM

Anne “CC” Lee’s research focuses on global perinatal epidemiology and the design and evaluation of interventions to reduce the major causes of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality.  Dr. Lee studied biomedical engineering and the fine arts at Duke University.  She received her MD from Harvard Medical School and completed pediatric residency at Boston Children’s Hospital/Boston Medical Center. Dr. Lee was a primary care pediatrician at Boston Medical Center and in Boston Chinatown at the Floating Hospital, with a focus on immigrant and refugee health.  After working with the Surmang Foundation (2004-6) to develop a maternal-child health program in the Tibetan Qinghai province, she completed an MPH and postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Lee has served on the Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Strategic Planning Working Group.  She cares for mothers and newborns who deliver at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and is the proud mother of four children.

Krysten is a neonatologist whose research focuses on improving the health and survival of small and sick newborns in low- and middle-income countries. Dr. North received her MD from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons and her MPH from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She completed her pediatric residency at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. After residency, she spent a year working in Malawi with Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center before completing her neonatology fellowship at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research fellowship focused on the growth and nutrition of low-birthweight infants in India, Malawi, and Tanzania. In addition to research, she works in the NICU at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Newton Wellesley.

Dr. Sarah Jensen is a psychologist with a special interest in how pre- and postnatal stress affects children’s development and well-being, and the biological mechanisms linking psychosocial and biological stress with child outcomes. She completed a clinical degree in Psychology from the University of Copenhagen and obtained a PhD in Developmental Psychopathology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London. After her graduate studies, Sarah completed postdoctoral training with Professor Charles Nelson where she studied the effects of early biological and psychosocial adversity on neurodevelopmental outcomes in children growing up in a slum in Bangladesh. She then competed a second postdoctoral fellowship working on early childhood intervention studies to support healthy development among children living in poverty in Rwanda. She currently works on the ENAT and LIDG studies of child development in the context of maternal stress and nutrition intervention in Ethiopia.

Theresa received her PhD in pediatric neuropsychology from The University of Queensland, Australia in 2022. Her work focused on exploring clinical, family, and social risk and resilience factors of neurodevelopmental outcomes in children with congenital heart disease. She was also involved in the landmark standardization project for the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler, Fourth Edition in Australia and New Zealand. Theresa is passionate in research addressing social and health inequities to optimise brain development and subsequent neurodevelopmental care for infants and children in low-resource settings. Theresa joined the Global AIM Lab as a postdoctoral research fellow in February 2023.

Unmesha earned her PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Washington (2023) and her MPH from the University of Pennsylvania (2019). Her doctoral work was focused on increasing the effectiveness of assisted partner services for HIV testing in Kenya through innovative implementation strategies of HIV self-testing and behavioral economics incentives. Previously, she has worked on a variety of projects on the gut microbiome, pain, and CPR. Unmesha is passionate about using rigorous epidemiological methods to investigate the impact of novel interventions in low- and middle-income countries to optimize the delivery of care in settings where this innovation is most needed to reduce healthcare disparities across the world. She joined the Global AIM lab in August 2023.

Lian joined the Global AIM Lab as a Research Assistant in 2015 after completing her Bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience and Global Health at Middlebury College. She worked primarily on the Bili-ruler and gestational age systematic review projects, and transitioned to the role of Program Coordinator in 2018. Lian completed an MPH degree concentrating in Maternal, Child, and Family Health at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health in 2021, where she was a Fellow with the UNC Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health and a research trainee with the UNC Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders. She currently supports research projects with the Global AIM Lab, particularly the Bangladesh research studies and the SUN Project, while preparing to apply to medical school.

Aditi received her Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH) in Health Systems, International Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH). Aditi also holds a certificate in Evaluation of International Health Programs from JHSPH. She received her Bachelor in Public Health (BPH) from Pokhara University, majoring in Epidemiology and Health Economics. Aditi worked as a Child Protection Officer in the Terai region of Nepal. Following that, she went into public health research and evaluation to work in topics such as Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), Child, Early and Forced Marriage (CEFM), COVID-19, maternal and infant nutrition and health governance in the far-western regions of Nepal. She also worked as a Graduate Researcher during her time at JHSPH and contributed to studies on Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health, more specifically, Multiple Micronutrient Supplements, Adherence Measurements, Human Centered Design and Public Private Partnerships in Ethiopia. Aditi joined the lab in June 2023 as a Project Manager for the Ethiopian Child Development Studies.

