Program Director

Josué is a Program Director within the Arnhold Institute for Global Health. He is responsible for planning and directing the consultancy program with the Guyanese Ministry of Health. Therefore, he is based in Guyana to effectively serve as the primary program liaison and representative, coordinating partnerships with internal and external program stakeholders and the Guyanese government, to support and facilitate the successful implementation of program objectives.

Josué has a passion for bridging inequities in underserved and marginalized populations internationally by building the capacities of local counterparts and developing sustainable community programs that bring about positive societal change. After serving as an Environmental Health Specialist with the Peace Corps in Nicaragua, he decided to dedicate his focus on expanding his knowledge and skills to successfully engage with and integrate into different international contexts to better serve diverse population needs and effectively address the most pressing underlying factors to larger social issues. This focus has led Josué to study different languages speaking English, Spanish, and Portuguese fluently with working knowledge of Italian and limited Mandarin and Quechua. He received his Master’s in Public Health with a concentration in Environmental Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Before joining the Arnhold Institute for Global Health, Josué worked in several national and international development programs in healthcare and education. Most recently, he served as the Senior Program Manager of Outreach and HIV Prevention expanding access to sexual health services for at-risk and vulnerable populations in Austin, Texas. Prior to that, he was the Rural Health Medical Programs Coordinator in Latacunga, Ecuador, serving as the liaison between different INGOs, private hospitals, the Public Ministry of Health, and leaders of indigenous communities. Additionally, he held different education and social development positions serving as Director of International Programs in Peru, Director of Training in Costa Rica, Director of Education in China, Education Program Manager in Vietnam, and as a Special Education teacher in Puerto Rico.

Program Manager

Evan Alvarez is Program Manager for the Ghana Partnership at the Arnhold Institute for Global Health at Mount Sinai. He is responsible for designing, implementing and evaluating programs aimed at assisting health systems and their patients manage multiple chronic conditions worldwide.

In partnership with the Ghana Health Service, Evan manages the development and expansion of the Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) program in Navrongo, Ghana to implement a nurse- and community health worker-led chronic disease control program. Additionally, he has previously supported and helped coordinate the Service Delivery and Systems Strengthening Primary Care Initiative in Guyana, which seeks to expand community healthcare at various levels across the country.

Evan has prior experience working with underserved communities in both clinical and research settings, including delivering evidence-based behavioral treatments to children and adults with mental illness and managing NIH-funded clinical trials in low-resource areas. He has also conducted and published research on youth mental health interventions and built and managed databases for several academic research labs. Evan’s broader interests and aims include developing systemic health equity programs, expanding healthcare access to marginalized communities, and leveraging empirically validated tools and interventions at every level of the health system.

Evan received his Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University and Master of Science from Rutgers University.

Grants Coordinator

Fatmah Alyami will be assisting on all post-award financial and administrative management of the active funded projects within the Department of Global Health and Health System Design and at Arnhold Institute for Global Health.

She is a financial analyst with experience working in both corporate and retail banking. Her previous roles include working in the department of digital banking at Gulf International Bank, where she led initiatives to enhance the customer experience of the bank's retail app and supported new product launches. She also worked as a financial analyst at Financial Horizon Group and Sawadi Electro.

Fatmah holds a master’s degree in finance from Pepperdine University and a Bachelor's degree in Finance from Prince Mohammed bin Fahd University.

In her free time, Fatmah enjoys exploring new places, traveling, and going on hikes. Her passion for adventure fuels her desire to continually learn and grow, both personally and professionally.

Assistant Professor and Executive Director of the Community Health Impact Coalition

Madeleine Ballard, PhD is Assistant Professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai for the Department of Global Health and Health System Design and CEO of Community Health Impact Coalition, a global movement making professional community health workers the norm by changing guidelines, funding and policy. Her work alongside CHWs has been featured in the New York Times, Foreign Policy, and Lancet Global Health. Through research, advocacy, and organizing with community health workers, she's driven policy changes that ensure quality care for millions—including those who provide it.

Dr. Ballard, a Rhodes Scholar and recipient of the Harvard Women’s Leadership Award, was the inaugural co-chair of the Anti-Racism Task Force at the Arnhold Institute for Global Health. She served on the CHW Program Standards Advisory Panel for the Virginia Department of Health and was among the twenty global experts selected to review the World Health Organization's first ever community health worker guideline.

Assistant Professor

Aaron Baum, PhD is an Assistant Professor and Economist at the Arnhold Institute of Global Health, the Department of Health System Design & Global Health. He is also a research affiliate at the Veterans Affairs New York Harbor Healthcare System and a faculty affiliate at the Center for Primary Care at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Baum studies the organization and delivery of health services, the social determinants of health, and global health using methods from economics and statistical learning. His research mostly involves the analysis of claims and electronic health records datasets in collaboration with clinicians, epidemiologists, and health services researchers. He has also led a community intervention trial of a microfinance-based community health worker program in Haiti and now leads the evaluation of its national scale-up. His research has been published in JAMA, Annals of Internal Medicine, Health Affairs, and other leading clinical and policy journals.

Dr. Baum's research is supported by a K01 award from the National Heart, Lung, And Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, internal award from the Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and subawards from the Centers for Disease Control, United States Agency for International Development, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Archstone Foundation.

Prior to joining Mount Sinai, Dr. Baum was part of the founding team at City Health Works in Harlem NY, a non-profit organization that employs community health workers to deliver home health coaching and care coordination services to Medicaid beneficiaries. In partnership with Fonkoze, the largest microfinance institution in Haiti, he was part of the team that started a community health entrepreneur program that has been scaled up to reach millions of rural, low-income women and children and received a Canada Grand Challenges Rising Stars in Global Health Award, a Canada Grand Challenges Transition to Scale Award, and a 5-year $18 million award from USAID Haiti. Previously, he was a technologist in residence at Cornell Tech's Small Data Lab, under Dr. Deborah Estrin. He graduated with a B.S. in Mathematics (honors) from the University of Chicago and received his PhD from Columbia University.

Global Youth Health Senior Program Manager

Ashley Chory is the Global Youth Health Senior Program Manager at the Arnhold Institute for Global Health; she is responsible for overall strategic leadership for the Department and Institute’s Global Adolescent Health programs. Ashley is responsible for supporting the growth of the Department and Institute’s Global Adolescent Health care, education, and research programs across our four main strategic partnerships in Ghana, Kenya, Nepal, and New York. She is responsible for designing, implementing, and evaluating programs aimed at supporting health systems to develop and strengthen their adolescent and youth friendly services.

In collaboration with the Academic Model for Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) in western Kenya, Ashley works to strengthen the delivery of comprehensive adolescent and youth friendly services for all adolescents. Additionally, under the leadership of Dr. Rachel Vreeman, Ashley manages an Adolescent HIV Research Program that focuses on improving the care of children and adolescents living with HIV. In Guyana, through a partnership with the Ministry of Health, Ashley manages a Youth Health Initiative that focuses on the development and delivery of comprehensive, adolescent and youth friendly services for all young people.

Ashley joined the Arnhold Institute for Global Health given her interest in the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents. She has previous experience working with marginalized groups living with HIV and is passionate about identifying and improving health care disparities for this population. Ashley’s research interest is in the differences in health care acquisition and the long-term health trajectories of adolescents across gender, socio-economic status, and racial and national identity. She is committed to global-local partnerships and opportunities for reciprocal innovation toward promoting health equity for adolescents around the world.

Ashley received a Bachelor of Science from Sacred Heart University and a Master of Public Health with a concentration in Global Health from the State University at Albany School of Public Health. Ashley is currently a Doctor of Public Health candidate at New York Medical College.

