Harvard Global Health Institute Awards Five Harvard LEAD Fellowships for Promoting Women in Global Health
In an effort to support the development of a diverse pool of women leaders in global health, the Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI) and the Women and Health Initiative (W&HI) within the Global Health and Population Department at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health offers the Harvard LEAD Fellowship for Promoting Women in Global Health, a year-long program designed to advance the leadership skills of talented global health leaders from low- and middle-income countries who are committed to the mentorship of future women leaders in medicine and public health.
HGHI and the W&HI are thrilled to introduce and welcome the 2021 Cohort of Harvard LEAD Fellows.
Based on their specific goals, our 2021 fellows will spend their time at Harvard University engaging in tailored leadership training, mentoring, and networking opportunities, including independent work supported by Harvard-based faculty mentors. During the fellowship year, the fellows will have access to world-class faculty, classes, and executive education programs. They will be both encouraged and challenged in new and inspiring ways.
The full fellowship curriculum, including leadership workshops, mentorship relationships, and classes will begin virtually in the fall of 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions. In early 2022, we are looking forward to welcoming the fellows to Cambridge and Boston, MA.
Learn more about the 2021 Cohort of Harvard LEAD Fellows:
Bridget Msolomba Malewezi, MD, MPH | Malawi
“As a leader of various local women’s organizations, I believe the skills and knowledge I will gain from participation in the fellowship will elevate the quality and standard of work that I individually as well as the organisations I work with produce. The executive leadership training and courses will help build cohesive and collaborative teams as I intend to share what I learn with my fellow women and leaders and generate thriving and active women-led organizations that will contribute as entities to the women’s health agenda in Malawi and globally.”
Bridget Msolomba Malewezi is a medical doctor, public health practitioner, motivational speaker, activist & health columnist. She is a graduate of the University of Malawi College of Medicine & Emory University, where completed her MPH with a focus on Global Health. She is currently the Vice President of the Malawi Chapter of Women in Global Health (WGH) as well as Acting Chair of the task force for the establishment of the Women Doctors Association of Malawi (WDAM). She is one of the founding members and currently an executive member and chairperson of Public Relations and COVID Public Awareness for the Society of Medical Doctors Malawi (SMD).
She has worked in various capacities including Country Director for Seed Global Health Malawi focusing on health systems strengthening and human resources for health (HRH). Prior to that, she served in various roles including Program Manager at Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) providing technical assistance to several government departments on the introduction of new vaccines for childhood illnesses as well as reproductive health.
Her health column in the national newspaper is now in its 11th year and she has broadened this into social media pages on Facebook & Instagram – ‘DrBonHealth’ – sharing information on health and most recently on COVID. In November 2020, she was awarded a Doctor of Excellence award by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Malawi (CPSM) in recognition for her dedication, leadership, and years of service to the medical fraternity.
Mareli Claassens, PhD, MBChB | Namibia
“The Harvard LEAD fellowship will hone my expertise in organizational leadership for a founding presidency of WoNam, in networking with organizations with similar aims and objectives, and in preparation for a leadership position in Global Health.”
Mareli Claassens is a clinical epidemiologist with a passion for Africa and its many peoples. She is enthusiastic to address the interesting challenges of finding drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) cases, map the transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, investigate pharmacogenomics and pharmacokinetics of DR-TB treatment in African populations, and the interface between COVID-19, TB, and HIV. While employed at the Desmond Tutu Tuberculosis Centre, Stellenbosch University, she had been involved in many research studies, focusing on TB case finding, TB infection control, TB in healthcare workers, initial loss to follow-up in presumed TB cases, antiretroviral treatment in TB patients and modeling studies investigating TB prevalence and incidence.
Currently, she is an Associate Research Professor at the University of Namibia (UNAM), funded as an African Research Leader by the UK Medical Research Council and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and as a Senior Fellow by the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership, to investigate DR-TB case finding in three regions of Namibia. She is a Research Fellow at Stellenbosch University, a Research Associate at the South African Centre for Modelling and Epidemiological Analysis, a member of the Global Burden of Disease Collaborator network, and a member of the Global Young Academy. She is collaborating with colleagues from Stellenbosch University, Imperial College London, Research Centre Borstel, University of Bern, Emory University, National Taiwan University, and others, with the aim of building local research capacity by involving local students who will have the opportunity to participate in study activities at UNAM and collaborating centers.