Sylva joined the Global AIM Lab in 2023 as a senior Project Manager with a PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience. Her prior experience within the Department of Newborn Medicine began in 2019 as a Research Coordinator assessing interventions to improve the health and well-being of preterm infants and their mothers. Prior to clinical research, she served as a certified Birth and Postpartum Doula to advocate for birthing parents and their growing families. Early research focused on bench level neuropharmacology and receptor function, as well as nutritional and environmental impacts on neurochemistry. Coordination of current lab projects includes exploring brain changes and biological factors in the ENAT study.

Saumya Vodapally graduated from the University of Connecticut with a B.S. in Molecular & Cellular Biology and Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies. Her passion lies in health advocacy and bettering health outcomes for mothers and children, locally and globally. Saumya hopes to pursue a career in Maternal and Child health, looking specifically at access to healthcare in marginalized communities and under resourced areas.  She joined the Global AIM team as a Research Assistant in June 2022 and continues to work on projects in the lab.

Michelle served as the Project Manager for the ENAT Study for three years, and is now pursuing a PhD in Clinical Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University. Prior to joining the lab, Michelle has worked as a maternal health research fellow at the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ), as a program analyst at the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP), and as a research assistant for the Pregnancy Health Interview Study at Boston University. Michelle received her B.A. in Public Health from the University of Rochester in 2013, and her Masters of Public Health from the Boston University School of Public Health in 2016. Michelle is passionate about global maternal mental health and improving outcomes for mothers and babies in resource-constrained settings.

Grace Allen is a current undergraduate student at Harvard University, where she is earning her Bachelor’s degree in Human Evolutionary Biology. Grace hopes to pursue a career in maternal-fetal medicine, and work in the global health sector following medical school. Grace has worked with the Vayu Global Health Foundation, and worked as an implementation researcher to efficiently provide low-cost respiratory support for neonates and infants in low-and-middle income countries. Grace joined the Global AIM lab in Spring 2021 because of its dedication to addressing global inequalities in maternal and pediatric healthcare. She continues to work on research projects with the Global AIM lab.

Hanna is an MD-PhD candidate at Harvard with a focus on reproductive justice and migration. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Social Anthropology with a secondary in Global Health and Health Policy at Harvard College and her master’s degree in African studies at the University of Oxford. Hanna is passionate about ethnographic research that centers those most impacted and highlights the structures that produce reproductive injustices. She has conducted qualitative research on topics including reproductive healthcare access and experiences, humanitarianism and development, and forced migration in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mexico, South Africa, Sudan, and the United States.

Gellila Asmamaw is a Harvard undergraduate studying Neurobiology with a secondary in Global Health and Health Policy. She is interested in researching maternal-fetal health determinants as they relate to child neurodevelopment, particularly in low-resource regions like Ethiopia. In Spring of 2022, Gellila joined the Global AIM Lab as a research assistant for the ENAT study.

Melanie is a pediatric resident physician at NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell. She graduated from Columbia University and has participated in medical and research initiatives in Panama, Honduras, and China to address healthcare access and disparities. Dr. Gao is most passionate about identifying nutritional strategies for optimal growth and neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm and term babies, with a particular interest in improving outcomes for newborns in resource-constricted areas. She joined the Global AIM lab in Spring 2021 and hopes to pursue a fellowship in neonatology in the future. 

Fredrick is a medical doctor from Ghana and worked in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology department in the Ashanti Regional Hospital, Kumasi-Ghana. Dr. Larbi Kwapong holds a first MPH degree in Health Services Planning and Management from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana and currently in Harvard University School of Public Health pursuing Global Health and Population. He was a Part-time Lecturer at the Christian Service University College, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and has held several positions in his field of work. Fredrick’s main focus is directed at improving both maternal and neonatal outcomes and this opened door for him to join the Global Aim lab as a graduate intern.