Global Women's Health Fellowship Alumni

Kathleen M. Powis, MD, MPH, MBA  (2007-2009) Dr. Kathleen Powis received her MBA degree from the University of Richmond and her MD degree from the Medical College of Virginia prior to completing her residency (and serving as Chief Resident) in the Harvard Combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics Residency Program at Massachusetts General Hospital.  During her fellowship, Dr. Powis worked in Botswana with Drs. Roger Shapiro and Max Essex on the Botswana-Harvard AIDS Initiative (HAI), in addition to completing her MPH degree at the Harvard School of Public Health and serving as Assistant Residency Director of the Harvard Combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics Residency Program at MGH.  Dr. Powis’ research interests include prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and ensure optimal health for HIV infected pregnant women and their infants.  Dr. Powis is continuing her work in Botswana and is an instructor in internal medicine and pediatrics at MGH.

Ingrid Katz, MD, MHS (2007-2009) Dr. Katz obtained a B.A. from Amherst College (Magna Cum Laude), and a Master's Degree in Health Science (MHS) from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health before pursuing her degree in Medicine at University of California at San Francisco (AOA). She developed her interest in Global Women's Health while working at the Ministry of Women's Rights in Paris, and subsequently with the Population Council and UNICEF in Vietnam, where she focused on reproductive health research. After medical school, Dr. Katz completed her training in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH, 2006), and did an Infectious Disease Fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (2009) while concurrently doing a Global Women's Health Fellowship at BWH (2009). During the period of medical training, she did research at the HIV Division at the World Health Organization, and was an Editorial Fellow at the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Katz has since assumed a faculty position in the Division of Women’s Health at BWH; her research focuses on the social and behavioral determinants of health promotion in sub-Saharan Africa. In particular, she is studying sexually transmitted infections, such as HIV and HPV that disproportionately impact women globally. She has been working at the Perinatal HIV Research Unit in Soweto for the past two years, under the mentorship of Dr. David Bangsberg, focusing on two primary research projects – the first is examining the factors impacting HPV vaccine adherence among adolescents. The second is focusing on factors affecting refusal to participate in HIV treatment programs among HIV-infected, treatment eligible adults presenting for testing. She has been the recipient of the Harvard Catalyst KL2 Medical Research Investigator Training (MeRIT) Award, the Harvard Global Health Institute Travel Award, the Eleanor and Miles Shore Award, the CROI Young Investigator Award, and most recently, the Center for AIDS Prevention Scholar Award. Her K23 Career Development Award focusing on treatment refusal in Soweto received a fundable score and has passed council review.

Margaret Bourdeaux, MD, MPH (2007-2009) Dr. Bourdeaux received her BA in Psychology from Harvard University in 1997, her MD from Yale Medical School in 2003, and her MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health in 2009. She is board certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, and completed her residency at the Harvard Combined Medicine and Pediatric Residency Program in 2007. She completed the Global Women’s Health Fellowship at the Women’s Health Division of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2009. Prior to medical school she worked as a child advocate and community organizer for Boston Medical Center’s Department of Pediatrics. In medical school she conducted research regarding refugee health and humanitarian response while working in Kosovar refugee camps during and after the 1999 war. She has conducted several case studies that address the relationship between health policy, humanitarian response organizations and health care status of displaced populations—ranging from assessing barriers to health care for women and children displaced by Hurricane Katrina to the policies of international actors in Kosovo that shaped the emergence of its post-war health system. Currently her work addresses the role the US Department of Defense plays in the spheres of development, humanitarian assistance, and disaster response. Dr. Bourdeaux focuses on monitoring and evaluation of humanitarian response systems, health care delivery in societies with high levels of insecurity and violence, and the political and policy factors that shape the emergence of health care outcomes and systems in post-conflict societies.

Jennifer Scott, MD, MBA, MPH (2009-2011) Dr. Scott earned her medical degree from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and her MBA from the University of Colorado Graduate School of Business before completing a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), where she also served as Administrative Chief Resident. Dr. Scott’s clinical and research interests are in gender-based violence and reproductive health in displaced populations and conflict settings. During the Global Women’s Health Fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), Dr. Scott conducted research on gender-based violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, and South Sudan. She also helped to establish a reproductive health program at a field hospital in post-earthquake Haiti. Currently, Dr. Scott is the Director of the Global and Community Health Program in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at BIDMC and works as an obstetrician and gynecologist at The Dimock Center. She continues to hold a research faculty appointment in the Division of Women’s Health at BWH and her research is focused on gender inequality and gender-based violence in humanitarian settings. She also continues to work with the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) Women in War program.

Felicia Lester, MD, MS, MPH (2009 – 2011) Dr. Lester became the first-ever fellow simultaneously enrolled in the Harvard Family Planning Fellowship and the Global Women’s Health Fellowship.  She received her MD degree from University of California San Francisco (UCSF), her MPH degree from UC Berkley, and completed her residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at UCSF in June 2009.  Her interest lies in exploring the impact of reproductive choice on women’s health here and abroad.  In addition to a busy clinical schedule in Boston during her fellowship where is developed advanced clinical skills in abortion and family planning she also combined her expertise in family planning with her experience and interest in global health to work with Partners In Health in Rwanda. Her work in Rwanda focused on developing and implementing protocols and training for integrated family planning, pregnancy and childbirth services, and undertaking a pilot study of the feasibility of conducting a randomized trial of immediate post-cesarean IUD insertion in Uganda. Dr. Lester is currently a Clinical Instructor at the University of California, San Francisco.

                                  
Marisa Nadas, MD, MPH (2010-2012)During her tenure as a Global Women’s Health Fellow, Dr. Nadas’ primary focus has been to reduce maternal mortality in Botswana in partnership with the Ministry of Health (MOH) through the development of curriculum on Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care (EmONC). Her research involved identifying Master Trainers (MT), crafting curriculum that target the gaps in skills and knowledge  as identified by the MOH, and conducting pre- and post-tests to evaluate the effectiveness of the materials, training, workshops and clinical simulations. Evaluation of this EmONC pilot demonstrates that rigorous educational methodology can be successfully applied to trainings in low-middle income countries.  With national rollout of the training, future evaluation will elucidate the effect of this type of training on maternal and neonatal outcomes. As of July 1, 2012, Dr. Nadas has joined the faculty of the Boston Medical Center and will continue with the Connors Center as Research Associate.