Learn more about past scholars
2025 Scholars
- Falguni Basnet
- Benjamin Daniels
- Michaela Greenlee
- Samia Ismail
- Zain Memon*
- Liz Nguyen*
- Cinta Sari
- Natalie Sinjaradze
- Allen Wang
- Ernest Yip
- Stella Zhang
*Internship in collaboration with HGHI.
2024 Scholars
*Funding for travel was provided through a generous grant by the Harvard University Asia Center.
Falguni Basnet
Student, Master of Science (SM) in Global Health and Population at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
"I am driven by a passion to bridge the gaps in healthcare access and quality, especially in the global south, through research and innovation in health systems. My journey from Nepal to the global stage has been shaped by a commitment to improving the lives of underserved communities, one data-driven insight at a time."
Falguni Basnet is a Master of Science student in Global Health and Population at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She holds a bachelor’s degree with honors in Economics and brings three years of experience in Public Health. Previously, she served as a Data Analyst for the My Ombudsman program at the Disability Policy Consortium, where she analyzed healthcare trends for MassHealth members, developed actionable insights, and contributed to improving care delivery systems for vulnerable populations. Her research interests focus on health systems improvement, equitable healthcare policies, and leveraging data-driven approaches to address global health disparities. She is passionate about advancing people-centered care initiatives to achieve universal health coverage, especially in low-resource settings.
Project Focus: Lancet Global Health Commission on People-Centered Care for Universal Health Coverage
Maria (Tika) Kartika, MD
Graduate student at Harvard Medical School, pursuing a Master’s degree in Global Health Delivery
Tika compliments her graduate program for contributing to research on person-centered, integrated primary health care models. With a deep commitment to serving marginalized populations, Tika has extensive experience collaborating with local and Indigenous communities to enhance health systems and environmental resilience. This includes emphasizing integrating practical research initiatives with community-centric health solutions, ensuring sustainable health improvements and equity in PHC delivery. After earning her MD in Indonesia in 2018, Tika engaged with numerous NGOs, development agencies, and think tanks, where she honed her expertise in health systems and planetary health. Her scholarly and professional endeavors are characterized by a robust application of community-based participatory research (CBPR), monitoring and evaluation, geographic information system (GIS), implementation science, and mixed-methods measurement.
Project Focus: Lancet Global Health Commission on People-Centered Care for Universal Health Coverage
Aneesh Mazumder
Project Focus: Lancet Global Health Commission on People-Centered Care for Universal Health Coverage
Cinta Sari
Graduate student at Harvard Medical School, pursuing a Master’s degree in Global Health Delivery
Cinta Nurindah Sari is a student in the Master of Medical Sciences in Global Health Delivery program at Harvard Medical School. She is a healthcare professional with extensive experience in both public and private healthcare settings in Indonesia. Driven by a passion for advancing health equity and social justice, Cinta has contributed to health and social initiatives in rural regions of Indonesia, which led her to co-found an NGO that focuses on improving child health in Indonesia’s low-income settings. Her work is grounded in addressing social determinants of health and strengthening health systems, with a focus on geographically isolated areas.
Project Focus: Lancet Global Health Commission on People-Centered Care for Universal Health Coverage
Natalie Sinjaradze
Student, Master of Bioethics program at Harvard Medical School
Project Focus: Lancet Global Health Commission on People-Centered Care for Universal Health Coverage
Ernest Yip
Masters student, Harvard Medical School
Ernest Yip is a graduate master's student at Harvard Medical School, and a President's Scholar for Medicine at HKU Med. His current research at Harvard focuses on clinical AI and digital health innovations for care support. In addition, he is a Teaching Fellow at Harvard College, a selection committee member for Harvard Global Health Institute, and represents the wider Harvard Medical School student body as its Master's Student Representative. Ernest previously served as President of the Hong Kong Outstanding Students' Association and currently its Council Member. He was also a Laidlaw Research and Leadership Scholar and now serves as a Board Member of the Laidlaw Foundation. Committed to community service, Ernest actively mentors underprivileged students through the Hong Kong Government’s flagship program on youth mentorship and poverty alleviation.
Project Focus: Lancet Global Health Commission on People-Centered Care for Universal Health Coverage
Stella Zhang
Master of Science student in Global Health and Population at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Stella Zhang is a Master of Science student in Global Health and Population at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She is deeply interested in health systems capacity-building and is excited to explore concrete ways to do so as a GPC student scholar. Stella received her B.A. from Emory University in Human Health, with a minor in Quantitative Sciences and a business concentration in Health Innovation. As an Emory Global Health Institute Field Scholar, she conducted fieldwork in Oaxaca, Mexico, interviewing women and stakeholders to assess the post-legalization abortion landscape and access to sexual and reproductive health services. As a Research Assistant at Emory Rollins School of Public Health, she performed qualitative and quantitative analyses for two mixed methods studies, including a smartphone game for adolescent HIV prevention in Kenya and a diabetes self-management app in the U.S. She has also been volunteering with Partners In Health for the past 7 years where she founded two PIH Engage teams for grassroots fundraising and policy advocacy.
