About Us

Dr. Louise C. Ivers, MD, MPH, DTM&H is the Faculty Director of the Harvard Global Health Institute and the Executive Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Center for Global Health. Dr. Ivers is also the David Bangsberg Endowed Chair in Global Health Equity at MGH and a Professor of Medicine and Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Ivers has spent her career providing care to the rural and urban poor and engaging in patient-oriented investigation that offer solutions to barriers to healthcare. She works on the design, implementation, and evaluation of large-scale public health programs in resource-limited settings with the goal of achieving health equity. She has worked on healthcare delivery in India, Southeast Asia, and Africa. From 2003-2017, Dr. Ivers served in various leadership roles for Partners in Health, including Clinical Director, Chief of mission, and Director of strategic implementation. In addition to expanding access to healthcare for the poor, Dr. Ivers has contributed to published research articles on HIV/AIDS, food insecurity, and cholera treatment and prevention and is involved in global policy and advocacy.

Belinda Clerisme is the Executive Director of the Harvard Global Health Institute and works in partnership with the Faculty Director to execute the strategic vision for the institute. She is responsible for oversight of all administrative and financial activities, including strategy, financial planning, fundraising, space planning, human resources, and communications.

She brings to HGHI a strong background in financial management and strategic planning. Among the many highlights of her career are serving as Executive Director of Administration for the Harvard College Dean of Students Office; Director of Strategic Planning for MedStar Georgetown University Hospital; International Finance Director for Partners In Health; and Senior Finance and Planning Administrator for Harvard Medical School. She also served as the Treasurer for the Board of Directors of Anseye Pou Ayiti (Teach for Haiti).

Rachel manages HGHI’s Student Engagement Portfolio, which includes experiential learning programs and HGHI’s Student Advisory Committee.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a master’s degree in Education. Prior to joining HGHI, Rachel worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology coordinating student programming in the Middle East through MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives.

In her free time, Rachel enjoys traveling, hiking, and exploring the outdoors with her young children.

Yaye Cherif leads the finance team at the Harvard Global Health Institute. She has the primary responsibility for the department’s financial planning and processing, budgeting and forecasting, ensuring smooth operational activities, and maintaining productive and mutually beneficial collaborations with relevant external offices (OPP, HUIT, Harvard AP, etc.).

Prior to HGHI, Yaye worked as a Finance and Operations Manager at the Harvard ALI, where she was responsible for managing the department’s finances and operations, including budgeting and forecasting, account payables and receivables, donations, program fees, and single and multi-year financial planning. Before that, she worked as an Administrator at the Harvard University Office for Sponsored Programs, where she managed both federal and non-federal U.S awards, international awards, and served as a steward for maintaining data integrity and compliance in the management of research funds.

Bethany-Rose (BR) Daubman, MD, is Co-Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Global Palliative Care Program, an Associate in Global Health of the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Global Health, an Affiliate of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School through the Program in Global Palliative Care, and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Daubman’s work is focused on educational interventions to relieve suffering for vulnerable populations within the US, globally, and through disaster response. She has partnered with local palliative care leaders to develop educational programs and expand services in countries such as Jamaica, Brazil, and Chile.

Somewhat closer to home, and in collaboration with the Northern Plains American Indian Palliative Care Collaborative, a Community Advisory Board of enrolled Tribal members, and the Massachusetts General Hospital Rural Health Program, Dr. Daubman is working to develop culturally-responsive palliative care for American Indian communities in South Dakota.

You can read Dr. Daubman’s Harvard Catalyst Profile for selected publications.

Leina Fieleke is a Program Coordinator at Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI), where she supports programmatic initiatives across HGHI’s program areas and facilitates collaboration with internal and external partners.

Before joining HGHI, Leina was a Shansi Fellow at J.F. Oberlin University in Tokyo, where she taught English and organized educational programs for students. As an undergraduate, Leina received the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Research Fellowship for her independent research on art as a vehicle for disability justice. She earned a BA in Psychology, East Asian Studies, and Art History (with Honors) from Oberlin College.

Gabriel Jimenez is the Financial and Administrative Coordinator at the Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI), where he manages financial processings such as account payables and receivables, reimbursements, as well as ensuring the seamless flow of operational activities and administrative efficiency.

Prior to joining HGHI, he managed the surgical coordination at the Digestive Disease Institute in Cleveland Clinic, overseeing multiple aspects of operating rooms across South Florida for Gastroenterology, Colorectal, and Transplant surgeons. Additionally, in his previous role, he served as a pivotal link between healthcare fellows and the financial aspects of patients to obtain the care they needed.

Carolina (Carol) Lucey, is the Associate Director of Programs at the Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI). She oversees all programming efforts for the Institute and assists the Institute’s executive leadership in developing and operationalizing its strategic plan, implementing continuous improvement strategies for current programs, designing new offerings, and building productive collaboration with key stakeholders, including faculty and academic units across the University, as well as external organizations.

