2024 Cohort of HGHI Burke Global Health Fellows

Dr. Tess Wiskel is an emergency medicine physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and faculty at Harvard Medical School. She received her undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley, medical degree from the University of Chicago and completed Emergency Medicine Residency at Brown University where she was awarded a Global Health Impact Award for her work improving emergency care in Belize. Dr. Wiskel completed a Climate and Human Health Fellowship jointly between Harvard’s Center for Climate, Health and the Global Environment and the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights while obtaining a Master of Public Health in Global Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Her current work focuses on understanding and addressing the health impacts of climate-related extreme weather events in at-risk populations. With the support of a Peter Rosen Award from the Department of Emergency Medicine, she evaluated information needs, preparedness, and response of communities to wildfires in California, and has disseminated these findings to local stakeholders to improve wildfire response. She has worked with both the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Climate Change and Health Equity as well as the nonprofit relief organization Americares on tools to improve health system climate resilience.

Project Title: “Heat Impacts on the Health and Well-being of Informal Sector Workers in India”

Project Description: As the climate warms, extreme heat is already impacting lives worldwide. We do not fully understand the impact of extreme heat in the living environments at home and at work on health and well-being – particularly of the working poor. Climate models and weather projections are currently based on data aggregated from weather stations and satellite observations that do not fully capture the heterogeneity of the lived experience of working communities in the Global South. Although the acute health impacts of heat stress are increasingly well documented, they often do not reveal the longitudinal impacts of both living and working in the heat on health and well-being.

This study will investigate the impact of heat on informal sector workers in India, beginning with home-based workers, in partnership with the Self-Employed Women’s Association, a local trade organization of nearly 3 million women. We intend to measure microenvironmental temperatures across a range of built environments where women both live and work – from single story informal structures to multiple story complexes. We will then determine the impact of heat as measured in these lived environments on health through longitudinal quantitative physiological measurements and well-being through qualitative assessments and sleep monitoring. Physiological measurements will include interval laboratory tests, as well as longitudinal heart rate, sleep, and temperature monitoring facilitated by novel wearable devices. This longitudinal understanding of heat impacts has the potential to inform future adaptations and public health interventions for those communities most affected by the warming climate.

Chuan-Chin Huang, Sc.D., initially trained in ecology and evolution before pursuing graduate work in epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is an epidemiologist and biostatistician dedicated to advancing global health equity and infectious disease research, particularly tuberculosis. Currently, he serves as an Associate Epidemiologist at the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and as an Instructor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Huang has been involved in numerous interdisciplinary projects focused on understanding bacterial and host factors associated with TB outcomes. His work integrates pathogen and host genomics, clinical, and epidemiologic data from longitudinal field studies conducted in Lima Peru. His research has significantly contributed to understanding the transmission dynamics and epidemiology of multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant TB. Dr. Huang’s dedication to improving health outcomes is evident through his rigorous research, education, and collaboration. His work continues to influence epidemiology and global health, providing valuable insights into the control and prevention of infectious diseases. Ultimately, his goal is to use data to identify optimal TB control and treatment strategies, reducing morbidity and mortality from this deadly disease. With a robust foundation in biostatistics and epidemiology, Dr. Huang is poised to make lasting contributions to public health and medical science, driving efforts to achieve health equity for vulnerable populations worldwide.

Project Title: “The role of prisons in the spread of tuberculosis in Lima, Peru”

Project Description: The proposed study aims to address the challenges of tuberculosis (TB) transmission within correctional facilities and its impact on the community in Lima, Peru. Prisons serve as breeding grounds for TB due to overcrowding, inadequate ventilation, and limited healthcare access. The study seeks to identify Mycobacterium Tuberculosis (Mtb) strains that belong to clusters that have expanded over the past decade and to assess the association between prison-related Mtb strains and cluster expansion. By leveraging unique datasets encompassing incarceration history, Mtb drug-resistant profiles, and Mtb isolates collected a decade apart, we aim to quantify the spread of prison-related Mtb strains in the community over time. This research is important given the disproportionate TB risk faced by incarcerated individuals and the potential impact of TB transmission from prisons on the broader community. Through innovative genomic analyses and longitudinal cohort studies, we aim to provide insights that can inform more effective TB detection, treatment, and control measures within prisons, ultimately contributing to efforts to mitigate the TB burden in Lima, Peru, and uphold human rights for people deprived of liberty.