Assistant Professor

Nicholas DeFelice, PhD, is Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health at the Icahn School of Medicine and at the Arnhold Institute for Global Health at Mount Sinai, and is a member of the Mount Sinai Institute for Exposomic Research. Dr. DeFelice studies the environmental determinants of infectious disease transmission. He develops mathematical models that quantify the burden of disease attributable to poor infrastructure and other environmental exposures, along with systems to forecast infectious disease outbreaks. His current research focuses on forecasting West Nile virus outbreaks. More broadly, his research is addressing how climate change influences human health and the environmental solutions that can promote positive health outcomes.

Dr. DeFelice holds a PhD in Environmental Science and Engineering at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he also completed his Master of Science in Environmental Engineering. Prior to joining Mount Sinai, his postdoctoral training was completed at Columbia University with a focus on climate and health.

Secondary faculty

Angela Diaz, MD, PhD, MPH, is Dean of Global Health, Social Justice, and Human Rights, the Jean C. and James W. Crystal Professor in Adolescent Health in the Department of Pediatrics and Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, and Professor in the Department of Global Health and Health Systems Design at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. After earning her medical degree at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, she completed a Master of Public Health from Harvard University and a PhD in Epidemiology from Columbia University.

Dr. Diaz is the Director of the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center, a unique program that provides comprehensive, interdisciplinary, integrated primary care, sexual and reproductive health, mental health, optical and legal services to young people. Under her leadership, the Center has become one of the largest adolescent-specific health centers in the U.S., serving more than 12,000 young people every year – all at no cost to patients. The Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center is a major training site in the field of adolescent health and medicine, with research funded by NIH.

Dr. Diaz is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, where she has sat on its governing council, been a member of the Health and Medicine Division, and served as Chair of the Board on Children, Youth, and Families, of which she is still a member. She is currently Co-Chair of the Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability and a member of the Policy and Global Affairs Division.

Dr. Diaz has been a White House Fellow, a member of the Food and Drug Administration Pediatric Advisory Committee, and a member of the Board of Directors of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. In 2003, Dr. Diaz chaired the National Advisory Committee on Children and Terrorism for the Department of Health and Human Services.

Dr. Diaz is active in public policy and advocacy in the U.S. and has conducted many international health projects in Asia, Central and South America, Europe, and Africa. She is a frequent speaker at conferences throughout the country and around the world.

Secondary faculty

Dr. James Eliades is an Emergency Medicine physician and epidemiologist. He is also Co-Director of the Global Health Division, Department of Emergency Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He also serves as an Assistant Clinical Professor at Arnhold Institute for Global Health. In his role as Co-Director, he coordinates activities within the Global Health division including project design and implementation, research, educational and advocacy initiatives.

In addition to his work as an emergency physician, Dr. Eliades has worked in global health for over 20 years for U.S.G. and U.N. agencies, non-governmental organizations, and was previously faculty in the Department of Population and Family Health at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. The focus of his work has included humanitarian response and refugee health, emergency health systems development, and malaria control and prevention in over 30 countries. Dr. Eliades’ current research focuses on strengthening the delivery of emergency medicine globally through partnership at sites in Latin America, Asia, and Africa, and domestically serving Native American communities in South Dakota and New Mexico. He also specializes in improving and expanding the delivery of prevention and treatment interventions for malaria in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. He has served on WHO's technical expert group for artemisinin resistance, and numerous other advisory groups.

He's published numerous peer-reviewed publications, abstracts, CDC MMWRs, and book chapters. He recently returned from two years in Southeast Asia running a four-country, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded malaria elimination initiative. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Michigan, a medical degree from Wayne State University, a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and completed the Epidemic Intelligence Service fellowship at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He has basic conversational skills in Spanish and French. Dr. Eliades enjoys cooking and is working on his first novel.

Assistant Professor

Lonnie Embleton, PhD, MPH is an Assistant Professor and Adolescent Health Advisor at the Arnhold Institute for Global Health at Mount Sinai and for the Department of Global Health and Health System Design. She is responsible for conducting research addressing the health and needs of adolescents and youth, specifically underserved and marginalized people. Her research based in Kenya has focused on street-connected children and youth and orphaned and vulnerable children, emphasizing sexual and reproductive health, HIV, human rights, gender equity, and structural and social determinants of health. In both of her roles as Adolescent Health Advisor and Assistant Professor she supports efforts to improve adolescent health with the Department and Institute’s global partners. Dr. Embleton also strengthens and develops our adolescent health programs, and the collaborative care, education, and research partnerships focusing on adolescent health in Kenya.

Dr. Embleton’s research focuses on addressing structural and social determinants of adolescent health inequities and seeks to redress these health inequities using implementation science to improve access, uptake, and delivery of health services to young people. She aims to improve health services and advance health equity for underserved and marginalized adolescents in Kenya and New York, by conducting collaborative, inclusive, and participatory global health research. She previously served as a Postdoctoral Research fellow for the Centre for Global Health at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Dr. Embleton has had work published in various journals such as Jama Pediatrics and AIDS and Behavior. She has had many achievements in her career, including being nominated for the Canadian Women in Global Health list, and receiving the prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship and the Doctoral Research award from the International Development Research Centre.

Dr. Embleton holds two bachelor’s degrees from Ryerson University and Brock University, along with receiving her master’s degree in Public Health from Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. She also holds a PhD in Medical Science from the University of Toronto. In her spare time, she enjoys cycling and exploring New York City by bike and cooking.

Executive Assistant

Jaid D. Edwards is the Executive Assistant for Dr. Rachel Vreeman, MS, MD, Chair and Professor of the Department of Global Health and Health System Design and Director of the Arnhold Institute for Global Health. Jaid is directly responsible for the overall administrative support for Dr. Vreeman and Operations Manager Martine Faustin. 

Prior to working at AIGH, Jaid worked as a full time Patient Care Coordinador at MedRite Urgent Care in Yorkville, and a part time Administrative Assistant at Brown Harris Stevens Residential Sales in the East Village. With over two years of administrative experience and six years of customer service experience, Jaid has worked in a variety of industries that have allowed her to hone in on her operational, clerical, management, communication and coordination skills.

Jaid has attained her Associates Degree in Speech-Language Pathology from LaGuardia Community College and is currently pursuing her bachelor's degree in Speech-Language Pathology at Herbert H. Lehman College with intention to become a Pediatric Speech Therapist. Jaid’s passion for preventative medicine and desire to expose underserved communities of color to specialty medicines fuels her desire to thrive as a Speech Therapist. Once her degrees are attained, Jaid plans to grow within AIGH and partner with our teams to offer her services as a Speech Therapist as an added contribution of service to the institute.  With the rapid expansion of the Global Health and Heath System Design department, Jaid is insurmountably excited to join our family and participate in her and the institute’s dream of providing quality healthcare for all.

Operations Manager

Martine Faustin is the Operations Manager at the Arnhold Institute for Global Health. With over seven years of operational management experience, Martine is responsible for the overall administrative support for the Department Chair and the department’s core operations team.

Prior to joining the Arnhold Institute, she worked as an Administrative Coordinator at Catholic Charities Behavioral Health Clinic in Far Rockaway and Jamaica, Queens. While there, she assisted with the daily activities of the clinics as well as provided administrative support for the clinicians. Martine has also engaged in research as an Associate Researcher at the Nestler Lab at the Icahn School of Medicine, here at Mount Sinai.

Martine received her Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Neuroscience with a minor in Biology from Marymount Manhattan College. Because of her profound interest in access to quality healthcare in low-income communities and the inequities in health policies, she is currently pursuing a Masters in Health Administration at the Robert Wagner School of Public Service at New York University.