Preethi John, PhD | India
“It is a privilege and honour to be a Harvard LEAD Fellow and I expect it will offer a life-changing transformative experience. I hope to utilise this period to expand my leadership skills to not only build sustainable institutes but also further enhance my capability in mentoring and capacity building. It would be my dream if this could inspire and motivate several others to join the women in global health movement and strengthen the resilience of the health system. The learning I will get from world class resources at Harvard will not only develop my calibre to be a better teacher, trainer, and researcher but also equip me to give back to my organisation, healthcare professionals, women, and to India.”
Preethi John is a health and development management professional with 25 years of experience in public and private sector organizations. Her expertise and experience have groomed her as a leader and institution builder. Her career track started with the Institute of Health Management Pachod, Pune, India where she was able to contribute to the spectrum of rural and urban healthcare management and action research programs. A long stint at Aravind Eye Care System (A WHO Collaborating Centre) enabled her to gain expertise in capacity building of healthcare human resources from developing countries across South Asia, Africa, and Latin America. At Chitkara University, Punjab, India she got the opportunity to pilot a model for the development of allied health professionals and establish the Chitkara School of Health Sciences as its Founder Dean.
She is currently the Director of the Chitkara Global Health Institute. She also serves as Advisory Board Member to Health and Development NGOs and is the Co-Founder of the Women in Global Health India Chapter. She holds a Ph.D. from IIT Madras and a postgraduate degree from TISS, Mumbai, India.
Alice Kayongo, MPH | Uganda
“This LEAD Fellowship comes at the perfect time when I am taking on a new senior leadership role at WACI Health, an organisation deeply committed to improving health policy and outcomes in Africa. I strongly believe in the under-utilized potential for women in Africa to lead and inspire future generations and the LEAD fellowship simply has all the ingredients I believe are critical to this aspiration. I am therefore deeply honoured and privileged to be part of the next cohort and will take this once-in-a lifetime opportunity to make a difference in my country, continent and globally.”
Alice Kayongo is a public health practitioner and human rights advocate with 16 years of development experience working largely with civil society where she has held several positions. In addition to her academic training, she has more than 13 years of experience working with extremely vulnerable and voiceless grassroots communities affected by HIV on health literacy, advocacy, and empowerment. Together with these communities, she has worked to identify key advocacy priorities in a manner that triggers ownership and increases the communities’ meaningful participation.
Alice is an active researcher within the health, women’s, and children’s rights development sector in Uganda, Africa, and internationally. Her research interests for the health development sector are in: Health Financing, Intellectual Property Rights and Access to Medicines, the impetus for community mobilization and engagement in monitoring and evaluation of health service delivery at the community level. She has a proven record in conducting research on Health Systems Strengthening with particular emphasis on task shifting to improve indicators on Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV. She has vast experience conducting research amongst and for young women and adolescent girls in vulnerable communities of the region specifically focusing on predictors of loss to follow-up amongst young people enrolled in HIV Treatment and Care. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology as well as a Master of Public Health.
Alice volunteers on several boards including the Public Health Ambassadors Uganda board, the Health GAP board as well as the Uhuru Institute Board.
Julieta Kavetuna, MPhil | Namibia
“Life is a school which gives us opportunities to learn every day, thus I am ready to explore new avenues and improve on my current abilities and capabilities of leadership. I will capitalize on acquiring additional skills aiming to elevate Maternal and Mental Health among the top priority in our healthcare system. Namibia will be the Center of Excellence, with a global standing in issues of Maternal Mental Health in Africa. The policy I will be drafting during this fellowship will be a model instrument, which will ensure that every expecting mother receives the desired physical and mental care during and after birth.”
Julieta Kavetuna has been a community activist her entire life. Her activism is centered on the promotion of gender equity and the provision of quality health care for all, especially in the area of mental health. She has spent more than 13 years as a parliamentarian, where she was politically assigned for 5-year terms as Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Youth, and the Ministry of Health and Social Services. During her tenure in the Ministry of Youth, she launched a campaign “Operation Hope”, which successfully inspired hundreds of unemployed young people to identify their needs and pave their own ways to take up studies or create their own employment. While with the Ministry of Health she became a Mental Health champion. She has also served as Secretary General of the National Youth Council, where she established the Credit for Youth Scheme and the Young Women Leadership structures.
She is a Registered Nurse and holds a string of post-graduate qualifications including; a diploma in gender and development, an Honors Public Management and Policy Planning certificate, and a Master of Philosophy in Public Mental Health from the University of Cape Town.
To learn more about the LEAD Fellowship for Promoting Women in Global Health, click HERE.