Current Fellows

Dr. Sanjida Adiba is a physician and public health researcher in the Environmental Health and WASH group at icddr,b in Dhaka, Bangladesh. During her GHES fellowship, she will focus on assessing lead exposure from traditional eyeliner (surma), including supply chain exploration and acceptability of lead-free alternatives among vulnerable populations in Bangladesh.

Dr. Lucy Chimoyi is an epidemiologist and implementation scientist whose research focuses on HIV, TB, and health systems in underserved communities across Southern Africa. During her GHES fellowship at The Aurum Institute, she will explore integrating TB prevention into community-based antiretroviral therapy delivery models for people living with HIV.

Ana Danko is a third-year medical student at the University of Hawaiʻi John A. Burns School of Medicine. During her GHES fellowship at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru, she will partner with community-based HIV support groups to develop a health literacy framework for individuals aging with HIV, assessing knowledge gaps and preferred communication methods.

Annesha Datta is a medical student at Rutgers Medical School and aspiring obstetrician-gynecologist. During her GHES fellowship, she will focus on increasing cervical cancer screening uptake among Indian women living with HIV through community health worker-driven social interventions, driven by her commitment to expanding critical healthcare access for women globally.

Dr. Brian Dawes is an infectious disease fellow at Stanford University whose research focuses on the epidemiology and ecology of emerging zoonotic viral infections in resource-limited settings. During his GHES fellowship, he will work on surveillance for neglected emerging viral infections and understanding spillover mechanisms to inform public health responses and strengthen diagnostic capacity.

Dr. Mengistu Yilma Dilnessie is an assistant professor of public health at Addis Ababa University with expertise in epidemiology, infectious diseases, and implementation science. During his GHES fellowship, he will focus on improving hand hygiene practices in pediatric wards across two teaching hospitals in Addis Ababa, evaluating effectiveness through an implementation research framework.

Dr. Mata'uitafa Faiai is an epidemiologist and recent PhD graduate from Yale School of Public Health whose research focuses on adolescent cardiometabolic health across Pacific Island communities. During her GHES fellowship at the Ministry of Health Collaborative Research Center in Samoa, she will use social network analysis to inform interventions addressing non-communicable disease risk among Samoan adolescents.

Dr. Jorge Gallardo-Cartagena is an infectious diseases physician and researcher at the Centro de Investigaciones Tecnológicas, Biomédicas y Medioambientales in Lima, Peru, whose work focuses on HIV prevention and digital health strategies. During his GHES fellowship, he will co-design a Spanish-language WhatsApp AI chatbot to support HIV-PrEP decision-making and clinic navigation among young adults in Peru.

Dr. Amy Gaye is a molecular biologist and genomic researcher serving as Senior Scientific Platform Lead of the Genomics Unit at CIGASS, Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar. During her GHES fellowship, she will conduct genomic and phenotypic surveillance of piperaquine resistance in Plasmodium falciparum to strengthen malaria drug resistance monitoring and support Senegal's elimination efforts.

Dr. Laty Gaye Thiam is a molecular cell biologist and postdoctoral researcher at Institut Pasteur de Dakar whose work integrates parasite genotyping and phenotyping to advance malaria vaccine development. During his GHES fellowship at Yale School of Public Health, he will investigate the functional impact of genetic variation in PfRH5, a leading blood-stage candidate for malaria prophylaxis.

Dr. Juliana Hoyos is a disease ecologist from Colombia whose research integrates ecology, epidemiology, genomic surveillance, and spatial modeling to understand vector-borne infectious disease dynamics in tropical landscapes. During her GHES fellowship at CIDEIM in Colombia, she will combine viral genomics and urban ecology to examine how socio-environmental conditions and urbanization drive dengue virus spread across vulnerable communities.

Dr. Mahfuza Islam is a Lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health and environmental health scientist with over 15 years of experience in WASH, environmental microbiology, and infectious disease epidemiology. During her GHES fellowship at icddr,b in Dhaka, she will examine occupational exposures to multidrug-resistant E. coli in poultry markets using a One Health approach.

Dr. Sefonias Getachew is a cancer epidemiologist and assistant professor at the School of Public Health, Addis Ababa University, whose research focuses on cancer screening, early detection, and health systems strengthening. During his GHES fellowship, he will evaluate the implementation of Project ECHO for enhancing cervical cancer screening among people living with HIV in Ethiopia.

Dr. Irene Mbabazi is a medical doctor and public health scholar at the University of Manchester whose work focuses on patient-centered models of care for young people with chronic conditions. During her GHES fellowship at Makerere University, she will develop and assess a peer-assisted, nurse-delivered transition model for adolescents with sickle cell disease moving from pediatric to adult care in Uganda.

Dr. Morgan Ngunjiri Muchemi is an internal medicine physician trainee at Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital and founder of Afya Mashinani Hub, a grassroots initiative advancing evidence-based health solutions in Kenya. During his GHES fellowship at Kenyatta National Hospital, he will evaluate the impact of community basic life support training on knowledge, attitudes, and practices in Kiambu County.

Dr. Ngozi Odunze-Odoala is an experienced pediatric surgeon with clinical expertise in resource-limited settings and a keen interest in improving global health outcomes. During her GHES fellowship at Jos University Teaching Hospital in Nigeria, she will assess the burden and care pathways for typhoid intestinal perforation in children, identifying actionable bottlenecks and developing standardized care bundles.

Dr. Raghukul Ratan Pandey is a public health specialist and epidemiologist with nearly three decades of experience in disease surveillance, health systems strengthening, and implementation research, currently serving as Senior Public Health Consultant at Johns Hopkins and Yale Schools of Public Health. During his GHES fellowship at PHRII in Mysore, India, he will strengthen longitudinal mortality surveillance systems and community-based public health research in Uttar Pradesh.

Dr. Maria Teresa Peña Gallardo is a physician and researcher with expertise in trauma systems, emergency care, and injury prevention in resource-limited settings. During her GHES fellowship at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, she will assess prehospital trauma care systems across Peru to identify critical gaps and generate evidence to strengthen trauma care delivery and reduce preventable mortality.

Dr. Luis Miguel Toro-Polo is an infectious diseases physician and clinical investigator at Centro de Investigaciones Tecnológicas, Biomédicas y Medioambientales in Lima, Peru, with experience conducting NIH-funded HIV prevention, treatment, and vaccine studies. During his GHES fellowship, he will focus on improving understanding of U=U, reducing HIV-related stigma, and supporting timely antiretroviral therapy engagement among newly diagnosed patients in Peru.

Dr. Mariama Toure is a pharmacist and researcher at CIGASS, Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal, specializing in molecular parasitology and genomic surveillance of infectious diseases. During her GHES fellowship, she will focus on the molecular epidemiology of malaria, including the genetic diversity of Plasmodium falciparum and VAR2CSA, to strengthen genomic surveillance capacity and support malaria vaccine development in Africa.