Project Focus: Med AI
Michaela Greenlee
Student, Master of Bioethics program at Harvard Medical School
Michaela is a first-year master’s student in the Global Health and Population department at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where she is pursuing concentrations in Nutrition and Public Health Leadership. She graduated summa cum laude from New York University in 2024, with a bachelor’s degree in Global Public Health. At Harvard, she is conducting cost-effectiveness analysis research on childhood obesity interventions promoting improved nutrition and physical activity with Harvard’s CHOICES Project. Michaela is also doing a practicum with Deloitte as a Health Equity and Entrepreneurship Intern where she is gaining health consultancy training. As a Scholar, Michaela is excited to be involved with the Advancing People-Centered Care Primary Health Care project in Thailand. Through the program, she is looking forward to understanding how to strengthen global health systems with an emphasis on improving service delivery for non-communicable diseases (e.g. diabetes, hypertension).
Project Focus: Advancing People-Centered Care Primary Health Care in Thailand
Samia Ismail
Student, MD Candidate at Harvard Medical School
Samia (he/she/they) is currently a first-year MD candidate in the Pathways program at Harvard Medical School. They graduated summa cum laude from the University of Arkansas in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering. Afterward, he worked in the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy within the Department of Health and Human Services under a Truman-Albright Fellowship before receiving a Master’s in Public Health from the Boston University School in Public Health in 2024. She is interested in the integration of harm reduction strategies into healthcare as well as making healthcare more accessible for marginalized communities like people who use drugs.
Project Focus: Primary care workforce development for hepatitis management in the Philippines
Zain Memon
Student, Harvard College
Zain Memon is a first-year undergraduate at Harvard College studying Neuroscience with a secondary in Global Health and Health Policy. At Harvard, he is the Director of Curriculum for the Harvard Undergraduate Global Education Movement and his research focuses on adolescent health and health systems innovation. He is passionate about advancing public health in underserved communities and is excited to work on strengthening the integrated treatment and care of Hepatitis (StITCH) this summer in Vietnam.
Liz Nguyen
Student, Harvard College
I am a second-year undergraduate concentrating in Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology at Harvard College. Currently, I am also the co-director of the Boston Refugee Youth Enrichment Mentoring Program (BRYE 1-2-1) and PR co-chair for the Harvard Vietnamese Association. As an aspiring pediatrician, I am passionate about health equity and improving healthcare for all, especially those in underserved communities. I am excited to contribute to StITCH's mission to implement a people-centered care to improve health service delivery in Vietnam. In my free time, I enjoy taking photos (Harvard Yearbook Photographer) and going on (extremely long) walks!
Benjamin Daniels
Student, PhD candidate in the Population Health Sciences program at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Benjamin Daniels is a PhD student in the Population Health Sciences program at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health. His work in the Department of Global Health and Population focuses on state and health system capacity to accurately measure and incentivize the development of primary health care provider human capital and delivered care quality. His extensive prior research and policy work with the World Bank and Georgetown University have focused on private and public providers in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. He has also supported a range of reproducible research initiatives focused on statistical programming for research.
Project Focus: Strengthening Medical Education for Students and Trainees in Vietnam
Allen Wang
Master in Design Studies (Ecologies) candidate, Harvard Graduate School of Design, 2025
Allen is a second-year MDes student with a professional background as a service designer and researcher in Canada. He is interested in human-environment relationships, blending human-centered design with ecological thinking to explore how climate change and other macroscopic issues impact people's lives, and how to mobilize people towards planetary health and sustainable development in turn. His eclectic projects take inspiration from his lived experiences and short-term fieldwork in Nepal, Morocco, Japan, Western Europe, and the United States, including a Bloomberg Harvard Summer Fellowship.
Project Focus: Primary care workforce development for hepatitis management in the Philippines
Criselle Angeline C. Penamante, MD, MA
Student, Master of Medical Sciences in Global Health Delivery (MMSc-GHD)
Harvard Medical School
“Upon learning about the ongoing collaboration between HMS and the Philippines, I immediately applied to the Scholars Program at the Program in Global Primary Care and Social Change, eager to contribute to a project dedicated to delivering effective and equitable healthcare for Filipinos.”