Kanwal Haq is the Program Manager for the NYC Partnership at the Arnhold Institute for Global Health. She helps to lead the team's community-based participatory research and implementation work to improve women's health. Currently she is working on building the HoPE program, which provides full-spectrum, community-based doula care, free-of charge to any birthing person at Elmhurst Hospital and Queens Hospital.

Prior to joining Icahn School of Medicine, Kanwal worked at the Yale School of Medicine, completed a United Nations fellowship, an Americorp Fellowship, and conducted research in Kigali, Rwanda. Kanwal completed her B.S. in biological sciences from the University of Missouri and her M.S. in medical anthropology from Boston University School of Medicine. She is originally from Poplar Bluff, Missouri.

Dr. Krupa Harishankar is an assistant faculty member in the Departments of Health Systems Design and Global Health and Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science. Dr. Harishankar practices at Elmhurst Hospital, in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and is working with the New York City partnership team on care-delivery improvements and research.

Krupa graduated with a BA from Columbia University and an MD from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai through the Humanities in Medicine program. As a medical student, Dr. Harishankar participated in the AIGH global health program. She completed her residency training in obstetrics and gynecology at Mount Sinai, where she led the department’s Anti-Racism Task Force, and created the Healthcare Equity Residency curriculum and track. Krupa has a long-standing commitment to working with justice-involved women, as an advocate, researcher, and clinician, in partnership with community-based organizations and Correctional Health on Riker’s Island.

Assistant Professor
David Heller is an assistant professor and a practicing internist and clinician-investigator developing programs for the integrated screening, prevention, and care of multiple chronic conditions worldwide.

Dr. Heller focuses his work on integrated care models for hypertension, depression, and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs). With Dr. Raymond Aborigo, Dr. Heller co-directs the Arnhold Institute’s partnership with the Navrongo Health Research Centre in Ghana. This team is leveraging a nurse-led primary care platform - the Community-Based Health Planning and Services initiative - to provide front-line care for hypertension and depression in rural Ghana.

Dr. Heller also directs the PeakHealth Wellness Program, which provides online and in-person peer coaching to Mount Sinai patients struggling with multiple chronic conditions via the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) workshop program. He serves on the steering committee of the Coalition for Access to NCD Medications and Products, and is collaborating to improve hypertension control through nurse-led “adherence clubs” in Kampala, Uganda.

Dr. Heller’s work and publications have appeared in The Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Lancet, JAMA, BMJ and Circulation journals among others.

Education
MD, University of California, San Francisco
MPH, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Residency, Internal Medicine, Osler Training Program, Johns Hopkins Hospital
Fellowship, Primary Care Research, University of California, San Francisco

Senior Finance Manager

Shurnette Henry is the Senior Finance Manager at the Arnhold Institute for Global Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.  Within her role, she actively assists investigators with all aspects of pre-award proposal development, as well as post award grants management.  Additionally, she supports the research faculty with oversite and adherence to compliance, programmatic and financial management of the department’s research projects. 

Originally from Toronto, Canada, Shurnette has over 19 years of experience in finance, business development and project management. She began her career in grants management at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center before joining Mount Sinai in 2018 and working within Global Health to support the department’s objectives and scientific impact through sponsored projects.

Nepal Partnership Director & Associate Professor

Dr. Rose House is Associate Professor for the Icahn School of Medicine for the Departments of Emergency Medicine, Pediatrics, and for the Department of Global Health and Health System Design. She also serves as the Nepal Partnership Director for the Arnhold Institute for Global Health. In her role as Nepal Partnership Director, she works alongside Nepal colleagues to develop and support the Mount Sinai partnership with Dhulikhel Hospital and Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences. As an Associate Professor, she mentors faculty and learners that are engaged in global health and provides education and clinical care in emergency medicine and pediatric emergency medicine. She also supports engagement of Mount Sinai faculty, staff, and learners in advancement of care, education, and research. 

Dr. House’s research interests include addressing leading causes of death in children under five in low-middle income countries. For her earlier research in Kenya, she started noticing children dying from diarrhea-related dehydration and more recently, children dying from pneumonia. Her work focused on implementing World Health Organization rehydration protocols and improving rehydration therapy. Her research has since shifted to Nepal where she focuses on improving diagnosis of pneumonia to provide appropriate treatment.

Her work has been published in various medical journals such as Annals of Emergency Medicine and International Journal of Emergency Medicine. She has received several awards, including an academic emergency medicine award for top global emergency medicine research article. 

She holds a bachelor’s degree from DePauw University. She also holds a medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine and completed her residency in emergency medicine and pediatrics from Indiana University School of Medicine. Rose completed a global health fellowship which included a master’s in clinical research at Indiana University. She participated for several years in AMPATH Kenya, serving as the Emergency Medicine Team Leader.

Dr. House enjoys team sports, hiking, playing games, exploring other places and cultures. She also has an appreciation for music, arts, and theater. 

Global Health Informatics Project Manager

Davina Kang is the Health Information Systems Project Manager at the Arnhold Institute for Global Health (AIGH). In her current role, she is responsible for examining and identifying health information system (HIS) needs to ensure the strategic development and implementation of a successful HIS infrastructure.

Before joining AIGH, Davina worked for organizations such as Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard University, International Rescue Committee, and Memorial Sloan Kettering. She brings an extensive background based on her prior work in research, design, development, and global implementation of human-centered technologies for operations and healthcare delivery. Davina received an MS/MPH in Epidemiology & Medical Sciences and a bachelor’s degree in biology and Anthropology with a focus on Medical Anthropology.

Secondary faculty

Dr. Craig Katz is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Medical Education, and System Design and Global Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Arnhold Institute for Global Health, and the founder and director of Mount Sinai’s Program in Global Mental Health. He organized the psychiatric response to 9/11 in New York City through an organization he co-founded, Disaster Psychiatry Outreach, including founding and directing the World Trade Center Mental Health Screening and Treatment Program for 9/11 responders for several years. He has more recently served as Special Advisor to Mount Sinai's Center for Stress, Resilience, and Personal Growth

for addressing faculty, staff, and trainee mental health and well-being since the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

Dr. Katz holds numerous positions in the Department of Medical Education, including as a Faculty Advisor for medical students; Co-Director of Global Health Electives; Faculty Director of the mental health program within the student run, faculty facilitated primary care clinic, EHHOP; and Faculty Director for the Human Rights Program's Remote Evaluation Network.

Finance & Human Resources Coordinator

Shamsa Khan serves as the finance and human resources coordinator providing financial & HR operational support to the Global Health Team. She actively assists with monthly budgeting & financial reporting. She supports global operations through the growth of critical finance and administrative infrastructure development with our partners in Kenya, Nepal, Ghana, Guyana and New York.

Prior to her current role, she was a Financial Advisor at TD Wealth Management where she held a Series 65 & Life/Health Insurance Licenses. With over 9 years of experience in the financial services industry, Shamsa engaged in fostering strong client relationships and helped clients with their financial goals in New York, NY. She worked closely with clients to explore strategies and solutions as part of their overall financial plans as they worked together towards their unique financial goals.

Secondary faculty

Utsha G. Khatri, MD, MSHP, is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She has a secondary appointment at the Institute for Health Equity Research, Department of Population Health Science and Policy. As a health services researcher, Dr. Khatri is interested in improving access, outcomes, and equity with regard to the health and health care of structurally marginalized populations. Her ongoing projects focus on the health care of individuals and communities affected by mass incarceration and those affected by substance use disorders. Dr. Khatri practices clinically as an attending emergency physician at Mount Sinai Hospital and at Elmhurst Hospital. She is fluent in English and Nepali and proficient in Spanish.

Dr. Khatri received her medical degree from the George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She trained in Emergency Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where she served as chief resident. She completed the National Clinical Scholars Program at the University of Pennsylvania and received a master’s degree in Health Policy Research. She is also a former Fulbright Scholar.

