Alumni

Ana M. Progovac, PhD is a mental health equity implementation scientist with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods expertise Her research goal is to use implementation science to improve equity and patient-centeredness in mental health care, including for patients from diverse racial/ethnic, language, and sexual orientation and gender identity backgrounds.

Timothy Creedon, PhD is a behavioral health services researcher with expertise in quantitative causal inference methods for experimental and quasi-experimental effectiveness studies of behavioral health policy and clinical psychiatric interventions. His research interests include how policies and programs influence access to mental and substance use disorder treatment for adults, adolescents, and children, and how state and federal policies as well as community, organizational, and interpersonal factors influence how individuals access needed behavioral health care.

Lindsay Overhage was an MD-PhD student at Harvard, pursuing a PhD in Health Policy. She was interested in reducing disparities in access to mental health care, and in using machine learning techniques to predict clinical outcomes in mental health. At the HERLab, Lindsay focused on primarily two projects: Assessing the causal links between different treatment regimes and suicide behavior outcomes, and how we can use nationally representative household datasets to impute need for treatment into Medicaid and Medicare claims data.

Nikhil Rao is pursuing a PhD in Health Policy at Harvard with a concentration in Health Policy. Prior to beginning studies at Harvard, Nikhil worked as a research analyst in the Urban Institute’s Health Policy Center. Their research interests include documenting and addressing health (care) outcomes for people with current or prior involvement with the criminal legal system and harm reduction services for people who use drugs.

Erika was a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at Florida Institute of Technology. She received her B.A. magna cum laude from North Carolina State University with a major in Psychology and minors in Spanish and Music. She received her M.S. in Clinical Psychology from Florida Institute of Technology in 2018. Her practicum placements include experiences in PCBI, CMHCs, university counseling centers, and child/family outpatient clinics. Her clinical training includes specialized work in Trauma Informed CBT, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, and integrated primary care.

Sadiq Patel, PhD, MS, MSW, was an NIMH Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard University School of Medicine. He received his PhD in Social Work and MS in Biostatistics from the University of Chicago and MSW from the University of Michigan. His research integrates statistical, geospatial, and data science methods to examine health outcomes and health care policy among underserved populations.

Leslie Adams was a David E. Bell Postdoctoral Fellow at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies and collaborator with the Health Equity Research Lab. Leslie is currently an Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Rajan was a postdoctoral fellow at Health Equity Research Lab interested in the connections between poverty alleviation, health, and health care costs. He received his PhD from the Heller School at Brandeis University, his JD from Harvard Law School, his MPH from the University of California, Davis, and his BA in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard College. Rajan has a background in advocating for low-income children with sickle cell disease, and he was an Equal Justice Works Fellow from 2012-2014. He is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Southern California.

Charley was a postdoctoral fellow at the Health Equity Research Lab and the Harvard University Department of Health Care Policy where she studied political decision-making in supportive housing policy. Originally from Michigan, Charley completed her B.S. at Michigan State University, her M.P.H. and M.A. in Bioethics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and her PhD from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Charley is a political scientist studying the relationships between urban politics, and public health political decision-making or policy outcomes. Her work focuses on health policies that are designed and or delivered at the local level.

Gabriel Rios studied Economics and International Relations at Boston University and did his postgraduate work at Barcelona GSE in Applied Economics. He is passionate about data analysis, health economics, and the utilization of econometric methods to explore solutions for disparities and inequities of treatment and/or outcomes.

Xinyu was a Data Analyst at the Health Equity Research Lab. She specializes in epidemiological research and applied biostatistics. Her main projects include performing data preparation, analysis and predictive modeling using large claims datasets and electronic health record data.  Xinyu earned an MPH in Epidemiology from the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health.

Yanyi was a Data Analyst at the Health Equity Research Lab. Yanyi contributed to the analysis of large health datasets and natural language processing/machine learning workflow design. Yanyi holds an MS in Applied Statistics and Psychometrics from Boston College and a BA in Psychology from Brandeis University. 

Ye Wang was a data analyst collaborator at the Lab. She completed her Economics Ph.D at Boston University and received her Bachelor's of Science in Economics from the University of Michigan. Her expertise is centered on econometrics and statistical modeling and as well as on Health Economics and Labor Economics. 