Before joining HGHI, Carol served as a Senior Project Manager at Ariadne Labs, a joint health systems innovation center at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. There, she oversaw a diverse portfolio of projects dedicated to enhancing and expanding innovative models of care, both on a national and international scale. Carol also held senior-level appointments for her home country’s President’s office and the Ministry of Public Health. She was a key member of the Paraguay President’s Delivery Unit where she assisted in the development and implementation of the National Strategy for Early Childhood Development and helped lead the policy arm of the Covid-19 National Response Team. At the Ministry of Public Health, she was the lead Project Manager for Presidential Initiatives. In this capacity, she coordinated initiatives that included broadening access to primary care, streamlining the supply chain for pharmaceuticals and medical supplies delivery in low-resource settings, and aligning international and multilateral partner organizations to the presidential objectives.

She also brings experience from policy development and project management across other key fields related to global health, including affordable housing, urban development, environmental conservation, and sustainability. Carol holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Bates College and a Master’s in Public Health from Yale University School of Public Health.

Elise supports the management of the Harvard Global Health Institute’s programming. She works across the Harvard community and with external partners to initiate and sustain collaboration that advances global health, primarily within the domains of climate change and healthcare delivery.

Prior to joining HGHI, Elise worked at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute on the Foundation Relations team, supporting the solicitation and stewardship of foundational support for Dana-Farber’s faculty projects and Institute initiatives.

Elise’s interests include health equity and access with a focus on behavioral health.

Bethany Mitchell is the Communications and Events Coordinator at the Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI), where she manages social media platforms and works on web optimization and email marketing campaigns to enhance the marketing efforts of HGHI.

Prior to joining HGHI, she worked in campaign marketing management and web design for large software clients globally. She has a passion for global health issues and has previous work experience with the Charity Crossing Organization to help expand outreach to those in need. Her drive to connect communities and raise awareness for a healthier world in tandem with her digital marketing skills makes her a valuable addition to the team.

Olivia manages the Harvard Global Health Institute’s fellowship programs. The LEAD Fellowship for Promoting Women in Global Health and the Burke Global Health Fellowship.

Prior to joining HGHI in 2019, she managed international fellowship programs and trainee education at Boston Children’s Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery and EqualHealth. Olivia earned a Master’s in Healthcare Administration from Regis College and a B.A. in Public Health.

Carissa Novak is the Assistant Director of Programs, overseeing all programmatic work at HGHI. Prior to joining HGHI, she worked at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment with an ecology and infectious disease research team, where she spent time living and working in Madagascar.

She also worked at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill managing a large-scale sexual assault research network, which included leading the first ever prospective study of sexual assault trauma in adult women in the US. She lived and worked in Kenya and Uganda while studying barriers to reproductive healthcare, specifically in seeking treatment for HPV and cervical cancer. She received her Master of Science in Global Health from Duke University’s Global Health Institute, and her BA in International Relations from Auburn University.

Carmen has over 15 years of experience in marketing and communications, with a focus on higher education over the last 8 years. Prior to joining the Harvard Global Health Institute, Carmen has worked in various marketing capacities at Babson College, the University of Chicago, Stanford University, and Texas A&M University.

Originally from Hong Kong, Carmen was a food and travel writer and editor for various lifestyle magazines there before coming to the U.S. She now writes for publications both in her hometown and in the U.S., covering topics from arts and culture to feminism and literature. You can find her writing in Vogue Hong Kong, Undomesticated, Canto Cutie, and City Magazine. She is a contributor to the anthology Hong Kong Noir (Akashic, December 2018) and a co-author of several business case studies, including Diunsa: An Entrepreneurial Family’s Digital Response to COVID-19 in the journal Entrpreneurship Education and Pedagogy.

Carmen is also active in promoting cultural exchange through the arts. She has been a member of the Governing Board of the Asian Pop-Up Cinema in Chicago since 2021.

Carmen received her MBA from Babson College and her BA in English from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She speaks and writes fluently in three languages: English, Cantonese, and Mandarin.

Luke ‘Lu’ Testa (they/he) supports HGHI’s strategic projects portfolio as a Senior Program Coordinator. They have worked on a range of topics and projects at HGHI, including the public health threats faced by asylum seekers on the northern border of Mexico, dialectical strategies for addressing medical misinformation in clinical settings, and policy tools for addressing the compounding impacts of climate change on health.

They are also a Master of Public Health graduate student at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Lu is completing a concentration in population mental health and is interested in the application of liberatory, queer-affirming forms of mental healthcare in community-based settings.

Joe Viola is an Administrative Coordinator at Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI), where he supports Faculty Director Dr. Louise Ivers. He is responsible for managing the Faculty Director’s calendar, scheduling requests, and travel arrangements. Additionally, he supports HGHI’s Executive Committee, Faculty Steering Committee, and special events (such as the annual HGHI Global Health Symposium and the Cholera: State of the Science Symposium).

Prior to HGHI he worked in the Office of the Provost at Boston University, supporting the Office of Fellowships and Scholarships and academic assessment, and in several Boston-area non-profit organizations. He has a BA in history and psychology from Clark University and an M.Div. from Boston University.