SHI Staff and Advisors

Dr. Sten Vermund is a pediatrician and infectious disease epidemiologist focused on diseases of low and middle income countries. His work on HIV-HPV interactions among women in Bronx methadone programs motivated a change in the 1993 CDC AIDS case surveillance definition and inspired cervical cancer screening programs launched within HIV/AIDS programs around the world. The thrust of his research has focused on health care access, adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights, and prevention of  HIV transmission among general and key populations, including mother-to-child.  Dr. Vermund has become increasingly engaged in health policy, particularly around sustainability of HIV/AIDS programs and their expansion to non-communicable diseases, coronavirus pandemic response and prevention, and public health workforce development. His recent grants include capacity-building for public health in Chad, molecular epidemiology for HIV in Kazakhstan, and COVID-19 vaccine studies in Dominican Republic and Connecticut. He has worked with schools and arts organizations for COVID-19 risk mitigation and institutional safety.

As Managing Director of SHI, Fatema manages the planning and implementation of the SHI venture development program. In coordination with other innovation and entrepreneurship programs at Yale, this includes developing curriculum, building a mentorship pipeline, coaching new global health ventures, and participating in campus-wide innovation and entrepreneurship activities. Fatema also serves as the Managing Director of InnovateHealth Yale, a program in social entrepreneurship, based at the Yale School of Public Health. In that capacity, she works with students, faculty, staff and community members to support social ventures in health and education across the globe.