Stephen W. Nicholas
President
Pediatric HIV specialist who worked in the mid-1980s to create the pediatric AIDS program at Harlem Hospital, where he later became Chairman of Pediatrics. He co-founded the Incarnation Children’s Center for homeless children with AIDS in 1988. In 1999, he founded the Columbia University International Family AIDS Program to support the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission in the Dominican Republic and, subsequently, the creation of Clínica de Familia La Romana. Dr. Nicholas was previously the Senior Associate Dean for Admissions at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and is a retired Professor of Pediatrics and Population and Family Health at Columbia University.
Linda Cushman
Vice President
A sociologist and health researcher with expertise in research design and implementation in underserved, minority communities, Dr. Cushman has directed numerous clinic and community-based studies in the areas of reproductive health, disease prevention, health services utilization, the use of alternative medicines, and health and migration issues in the Dominican Republic. She taught Qualitative Methods and Research Design and Data Collection to Master’s students at the Mailman School of Public Health, where she directed numerous practicum programs including sites in Uganda, the Dominican Republic, and domestic Native American Communities. She has received awards for the excellence of her leadership, teaching, mentoring and curriculum development at Columbia. Dr. Cushman is Professor Emerita of Population and Family Health at the Columbia University Medical Center and a Special Lecturer of Population and Family Health.
Ana Jiménez-Bautista
Treasurer
Member of the Clínica de Familia Board of Directors and the Director of the Office of Field Practice (OFP) at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. She was previously the Director of Programs for Columbia University´s Program for Global and Population Health (2011-2013) as well as the coordinator of community health initiatives (2004-2011) and health education (1995-2001) at the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health at the Mailman School of Public Health. Ms. Jiménez-Bautista received a master’s degree from Hunter College’s School of Social Work.
Richard Kearns
Secretary
Recently retired fundraising consultant who provided counsel to more than three dozen hospitals, healthcare organizations and not-for-profit mission driven institutions since establishing his practice in 1997. Earlier in his career, Richard was executive vice president and chief development officer at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, vice president for development and public relations at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), and director of development and public relations at Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital. A graduate of Iona College, he holds a master’s degree from St. Joseph’s Seminary and has served on a variety of not-for-profit boards.
Mina Halpern Lozada
Ex Officio Member
Executive Director of Clínica de Familia La Romana since 2011, where she provides overall programmatic and administrative leadership. Previously, Mina was the program coordinator for Clínica de Familia’s adolescent clinic and the program to prevent HIV vertical transmission (2009-2011). From 2006 to 2008, Mina served as a Program Management Fellow with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Global AIDS Program in Guyana. Prior to 2006, Mina served in a few different positions in the areas of reproductive health and HIV in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States. Mina, originally from Washington State, received her Bachelor of Arts in Government from Wesleyan University, her Master of Public Health degree from the University of Washington, and a Certificate in Managing Healthcare Delivery from Harvard Business School.
Consuelo Beck-Sagué
Member
Pediatric infectious disease subspecialist who worked for 19 years at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as an epidemic investigator, as Deputy Director, Division of STD Laboratory Research, and as Associate Director for Minority/Women’s Health, National Center for Infectious Diseases. Dr. Beck-Sagué worked for the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative (2004-2008), collaborating with the Dominican Republic (DR) Ministry of Health in the pediatric antiretroviral scale-up and volunteering at Clínica de Familia La Romana with her husband, Dr. Andy Dean. She founded the DR’s first summer camp for HIV-infected children with Clínica de Familia and competed successfully for USAID funding to support caregivers of fragile HIV patients. She is a retired associate professor in the Department of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at the Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work of Florida International University.
Andrew Dean
Member
Medical doctor and epidemiologist who graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1964. After internship in Seattle, he served as Peace Corps Physician in Somalia for two years, and then as a staff member of an NIH research laboratory in the Pacific for four years, where he did his residency training in General Preventive Medicine. A year of Burkitt’s Lymphoma research in Idi Amin’s Uganda was followed by a year on the faculty of the Harvard School of Public Health, subsequently enhanced by adjunct faculty appointments in six other schools of public health. His experience includes laboratory work with E. coli enterotoxin, isolation and serology of mosquito borne viruses and enteric pathogens, and electron microscopy of rotaviruses. He served eight years as State Epidemiologist in two states and was elected President of the national Conference (now Council) of State Epidemiologists. In 1984 he joined the CDC, where he led the design and development of Epi Info, a public health software package used around the world. After retiring from CDC in 2002, he developed OpenEpi, a series of epidemiologic calculators on the Internet (www.openepi.com). He and his wife, Dr. Consuelo Beck-Sagué, served as volunteers at Clínica de Familia from 2004-2008 where Dr. Dean developed software to facilitate treatment of HIV, and provided advice on clinic construction, laboratory technology, and informatics. Both have maintained an interest in Clinic affairs and have been financial as well as scientific contributors.
Marlyn Delva
Member
A social epidemiologist who, for nearly two decades, has worked in higher education to support and enhance the student experience through innovative and essential services. Dr. Delva is currently the Dean of Students at the Columbia University School of General Studies (GS). Before joining GS, she provided service and leadership as Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Dean of Students at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, where she continues to serve as an assistant professor of epidemiology. Dr. Delva has garnered national recognition for her accomplishments in teaching, and leadership, including most recently being awarded the 2019 Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health Student Services Excellence Award for her forward-thinking practices and dedication in working with students. Her research explores health disparities, focusing on the accessibility of health services and the impact of societal structures as these relate to populations descending from the Caribbean. Dr. Delva earned a Doctorate in Education and a Master of Arts degree from the Teachers College at Columbia University, a Masters in Social Work from the Columbia School of Social Work, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Barnard College.
Rachel G. Rempell
Member
Pediatric emergency medicine specialist who currently is an attending physician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where she is the Associate Medical Director of the emergency department and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine. As director of physician staffing, Dr. Rempell oversees the care model in the emergency department and guides the data driven staffing plans to allow for care of over 150,000 patients across three sites. She completed advanced training in point of care ultrasound and is the Director of the Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship at CHOP. She is a part of ultrasound education across CHOP assisting in curriculums for the pediatric residents, pediatric emergency medicine fellows and attending physicians. Her work in ultrasound education has recently brought her to the Dominican Republic for an exciting partnership with pediatric intensivists in Santo Domingo. Dr. Rempell has a long-standing connection with the Clinical de Familia La Romana, first spending 2000-2001 working in La Romana as its first program coordinator.