Angela Orangio held a BA in Business Administration from Boston College . She served as the Lab’s Business Manager and retired in 2025.

Katie Holmes graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a BS in Psychology and a BA in Sociology. She has gone on to pursue her PhD in Clinical Psychology at Hofstra and will be doing schizophrenia/psychosis research.

Akhil Reddy earned his BS in Interdisciplinary Studies (Biology, Computer Science, and Business) from the University of Pittsburgh. He has gone on to pursue further research and to apply for graduate Clinical Psychology programs.

Jahvon Johnson attended Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and graduated with a Master of Divinity degree. Before that, he graduated from the University of South Florida, with a B.S. degree in Public Health. He is interested in tackling health disparities with those who are at risk for access to healthcare and researching policy implementation to meet their health needs. Jahvon has continued on to pursue an MPH at SFU.

Rujuta Takalkar earned her B.S. in Biological Sciences and Justice Studies from Arizona State University. She is passionate about community-centered research to work toward bridging gaps in healthcare access and promoting more equitable healthcare delivery. She has continued on to pursue her MD at the Mayo Clinic.

Maddy earned her BA in Community Health from Tufts University. Prior to joining the HERLab, she worked at the National Association of Community Health Workers doing research and advocacy work to promote recognition of Community Health Workers as a critical part of public health infrastructure. She has continued on into a role in patient safety improvement.

Godwin Igbinedion (he/him) earned his Master of Health Science (MHS) degree in Mental Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and received a BS in Psychology in University of Maryland Baltimore County. Godwin has a vested interest in mental health of minorities and the improvement of mental health resource access for these people.

Anika was a Research Coordinator at the Health Equity Research Lab. She earned her BS in Psychology and Community Health from Tufts University. Prior to joining the Health Equity Research Lab, Anika worked at Boston Medical Center, as well as the Disparities Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she dedicated her time towards addressing health inequities through community-based partnerships and interprofessional collaboration.

Molly was a Research Coordinator at the Health Equity Research Lab and Assessment Coordinator in the RISE (Recovery in Shared Experiences), a First Episode Psychosis program at Cambridge Health Alliance. She earned her MA in Mental Health Counseling and Wellness at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, and previously received her BA in Psychology at Chestnut Hill College

Margo was a Research Coordinator at the Health Equity Research Lab. She earned her BA in Sociology and Women and Gender Studies at James Madison University. She was previously an AmeriCorps Fellow for a nonprofit in San Diego, where she worked to coordinate educational and mentorship programs for Latina women. Her research interests include systemic health disparities, sexual and reproductive health, and race/ethnicity health access.

Nathaniel (they/they, he/him) was a Research Assistant at the Health Equity Research Lab. They earned their BA in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies with a concentration in Health, Culture, and Vulnerability and Spanish from Tufts University. They were a 2018 Fulbright Fellow with the Anthropology & Health Program at the University of Buenos Aires conducting ethnographic research on activism and attitudes towards the National Campaign for Free, Safe, Legal Abortion.

Esther was a Research Coordinator at the Health Equity Research Lab. One of her main focuses was a joint project with the Cambridge Police Department on diversion programming related to adolescent engagement with the criminal justice system. She is pursuing her MPH at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

Fred was a Research Assistant at the Health Equity Research Lab. He first joined the lab as a two-time summer research intern. He received his BS in Biology from Tufts University and is pursuing his MD at the Boston University School of Medicine.

Maria Jose joined the Health Equity Research Lab after working as a research fellow at Boston Children's Hospital in a neurology laboratory. She obtained her medical degree in Quito, Ecuador. Her interests in research include patient preferences in diverse communities, and promotion of patient empowerment on decision making. Maria is currently an MPH student at the George Washington Milken School of Public Health. 

Tali was a Research Assistant at the Health Equity Research Lab. She attended Brandeis University as an undergraduate student, majoring in Health: Science, Society and Policy and minoring in Economics and French. Her previous work is in the non-profit sector where she focused on increasing access to health care for underserved populations by developing community outreach strategies.  She is went on to pursue a MBA/MA at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. 

Sherry was a Research Coordinator and Project Manager at the Health Equity Research Lab. She received an M.P.H. with a concentration in epidemiology and biostatistics from Tufts University School of Medicine.