Criselle is a student in the Master of Medical Sciences in Global Health Delivery program at Harvard Medical School. She is a physician, educator, clinical researcher, and mental health advocate who focuses on strengthening the Philippine mental healthcare system through digital health solutions. Criselle is a faculty member at the University of Santo Tomas (Manila, Philippines), teaching subjects related to human anatomy and clinical epidemiology among pre-med and medical students. She is actively involved in professional organizations and non-profit work in the Philippines and globally, and she serves as the Director of Culture, Diversity, and Inclusion at Harvard Alumni for Mental Health.
Project Focus: Primary care workforce development for hepatitis management in the Philippines
James Ricks
MD Candidate, Class of 2027
Harvard Medical School
James is a second-year medical student at Harvard Medical School. He graduated magna cum laude from Washington and Lee University in 2021 with a degree in English and a minor in Poverty and Human Capabilities Studies. In 2022, James was a Fulbright Scholar in Nepal, where he conducted original research and spent time shadowing and working as a patient guide and medical assistant at a local clinic. He also has experience as a research assistant in the Heart and Vascular Research Department at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, Washington.
Project Focus: Stigma reduction in the HIV system in Vietnam
Marwatunnisa Al Mubarokah, MD
Student, Master of Medical Sciences in Global Health Delivery (MMSc-GHD)
Harvard Medical School
Marwa is a student in the Master of Medical Sciences in Global Health Delivery program at Harvard Medical School. She is a general practitioner from Indonesia with broad experience working in primary healthcare in remote areas of Java, Indonesia. Her research and work experience focuses on community-based healthcare services and community health workers, primarily to improve maternal and child health and treatment for non-communicable diseases. As a PGPCSC Scholar, Marwa will be involved in the STITCH (Strengthening the Integrated Treatment and Care for Hepatitis) project. Through the program, she hopes to learn more about how to strengthen primary healthcare to deliver high-quality healthcare services for all people.
Project Focus: Primary care workforce development for hepatitis management in Vietnam
Naeema Hopkins-Kotb
MD Candidate, Class of 2025
Harvard Medical School
“I was drawn to the Scholars Program because of the unique opportunity to contribute meaningfully to established global health partnerships, and to do so under the guidance and mentorship of experts in global health, both at PGPCSC and with the country teams.”
Naeema is a fourth-year MD candidate in the Pathways program at Harvard Medical School. She graduated summa cum laude from Duke University in 2021, with bachelor’s degrees in biology and Global Health. Naeema is Egyptian-American and grew up around the world in Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Ghana, and Malaysia, in addition to the US. She is passionate about global health and sexual/reproductive health and plans to specialize in obstetrics and gynecology. Her other academic and extracurricular interests include birth equity, mentorship of underrepresented students in medicine, and medical education.
Project Focus: Primary care workforce development for hepatitis management in the Philippines
Naomi Schmeck, M.Sc.
Graduate Research Student
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
“I was motivated to participate in the Scholars Program because of the program’s commitment to novel approaches to primary health care delivery and training around the globe, and collaborations with in-country students and professionals. This program fits into my career goals of working in primary care, specifically in pediatrics.”
Naomi Schmeck has a Master of Science degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. As a student in the Department of Global Health and Population, she has concentrations in Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Child Protection. She is a research student with the Global AIM Lab at Brigham and Women's Hospital, where her research focuses on global neonatal sepsis, including antibiotic efficacy and diagnostic accuracy of individual signs to identify sepsis and meningitis and predict mortality in young infants across the globe. She hopes to continue working in infectious disease management and prevention research, to improve health outcomes and promote the safety and well-being, of all children.
Project Focus: Evaluation of central-line associated blood stream infections (CLABSI) at Vietnam National Hospital
Saravanan Thangarajan, MDS, MBA, FICOI, FAD
Student, Master of Medical Sciences in Global Health Delivery (MMSc-GHD)
Harvard Medical School
Global Health Research Scholar
Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Medical Center, Brigham Women’s Hospital
Dr. Saravanan Thangarajan is a student in the Master of Medical Sciences in Global Health Delivery program at Harvard Medical School. He is a Global Health Equity Researcher and Climate Change Advocate focused on innovative healthcare solutions integrating oral health, non-communicable diseases, and climate science, particularly in under-resourced settings. His work as a Data Analysis Research Associate at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health involved groundbreaking research on dietary patterns and Type II Diabetes. Saravanan also has an MBA in Healthcare & Hospital Administration from Dr. M.G.R. Educational & Research Institute, and a Master of Dental Surgery in Prosthodontics & Crown and Bridge from Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education.
Project Focus: Integrating climate science into the medical curriculum in Vietnam