Secondary Faculty

Alison Lee, MD MS is Associate Professor of Medicine with Tenure and System-Wide Associate Division Chief for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine and holds secondary appointments in the Departments of Global Health and Pediatrics. Dr. Lee is an NIH- and foundation- (e.g., Wellcome Trust) funded investigator whose research investigates how environmental exposures, such as ambient and household air pollution and humid-heat, during critical windows impact subsequent life course chronic disease risk. Dr. Lee is committed to leveraging longitudinal cohorts for mentored research opportunities, particularly for trainees under-represented in medicine. For example, Dr. Lee and colleagues center Ghanaian colleagues and seek to provide mentored research opportunities to build scientific expertise and capacity in Ghana.

Director of Global Health Education

As the Director of Global Health Education, Dr. Lee leads and expand opportunities for bilateral education exchanges within Mount Sinai’s strategic global health partnerships in Ghana, Kenya, Nepal, and New York. She partners with departments and programs across Mount Sinai to ensure the success of global health medical education. Dr. Lee also serves as the MPH Global Health Track Advisor, mentoring and supporting MPH students engaging in global health programs. Aligned with the Department Institute’s strategic goals, she will support our efforts to promote justice and equity in our global health education programs and partnerships and advance the larger goal of decolonizing global health.

Diana Lee, MD joined Mount Sinai in 2018 as a pediatric hospitalist at Kravis Children’s Hospital. She is committed to providing quality care to children both locally and globally through clinical care, education, quality improvement, research, and informatics. She has a joint appointment in the Departments of Pediatrics and Global Health. In addition to her global health roles and her clinical responsibilities, she holds an informatics role in the Department of Pediatrics.

Dr. Lee graduated from Princeton University with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, received her medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School, and completed her pediatric residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Prior to coming to Mount Sinai, she was a pediatric hospitalist at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore and held leadership roles in global health, quality improvement, and informatics. She was a founder and associate program director of the Montefiore Pediatric Global Health Program, which included pediatric residency global health electives, integration of global health education into the main pediatric residency curriculum, local and global partnership development, and establishment of a pediatric residency global health track. In partnership with others in this program, she contributed to quality improvement work around pediatric sepsis in Ghana and tuberculosis screening and diagnosis of children living with HIV in Togo. In addition, she has participated in clinical work in Mali and Ethiopia.

At Mount Sinai, Dr. Lee continues to participate in clinical, quality improvement, informatics, and global health efforts. She led the development of Mount Sinai’s clinical guidelines for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) associated with COVID-19 and is the pediatric hospital medicine representative on the American Academy of Pediatrics MIS-C Interim Guidance Working Group. As an Epic Physician Builder for the Department of Pediatrics, she has contributed to implementation of electronic medical record changes to standardize documentation and increase adherence to quality and safety efforts. She is a faculty member for the pediatric residency global health track and is a member of the AMPATH Kenya Adolescent Health Working Group. She has also served as a facilitator for the global health-focused InFocus 2 course and served on selection committees for the Global Health Scholarly Year and Distinction in Global Health awards for the Icahn School of Medicine.

Dr. Lee’s scholarship includes clinical research on addressing obesity in the pediatric inpatient setting and the impact of obesity on hospitalized children, as well as quality improvement around transitions of care and in global health.

Secondary faculty

Whitney Lieb, MD, MPH, is a board certified, attending physician in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science. Her interests are in cervical cancer screening and prevention, maternal mortality, and reproductive health in the United States and globally.

Dr. Lieb completed a fellowship in Global Women’s Health at the Icahn School of Medicine, where she focused on international residency training and health workforce capacity. She is an active member of Physicians for Human Rights and is a voluntary faculty member at the Mount Sinai Humans Rights Clinic and Weill Cornell Center for Human Rights, aiding victims of female genital mutilation, domestic violence and sex trafficking in their applications for asylum to the United States. Dr. Lieb also is a voluntary physician for the East Harlem Health Outreach Partnership, which provides care to uninsured, underserved women in East Harlem.

Dr. Lieb is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley.  She received a Master of Public Health degree from the University of New England and her medical degree from St. George’s University.

Dr. Lieb completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at The Brooklyn Hospital Center, where she served as chief resident during her final year.  

Secondary Faculty

Neha Limaye, MD, MPH is an Assistant Professor at Arnhold Institute for Global Health and for the Departments of Hospital Medicine and Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Limaye works clinically as a hospitalist on inpatient medicine and pediatrics services at Mount Sinai Hospital/Kravis Children’s Hospital. She also serves as an associate program director for the internal medicine and pediatrics (Med-Peds) residency program and is working with the Nepal partnership on care delivery, community-based research, and education.

Dr. Limaye has a strong interest in community health worker programs and health system strengthening, with experience partnering with community health programs in India, Peru, Mexico, and the US. In Nepal, she will focus on improving care for adolescents and for adults and children with non-communicable diseases through an integration of community-based and hospital care and implementation research. She also has an interest in health equity research, with recent projects on language-associated outcome differences for COVID and sepsis. Her work has been featured in several journals such as Annals of Global Health and PLOS One. She also participated in the Fogarty Fellowship, where she lived in Peru from 2015-2016. During this fellowship, she developed a new community-based intervention for a maternal health program for maternal health in the Peruvian Amazon.

Dr. Limaye received her bachelor’s degree from Duke University and her medical degree from Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Boston Medical Center and a residency with Doris Duke Residency in Global Health Equity through Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She also received a Master of Public Health degree from Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.

In her spare time, she enjoys dancing, hiking, vegetarian cooking, rock climbing, and crocheting.

Program and Office Coordinator

Adele Mack is the Program and Office Coordinator within the Arnhold Institute for Global Health. She oversees vital logistical and daily operations within the Guyana Office, supports the Country Director, and coordinates with the in-country logistics partners, ensuring a smooth operation and successful implementation of program objectives. Adele is a results-oriented professional with over 20 years of experience in Information technology, project management, and global health initiatives.

Previously, Adele led the Davis Memorial Hospital’s Positively United to Support Humanity (PUSH) project in Guyana. She spearheaded the administrative, financial, and technical aspects of the consortium, leading a multidisciplinary team to demonstrably provide through PEPFAR and CDC funding patient-centered and holistic health services, significantly reducing HIV mortality and morbidity among people living with HIV in Guyana. Adele also held IT positions at the Bank of Guyana and the Ministry of Education. She is committed to improving health outcomes and supporting vulnerable communities.

Adele holds a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems from Andrew’s University and a Postgraduate Diploma in Information Technology from the University of Liverpool. Beyond her professional work, she is passionate about youth development and is an active Youth Advisor.

Global Health Research Network Program Manager

Roxanne Martin is the Global Health Research Network Program Manager at the Arnhold Institute for Global Health. She supports the development and strengthening of research program capacity and infrastructure across our partnerships. She works across partnerships to help identify research program needs and lead strategic development of research operational resources. She continues to coordinate Dr. Rachel Vreeman’s work as the chair of the Global Pediatric Working Group for the International Epidemiologic Databases Evaluating AIDS (IeDEA) consortium, a global consortium of HIV care programs that compiles data from seven international regional data centers. Led by Dr. Vreeman, she also coordinates a global cohort of adolescents living with HIV, designed to perform in-depth data collection around the specific biological, mental, social, and cultural factors that may impact HIV outcomes.

Prior to joining the Arnhold Institute, she worked at Gynuity Health Projects. At Gynuity, she supported over 15 international and domestic research projects on maternal and reproductive health. She completed a practicum at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Bureau of Maternal, Infant, and Reproductive Health. She helped coordinate the launch of the Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee. The Committee reviews cases of pregnancy-related deaths and complications in order to identify potential causes of racial disparities in poor maternal outcomes.