Jonathan Strong, MD, MPH is an emergency medicine physician, researcher, and educator at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He is also a core faculty member at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative in the Emergency Health Systems division. Dr. Strong completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota, his medical degree at the University of Wisconsin, a Master of Public Health degree at Johns Hopkins, emergency medicine residency at the University of Maryland, and Global Emergency Medicine fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. His work focuses on advancing the practice of emergency medicine in low resource and conflict-affecting settings through innovative pedagogical methods, emergency care systems strengthening initiatives, and equitable partnerships with local actors. He has completed projects in Ukraine, India, Pakistan, Jordan, Lebanon, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Project Title: “Development and Implementation of the Adult Emergency Medicine Core Curriculum for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society Hebron Hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital Global Health Program Emergency Care Capacity Building Program”

Project Description: The Israel-Hamas war has caused an escalating humanitarian crisis and highlighted deficiencies within the emergency care system in the occupied Palestinian territory. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society Hebron Hospital (PRCS HH) located in the West Bank has partnered with the Boston Children’s Global Health Program to build emergency care capacity through multiple initiatives including educational programs, protocol development, and operational support. This partnership will co-develop and implement a nine-month curriculum covering core topics in adult emergency medicine such as adult trauma and medical resuscitation; triage and mass casualty management; and diagnostic and therapeutic pathways for common adult emergency conditions. This content will be delivered to physicians and nurses via an innovative curriculum incorporating bedside mentorship/coaching, lectures, skill stations, simulation, and case discussions that are developed and adapted to overcome the unique challenges of practicing emergency medicine in Hebron. A robust monitoring and evaluation program will assess the knowledge, skills, and practice of PRCS HH physicians in adult emergency medicine.

Dr. Jaqueline Seiglie is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a practicing endocrinologist and diabetologist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Dr. Seiglie received her medical degree from Harvard Medical School and her Master’s in Community Health and Welfare from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. She completed both her Internal Medicine residency and fellowship training in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at MGH. Her research focuses on the epidemiology of type 2 diabetes in Latin America and on the development of scalable interventions to improve diabetes self-care among Latin American adults. Born and raised in Santiago, Chile, she has had a long-standing interest in working to improve diabetes care for Latin American adults through clinical care and research. Her research program is currently supported by an MGH Center for Diversity and Inclusion Physician-Scientist Development Award and by a K23 Grant from the NIH/NIDDK. She is a past recipient of the Harvard Catalyst KL2 Award, NIH/NIDDK Loan Repayment Award, and The John T. Potts Jr. Pilot Award Program.

Project Title: “Grupo LATAM Virtual Capacity Building Curriculum: A peer-mentorship program to support early career investigators in Latin America and the Caribbean working in cardiometabolic research”

Project Description: The burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), particularly cardiometabolic NCDs, is rising in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), where nearly 82% of all deaths were attributable to NCDs in 2019. Due to well-recognized differences in the epidemiology of cardiometabolic diseases in this region, context-dependent research in LAC being carried out by LAC investigators is fundamental. Yet, resources to support the development of LAC-based research capacity are limited, particularly for in-training and early career investigators (medical or terminal research degree within the past 10 years). This project proposal centers on Grupo LATAM, a virtual peer-mentorship network of over 50 early career investigators across LAC that aims to support cardiometabolic research in the LAC region. Grupo LATAM started as a 6-month pilot (September 2022- March 2023) in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and was extended to June 2024 based on high participant enthusiasm. The Burke Global Health Curriculum Development Award will catalyze the expansion of this project by supporting the development of: 1) Grupo LATAM online presence (three-output platform) to promote career development of group members, and 2) the Virtual Capacity Building Curriculum (VCBC), a 20-week virtual didactic curriculum with hands on 1:1 mentorship and biostatistics training.