Roxanne received her Master’s in Public Health with a concentration in health policy and management from the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health.

Associate Professor

Duncan Maru, MD, PHD is an epidemiologist and physician trained in internal medicine and pediatrics who conducts implementation science research on strategies to improve the equity of healthcare delivery systems. Duncan is an Associate Professor at the Arnhold Institute of Global Health and the Departments of Global Health and Health System Design, Pediatrics, and Internal Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He teaches and practices clinically at NYC Health & Hospitals / Elmhurst Hospital Center, a long-standing partner of the medical school. Currently, he is serving as Assistant Commissioner for the Bureau of Equitable Health Systems (BEHS) in the Center for Health Equity and Community Wellness (CHECW) at the NYC Department of Health. BEHS works with primary care providers, hospitals, payers, and other healthcare systems to address structural racism and implement evidence-based strategies.

Duncan has worked on solutions that support frontline providers' abilities to improve equity and access within their communities. In work in Nepal, with an organization he co-founded fifteen years ago, Possible, he has conducted research around community health workers, primary care improvement, digital health, and motivational interviewing. In work in NYC, with the CURE-19 partnership, Duncan is collaborating on efforts to improve equity in COVID vaccination through community health workers.

Prior to joining Mount Sinai, he served on the faculties of Brigham and Women's Hospital Division of Global Health Equity, Boston Children's Hospital Complex Care Service, and Harvard Medical School's Department of Global Health and Social Medicine. Duncan graduated from Harvard College, received his MD/PhD from Yale University, and completed the Harvard Combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics Program and the Brigham and Women's Global Health Equity Residence Program. Duncan's work as a physician researcher and epidemiologist has generated over 60 peer-reviewed articles. He is a recipient of the NIH's High Risk, High Reward Early Independence DP5 Award, an NIH R34 award, a Canada Grand Challenges Stars in Global Health Award, a Canada Grand Challenges Transition to Scale Award, a USAID PEER award, and a World Economic Forum and Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

He and his partner Dr. Sheela Maru, also on faculty at the Department of Global Health and Elmhurst Hospital Center, live in Jackson Heights with their sons Anand and Umed and parents Hansraj and Usha. He was a distance runner and triathlete growing up, and continues to swim, bike and run wherever he can.

Assistant Professor for Global Health and Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science, and Advisor for Possible

Sheela Maru, MD is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Global Health and Health System Design and Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is an attending physician at H+H/Elmhurst Hospital where she practices as a generalist Obstetrician Gynecologist. Dr. Maru is the Director of the NYC partnership between the Arnhold Institute for Global Health at Mount Sinai and the H+H/Elmhurst Global Health Institute, Queens and Elmhurst Hospitals. The NYC Partnership aims to improve the health and wellbeing of communities served by the public health system in Queens through building community partnerships and addressing social determinants of health. She worked closely with community partners to build the HoPE Community Doula Program. In addition, she has been an advisor for the organization Possible, supporting health systems strengthening and implementation science work in rural Nepal for the past decade. Her research is focused on improving healthcare access and quality for women and children in low-resource settings. Dr. Maru is the mother of twin teens and lives in Jackson Heights with her family.

Secondary Faculty

Ben McVane, MD is Assistant Clinical Professor at the Arnhold Institute for Global Health and the Department of Emergency Medicine at Mount Sinai. He works clinically at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, and the Cheyenne River Health Center in Eagle Butte, South Dakota. Dr. McVane is also the Senior Medical Educator at The Libertas Center for Human Rights, where he teaches and supervises forensic medical examinations and research. He has worked internationally with humanitarian responses in Greece, Bangladesh, and Mexico.

His research specializations include asylum, documentation of human rights abuses, and medical care of refugees and asylum-seekers. He has had work published in various journals such as The Journal of Emergency Medicine and American Journal of Emergency Medicine.

Dr. McVane received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia in Political and Social Thought and a medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Global Health Education Program Manager

Jennifer Meyer, LMSW, MPH is the Global Health Education Program Manager at the Arnhold Institute for Global Health and the Department of Global Health and Health System Design. She works with the education team and partnership teams to expand and develop the educational initiatives across the four main strategic partnerships in Ghana, Kenya, Nepal, and New York. As part of this work, identifies educational needs, develops educational infrastructure, policies, and procedures, leads and supports educational programs and bilateral exchanges, and prepares and trains learners.

Jennifer was previously the Senior Global Health Program Coordinator in the Department of Medical Education. Her previous work has focused on various public health topics including mass incarceration, gender-based violence, fatphobia, and internally displaced persons. She has a dedication to bringing an anti-racism and decolonizing lens to her global health work. Jennifer is also an adjunct lecturer at the Columbia University School of Social Work, Board Member for Manhattan Community Board 11, and writes educational articles on health-related issues for various online and print publications.

She received her Master’s in Public Health and Master’s in Social Work from Columbia University and her bachelor’s in public affairs from The Ohio State University. She is originally from Amesbury, MA and in her free time enjoys finding fun ways to travel on a budget, playing with her dog, Ferdinand, and watching Ohio State football.

Secondary Faculty

Dr. Arun Nandi, MD, FACEP, FRCS is a Secondary Faculty of Emergency Medicine at Icahn School of Medicine and at the Arnhold Institute for Global Health. He is currently the System Medical Director of Case Management for Mount Sinai Health Systems. In this role he is involved in oversight of clinical processes, admissions, throughput, denials, case management and utilization review at all Mount Sinai hospitals. At Mount Sinai he joined as the Director of the Emergency Department at the Mount Sinai west campus. Prior to joining Mount Sinai, he was the Chair of Emergency Medicine at Stamford Hospital in Connecticut and at Columbia Memorial Hospital in New York. Throughout his leadership roles, he has led the restructuring & reorganization of emergency departments and systems of care for stroke, cardiac emergencies & trauma.

Clinically, Dr. Nandi has experience as both an emergency physician in the United States, and as a surgeon in the United Kingdom, India and Trinidad & Tobago. He completed his residency in emergency medicine from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Jacobi Medical Center and formally trained as a surgeon in trauma & reconstructive surgery, completing fellowships at the Royal College of Surgeons, in both London and Edinburgh. As part of his academic research, he investigated wound healing at Stony Brook University and expanded his research into keloids & hypertrophic scarring.

Dr. Nandi’s passion lies in cultivating global health programs for emergency medicine and is active in the education, operations and research efforts of multiple organizations. He is the Deputy Ambassador to India for the American College of Emergency Physicians, International section and Visiting Professor for Emergency Medicine at JIPMER Pondicherry, his Alma mater where he spearheaded the emergency medicine residency training program and setting up emergency services. He is also the ACEP ambassador to Sri Lanka and visiting professor of Emergency Medicine at AIIMS, Mangalagiri, South India. Beyond the realm of medicine, Dr. Nandi is fluent in Hindi, Tamil & Bengali and loves traveling & hiking with his dogs.

Communications Manager

Ashante R. Patterson, MCM is the Communications Manager at the Arnhold Institute for Global Health and the Department of Health System Design and Global Health at the Icahn School of Medicine. She manages internal and external communications, including overseeing social media, the web site and the department newsletter. She also serves as a liaison to the Mount Sinai press office and helps to manage donor cultivation efforts and events. Ashante is passionate about health equity, maternal, adolescent, and community health.

Prior to joining the Institute, Ashante helped to coordinate fundraising efforts and communication strategies at several non-profits and universities, including the National Hemophilia Foundation, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and Rutgers University.

She received her master’s degree in Communication and Media with a specialization in Health Communication, and a Bachelors in English with a minor in Business & Technical Writing, both from Rutgers University.

Ashante is an avid writer and reader. She enjoys collecting eyeglass frames and jewelry, spending time with family and friends and going to church.

Program Manager

Ronnella Pellew is a Program Manager within the Arnhold Institute for Global Health. She is responsible for managing the design, implementation, and evaluation of targeted programs helping health systems and their patients manage multiple chronic conditions worldwide.

Now based in Guyana, Ronnella partners with the Guyanese Ministry of Health as Program Manager for the Service Delivery & Systems Strengthening Primary Care Initiative, which seeks to expand community healthcare across Guyana. Using her expertise in the coordination of multi-party initiatives, she works with internal and external stakeholders and the Guyanese government to drive the successful execution of programs.

Before joining the Arnhold Institute for Global Health, Ronnella was a healthcare consultant leading projects that helped improve delivery models and key performance areas – most recently, for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and St. Joseph’s Health network. Her early experience includes Hackensack Meridian Health and the NYU Langone School of Medicine.

Born and raised in Guyana before moving to the US, Ronnella has a very personal connection to and experience with this specific public health sector and communities. She has built a career around making a meaningful contribution to society and is energized to leverage her experience in major US healthcare systems to improve health outcomes in underserved countries, and to make a difference on a global scale.

Ronnella holds a Bachelor of Science in Health Administration from the University of Phoenix, a Master of Science in Education from Long Island University, and global Project Management Institute designations including Project Management Professional and Agile Certified Practitioner.

Director of Operations and Global Partnerships

David Plater is the Director of Operations and Global Site Development for the Department of Health Systems Design and the Arnhold Institute for Global Health. In this role, David is focused on expanding and strengthening Sinai’s network of global health partners along with the infrastructure and operational supports needed for effective care, research, and education programs in global health. David helps lead core operations for the Department and Institute.

David has nearly 20 years of experience managing international development and global health research programs. Prior to joining Mount Sinai, David served as the Associate Director of Research at Indiana University’s Center for Global Health where he helped build IU’s global health research partnerships and programs with a special emphasis on strengthening the IU-led Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare’s (AMPATH) research program at Moi University and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Western Kenya. Over the last decade, he has focused on the development and strengthening of effective local institutions and their administrative systems, policies and procedures, training programs, human subjects protections programs, financial administration, laboratory and biobanking infrastructure, and other core infrastructure and facilities to support international research collaborations focused on improving the health of people in resource limited settings. This research infrastructure has supported the development of a broad research network involving partners from more than 20 institutions in North America, Europe, and Africa with more than US$150 million in cumulative research and training awards from the NIH, CDC, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and other major sponsors, as well as, more than 800 publications in peer reviewed journals.

David is passionate about building highly effective international partnerships that contribute to improving people’s health in the most challenging settings around the world. His focus on partner development and empowerment began while serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in West Africa and South Asia. Working in these resource-limited environments, David has focused on developing enduring counterpart relationships focused on expanding the capacity of local partner institutions and administrative systems that deliver aid, healthcare, and other services to clients in underserved areas of the world. After returning from the Peace Corps, David coordinated and evaluated major international initiatives and strategic partnerships focused on health, hunger, water and sanitation, and education for Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation. In these roles, David sought to bridge the gap between research and the strategies used by international development organizations to implement effective programs.

Roberto Posada

Roberto Posada, MD is a Professor in the departments of Pediatrics, Medical Education and Global Health and Health Systems design. He is a Pediatric Infectious Disease specialist and serves as the Fellowship Program Director for Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital, the Director of the Pediatric, Adolescent and Young Adult HIV Program at Mount Sinai’s Institute for Advanced Medicine, and the director of the Global Health Track for Mount Sinai’s pediatric residency program. He also co-directs the Medical Microbiology course for 1st year medical students and serves as a faculty advisor for students.

Dr. Posada is originally from Colombia were he obtained his medical degree at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, in Bogota. He then moved the Bronx were he trained in Pediatrics and Pediatric infectious Disease at Montefiore Hospital and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Following completion of his training he briefly served as the director of the HIV Program at Lincoln Hospital in The Bronx, before joining Mount Sinai in 2001.

Primary Faculty

Mary A. Ott, MD, MA is the Associate Director for Global Youth Programs at the Arnhold Institute for Global Health, and a Professor with the Department of Global Health and Health System Design and the Department of Pediatrics. In her role as the Associate Director for Global Youth Programs, Dr. Ott will be focusing on developing clinical care strategies and training opportunities in Adolescent Health across the Arnhold Institute’s Global Strategic Partnerships in Ghana, Kenya, Nepal, and New York.

Dr. Ott is an adolescent medicine physician, ethicist, and behavioral health researcher, with expertise in adolescent pregnancy and STI prevention, and in the ethics of research with and care for adolescents. She is a board-certified adolescent medicine specialist, with 25 years of experience in providing clinical care to adolescents, with a focus on sexual and reproductive health. As part of her research, she has sought to bring the best evidence and innovative care practices to the service of vulnerable, marginalized and resource-limited populations in the US and around the world. Dr. Ott has spent over 20 years working in community-based pregnancy and HIV prevention in the US, and over the past 10 years has expanded her expertise globally to understanding the implementation of evidence-based prevention programs for vulnerable adolescents in new contexts, including rural adolescents, adolescents in low-resource communities, minoritized adolescents, and adolescents involved in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems.

Prior to joining Mount Sinai, Dr. Ott served as the Fellowship Director of Adolescent Medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine for the past 10 years. She also spent 6 years on the adolescent medicine sub-board for the American Board of Pediatrics, setting national standards for training in Adolescent Medicine. Through her work with the American Academy of Pediatrics, she authored key policy statements on sexual and reproductive health. She also has experience in multidisciplinary training in adolescent health as part of the US Maternal and Child Health Bureau Leadership Education in Adolescent Health grant. In addition, Dr. Ott has conducted trainings in both clinical care and research methods with adolescents at Indiana University, nationally, and internationally.

Dr. Ott has published numerous peer-reviewed publications including articles in The Journal of Pediatrics and BMC Public Health. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University in political science, a master’s degree from Indiana University in philosophy and ethics, and her medical degree from University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Ott completed her residency in Pediatrics and a Fellowship in Adolescent Medicine from the University of California, San Francisco. She enjoys spending time with her spouse and two young adult children, swimming, knitting, and exploring New York City neighborhoods.

Research Program Coordinator

Payal Ram is the Research Program Coordinator for the COVID-19 Unit for Research at Elmhurst and Queens (CURE-19), a collaboration between the Arnhold Institute for Global Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst Global Health Institute, NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst and NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens.

Payal built her research foundation as a Research Technician at Weill Cornell Medical College. Her projects investigated the effects of aryl hydrocarbon receptor activation by the environmental toxin dioxin (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, TCDD) on energy pathways and post-translational modifications.

After years of experimental based research, Payal shifted to patient centered research to align with her interests in healthcare. As a Research Coordinator for Mount Sinai Services at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, she worked on various Trauma and Pulmonary/Critical Care studies including investigating traumatic brain injuries in undocumented immigrants, massive transfusion protocol activation in non-trauma patients and development of acute respiratory distress syndrome and acute kidney injury in COVID-19 patients.

Payal graduated from Fordham University with a Bachelor of Arts in Natural Science with a minor in History.

Nepal Informatics Lead

Anant Raut has joined Arnhold Institute for Global Health as the Nepal Informatics Lead. For the last five years, he has served as the Healthcare System Engineer and Director of Informatics at Possible, where his responsibility was to lead the design, advocacy and policy-building of NepalEHR as an integrated population-based care delivery and learning platform that can serve as the model for public healthcare systems globally. With Possible, he led the rollout of NepalEHR, an OpenMRS-based EHR system at Possible’s district-level hospital hubs in Nepal. NepalEHR not only integrates the various hospital functions from supply chain to frontline care with insurance claims submissions and automated regulatory reporting, but also pioneered integration of hospital and community-based digital systems to provide evidence-based longitudinal care without the need for advanced computer skills. He helps improve health outcomes and patient experience through innovative digital systems design and quality improvement. Prior to Possible, Anant led various projects innovating user-centered solutions for companies like Hospira, P&G and Samsung. He is from Nepal, where he completed high school. He completed his MS in Engineering Design & Innovation from Northwestern University, and has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Trinity College in Connecticut.

Clinical Research Coordinator

Alva R. Rodriquez is the Clinical Research Coordinator at the Arnhold Institute for Global Health and the Department of Global Health and Health System Design. In her role, she is responsible for the evaluation of the New York City partnership’s HoPE Doula program and supports the community-engaged adaptation of the program for birthing persons by homelessness and incarceration. Alva has a strong interest in maternal and infant health research and was first exposed to this topic while she was pursuing her undergraduate degree.

Prior to this role, Alva was a Clinical Research Coordinator at the Blavatnik Women’s Health Research Institute where she worked on VIBE — a maternal health study that analyzes the impact of stressful factors, including those faced during the COVID-19 pandemic on postpartum health in women from minority racial or ethnic groups from Elmhurst and Queens hospitals.

Alva is currently pursuing her Master of Public Health degree with a focus in epidemiology and biostatistics from City University of New York. She is expected to graduate in December 2023. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and spending time with family and friends.

Assistant Professor

Anya Romanoff is a Breast Surgical Oncologist who focuses on improving breast cancer care in resource-limited settings. Dr. Romanoff earned her medical degree from the New York University School of Medicine and completed General Surgery Residency at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. During residency, she was awarded a Fulbright-Fogarty Postdoctoral Research Award in Public Health, which she used to investigate access to breast cancer care in Peru. She then went on to pursue a fellowship in Breast Surgical Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where she became involved in the African Research Group for Oncology, a National Cancer Institute recognized consortium dedicated to improving cancer care in Nigeria.

Dr. Romanoff is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Global Health and Health System Design at The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She also is a Global Cancer Disparities Researcher in the Department of Surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Romanoff collaborates with clinician-researchers in Nigeria and other low- and middle-income countries to implement strategies promoting the early detection of breast cancer and access to effective treatment, with the ultimate goal of improving breast cancer outcomes globally.

Adjunct faculty

Sabitri Sapkota is the Executive Director at Possible and is an Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor at Arnhold Institute for Global Health. As Executive Director, she works closely with the Board, team members, advisors, local, regional and global partners to develop revenue strategies, cultivate new funding sources, and lead the research process. As an Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor, she supports in strengthening research efforts and institutional partnerships to advance the global health agenda. Her research specializations consist of Sexual Reproductive Maternal Neonatal and Child Health (SRMNCH) and behavioral and implementation research to improve maternal and child health among vulnerable populations. Sabitri has worked as a Regional Research Advisor at Marie Stopes International United Kingdom and as a Director of Research, Policy and Advocacy at Marie Stopes International Nepal.

She has had her work published in PubMed and various journals. She has won several awards including a dean award from Hiroshima University for outstanding research, and a Vice Chancellor gold medal for her scholarly achievements during her undergraduate studies. She received her master’s in Public Health from the University of Melbourne in Australia and a PhD in Health Science from Hiroshima University in Japan. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking and gardening.

Associate Researcher

Sakshi Sawarkar is an Associate Researcher at the Arnhold Institute of Global Health, where she supports the Adolescent Health Initiatives partnerships. Her responsibilities span the research process, from project development to manuscript submissions, data analysis, and dissemination of findings via presentations and articles. Additionally, Sakshi is also a master’s in public health student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai on the Global Health Track.

Associate Director of Finance
Human Resources

Ky-Shana Urie is the Associate Director of Finance for the Arnhold Institute for Global Health and the Department of Health System Design and Global Health. In this capacity, she provides leadership and administrative direction for faculty and staff in the department, which includes strategic planning of both grant activities and delivery system-based initiatives as well as oversight of grants and non-grants financial accounts, and serving as the primary financial officer overseeing the grants and finance team and human resource needs. She supports global operations through the development and management of critical finance and administrative infrastructure development with our partners in Kenya, Nepal, Ghana and New York.

Before her current role, she was a Practice Improvement Facilitator at NYU Langone Health. She was responsible for preparing staff and providers on value-based healthcare by improving workflows, optimizing skillsets, and training staff and providers. Ky-Shana previously managed the daily operations as a Business Manager at NYU Langone Health and as a Practice Manager at NYU College of Dentistry. Before her career in healthcare, she was a Human Resources Manager in the hospitality industry.
Ky-Shana’s extensive experience in human resources and in improving operational efficiency, program development, and strategic planning helps provide exceptional care to patients and foster an environment for staff to grow.

Program Manager

Niccollette Tamayo-Jimenez is a Program Manager at Arnhold Institute for Global Health and the Department of Global Health and Health System Design. In her role, she coordinates the in-country implementation for a program to advise Guyana’s Ministry of Health on the development and implementation of a Child & Youth Health National Health Strategy to support and strengthen Guyana’s National Health System. She also ensures program quality, alignment, and collaboration with key program stakeholders and works closely with the Ministry of Education in the development and implementation of a new school-based delivery of health services. She is passionate about working with the Ministries of Health and Education in Guyana to roll out a school health screening initiative across the country. This program will ensure screening of vision, hearing, and growth, among other areas for in-school children and youth nationally.

She previously worked as a Deputy Program Manager for the National AIDS Programme Secretariat (NAPS), Ministry of Health in Guyana, where she managed projects and programs focused on the National HIV/STI response. She also assisted in the development of work plans, implementation strategies and needs assessment approaches for projects funded by the Government of Guyana, United States Agency for International Development (USAID). U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Global Fund. Niccollette also worked as a Program Manager for the Pan American Development Foundation where she provided humanitarian assistance to thousands of Venezuelan migrants (including Venezuelan Indigenous Warao migrants) and host community members through work with local partners.

Niccollette is currently working on publishing her MPH thesis titled “Substance Use Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Region 4 Guyana and its Impact of Risky Sexual Behavior.” Through her work with NAPS, more than 90% of the approximately 8,500 persons living with HIV knew their HIV status. Guyana was one of the first countries in the Caribbean to achieve this.

Niccollette obtained her medical degree from the Granma Faculty of Medical Science in Cuba through a government scholarship and a master’s in public health from the University of Guyana. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in bioethics and research ethics at Clarkson University and is hopeful that she will finish sometime in 2023. She enjoys reading, especially historical fiction novels. She likes to travel with her husband and two children and have picnics with their two dogs Bingo and Bella.

Chair and Director

Rachel Vreeman, MD, MS is the Chair of the Department of Global Health and Health System Design at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Director of the Arnhold Institute for Global Health. She is also a Professor of Pediatrics. A pediatrician and health services researcher, Dr. Vreeman has extensive history of leadership building Global Health research programs to generate the evidence needed to improve care systems worldwide. Her own research focuses on improving the care of children and adolescents living with HIV within resource-limited settings.

Dr. Vreeman chairs the Global Pediatric Working Group for the International Epidemiologic Databases Evaluating AIDS (IeDEA) consortium, a global consortium of HIV care programs funded by the National Institutes of Health that compiles data for more than one million people living with HIV. She is also a standing member of the NIH Scientific Review Group on HIV/AIDS Intra- and Inter-personal Determinants and Behavioral Interventions and on the scientific advisory committee for the International AIDS Society’s Collaborative Initiative for Pediatric HIV Education and Research (CIPHER).

Dr. Vreeman is an international expert on children’s adherence to HIV therapy, supporting disclosure of HIV status, HIV-related stigma, and mental health and other behavioral challenges for adolescents living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. She is the immediate past Director of Research for the AMPATH Research Network in Kenya. The AMPATH partnership provides HIV treatment for over 150,000 patients in Kenya and is building a comprehensive healthcare model in Kenya in partnership with the Kenya Ministry of Health. Dr. Vreeman now leads Mount Sinai’s participation in the AMPATH Consortium.

Dr. Vreeman graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University. She received her MD from Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, and completed her internship, residency, and a chief residency in Pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine. She also completed a fellowship in Children’s Health Services Research and a master's degree in clinical research at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. Vreeman served as the Director of Research for the Indiana University Center for Global Health from 2014-2019.

In addition to her academic research pursuits, Dr. Vreeman is the co-author of three popular books debunking medical myths and applying evidence to the (often false) ideas people hold about their bodies and health. These best-selling books, Don’t Swallow Your Gum: Myths, Half-truths, and Outright Lies about your Body and Health, Don’t Cross Your Eyes... They’ll Get Stuck Like That! And 75 Other Health Myths Debunked, and Don’t Put THAT in THERE! And 69 Other Sex Myths Debunked, provide light-hearted reviews of the science that explains why so many of those weird and worrisome things we think about our bodies are mistaken. Dr. Vreeman’s myth-busting research has been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, Scientific American, Newsweek, and many other publications. She has appeared on Good Morning America, CBS Evening News, CNN, Dr. Oz, BBC News Hour and many other national and international television and radio shows.

Director, Global Health Informatics
Assistant Professor

Dr. Jeb Weisman leads the Arnhold Institute for Global Health’s the design and informatics initiatives applying unique methods, tools, technologies, and multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives to complex global health challenges.

As a faculty member, Dr. Weisman's work centers on and supports novel applications of available technologies to address health information challenges and disparities on a global scale. His long-standing research and applied interests include informatics-mediated frameworks to support information inoculation theory and the psychology of judgement and decision, ethics in algorithm implementation, information systems to support mass prophylaxis and disaster response, accident theory's application to public health and health system design, and scaling information technology solutions for public and precision health interventions.

Prior to joining Mount Sinai, Dr. Weisman spent three decades working in primary health care and disaster preparedness and response. He was Senior Director of Strategic Technologies for the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University, as well as a non-profit CIO and CTO and health systems software developer. Through this work he has supported clinicians, medically underserved and immigrant populations, and global disaster response efforts. He co-developed the first mobile primary care electronic patient record system for homeless children and families, data tools and warehouses to improve quality and continuity of care for marginalized populations, implemented health technologies for mobile primary care clinics, and developed mobile telecommunication and information systems to support responders to natural and human-made disasters and humanitarian crises. He holds a doctorate in anthropology, focusing on computer-mediated culture, and has been a practicing archaeologist and forensic anthropologist.

In addition to his work at the Icahn School of Medicine, Dr. Weisman is a researcher and doctoral supervisor at SMARTlab, University College, Dublin and OCADU, Toronto. He lectures, builds tools, and advises on health information systems implementation, ethics in technology, disaster preparedness and response, and unanticipated social uses of information technologies.

Associate Clinical Professor

James Wilentz, MD is an Associate Clinical Professor at the Arnhold Institute of Global Health and the Department of Global Health and Health Systems Design. He has been an interventional and consultant cardiologist at Mount Sinai since 1993 and Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine.

In 2010 after the earthquake in Haiti, Dr. Wilentz began his journey into global health, volunteering with Partners in Health at the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince. There he saw, first-hand, mothers carrying their children in lines stretching a quarter mile around the hospital. They had come from all over Haiti after learning that there were foreign doctors willing to see their children without cost. From this experience, in 2010 Dr. Wilentz wrote an OpEd for the NY Times, “In Haiti, a Lesson for U.S. Health Care”  which dealt with lack of private / government coordination in healthcare – a concept we are still wrestling with. At the urging of Dr. Paul Farmer, Dr. Wilentz and Owen Robinson co-founded the NGO, Haiti Cardiac Alliance, facilitating life-saving surgery and interventional treatments for children and young adults with congenital and valvular heart disease. The Cardiac Alliance is in the process of branching out into Bolivia and the Dominican Republic.

At the Arnhold Institute, Dr. Wilentz has been mentoring MD and MD/MPH students in researching socio-economic and demographic barriers to access for specialty cardiac care in Haiti. Our team has completed its first paper, currently in review for publication. It is our hope to build on these projects and other ongoing Global Health department projects including the Mt. Sinai Guyana NCD project.

Dr. Wilentz’ publications have appeared in Circulation, Am Heart Journal, J Am Coll Cardiol and Lancet Global Health.

Assistant Director for Global Health Research

Ilene Wilets, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Global Health and Health Systems Design at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and at Arnhold Institute for Global Health. She is also on faculty with the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health. Ilene serves as a Chair for the Institutional Review Board (IRB) within the Program for the Protection of Human Subjects (PPHS) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. In her role as Chair, she provides training for board members on the federal regulation governing human subjects protection, develops institutional research policy, and conducts empirical studies on research ethics. As an Associate Professor, she is responsible for supporting investigators with the development of study protocols to meet the highest ethics and safety standards. Ilene previously worked for the New York State Psychiatric Institute at Columbia University as an Executive Director of the Institutional Review Board and has taught bioethics within the Columbia University Graduate Program in Bioethics, and more recently, within the Mount Sinai-Clarkson University Master’s Program in Bioethics.

Her research focus involves empirical work on research ethics and informed consent. She has had work published in many journals including JAMA and the American Journal of Bioethics,and  has written training modules for the CITI Program on observational research design and IRB safety review. Dr. Wilets holds a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University in Psychology, a master’s degree in Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a PhD from the Columbia University Graduate School for Arts and Sciences.

Assistant Professor

Wan-Ju Wu, MD, MPH is an Assistant Professor in the Arnhold Institute for Global Health and in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science. She serves as the Kenya Partnership Adolescent Health and Reproductive Health Team Leader and an attending physician in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Elmhurst Hospital.

Her research interests are in community-based interventions to improve reproductive health, safe abortion and family planning, and adolescent sexual and reproductive health. Dr. Wu is a Reproductive Health Advisor for the non-profit organization Possible and supports reproductive health implementation science research projects. She previously worked at Boston Medical Center as a generalist OBGYN attending. During that time, she supported a family medicine residency program in Lesotho and was the co-director of the Refugee Women’s Health Clinic.

She holds a bachelor’s degree from Brown University, and a Master of Public Health degree from Boston University School of Public Health. She completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology from Oregon Health and Sciences University, and her fellowship in family planning and global women’s health from Harvard Medical School.

Secondary Faculty

A Secondary Faculty of Medical Education and Pediatrics, Lori Zbar, MD is the Icahn School of Medicine Director of Student Health and Wellness. Dr. Zbar received a Bachelor of Arts cum laude from Yale University and her medical degree from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she also completed her residency in Pediatrics. As a faculty member, she enjoys teaching students and residents as well as caring for patients through the Mount Sinai Student Health Center. She is dedicated to wellness programming and innovation in both the curricular and extracurricular realms of the medical center.

Dr. Zbar has also served as an attending clinician/educator at the Mount Sinai Global Health partner site in Monrovia, Liberia. She remains committed to working with medical trainees to provide healthcare to underserved communities around the world. She is the recipient of numerous awards for clinical excellence.