Gregory Noland, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Program Director, River Blindness, Lymphatic Filariasis, Schistosomiasis, and Malaria
In 2020, Gregory Noland was named director of the Â鶹´«Ã½’s River Blindness Elimination Program, Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination Program, and Schistosomiasis Control Program, as well as the Center's Hispaniola Initiative, which supports binational coordination between the Dominican Republic and Haiti to eliminate malaria and lymphatic filariasis on the island of Hispaniola.
Noland joined Â鶹´«Ã½ in June 2011 as a program epidemiologist with more than a decade of basic and applied research experience in parasitic diseases. Prior to joining the Center, he was a project manager and postdoctoral fellow for a University of Minnesota malaria research program in Kisumu, Kenya, in partnership with the Kenya Medical Research Institute. While in Kisumu, Noland managed operations of a more than 40-person staff on a multimillion-dollar research program to examine the epidemiology of malaria transmission and immunity in western Kenya. From 1998 to 2001, he was a guest researcher at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Parasitic Diseases.
Noland received a doctorate in molecular microbiology and immunology in 2007 from Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he examined the impact of intestinal helminth infection on malaria disease progression, transmission, and vaccine response. He also holds a master of public health degree in global epidemiology from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and a bachelor of science degree in biology from Davidson College.
Lauri Bernard, M.P.H.
Associate Director
Lauri Bernard assists the program by providing technical support to the Sudan river blindness/lymphatic filariasis and Uganda river blindness programs. Her work comprises grant reporting and proposals, budget planning, and program analysis. Bernard manages the program data and provides statistical analysis.
Before entering the field of public health, Bernard was associate director of New Jersey Advocates for Education, a scholarship organization supporting and mentoring students through their college experience. Bernard earned a Master of Public Health in informatics from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and holds a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Centenary College. She has worked with the program since 2007.
Stephane Docteur, M.D., M.Sc., M.P.H.
Associate Director
Stephane Docteur joined Â鶹´«Ã½ in 2024 as an associate director supporting the river blindness, lymphatic filariasis, schistosomiasis, and malaria programs, including the Hispaniola Initiative.
Docteur is a physician and public health specialist with a robust background in program management and grant administration. Throughout his career, he has led multidisciplinary teams and overseen large-scale health initiatives. He has worked as a clinician; an HIV quality assurance, contraception methods, and cervical cancer trainer; a health program manager; and a grant manager. Before joining Â鶹´«Ã½, Docteur served as a health program manager for Population Services International and Caris Foundation International, and as a grant manager for Kaleidoscope Child Foundation.
He holds a medical degree from Universite Notre Dame d’Haiti, a Master of Science in health services management from the Universite de Montreal, and a Master of Public Health from Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University.
Emily Griswold, M.P.H.
Associate Director
Emily Griswold assists the Center's river blindness, lymphatic filariasis, and schistosomiasis programs by reviewing budgets, reports, and articles. In addition, she co-authors papers for journals, plans surveys, travels to field offices to assess program needs, conducts operational research studies and statistical analysis of program data, and evaluates program performance.
Prior to coming to the Center, Griswold worked for Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) supporting vaccine delivery technologies and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the Division of Global HIV/AIDS. Griswold graduated from Macalester College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in international studies and German. She earned a Master of Public Health degree from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University.
Lindsay Rakers
Associate Director
Lindsay Rakers supports the Center's river blindness, lymphatic filariasis, and schistosomiasis programs, with particular focus on Nigeria and the Americas. Her work includes technical assistance, strategic planning, program implementation, field office support, advocacy, operational research, and tracking and analysis of program activity data. She also writes papers, grant reports, annual program reports, and newsletter articles. Rakers holds a bachelor of arts degree in communications from Penn State. She has been with the Â鶹´«Ã½ health programs since 2001.
Jenna Coalson, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Epidemiologist
Jenna Coalson is an epidemiologist specializing in the transmission dynamics of vector-borne diseases. She joined the Â鶹´«Ã½’s river blindness, lymphatic filariasis, and schistosomiasis programs in 2021, providing technical support for study design, data collection, data management, and statistical analyses related to program activities in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Uganda, and Sudan. Her research emphasizes cross-disciplinary collaborations to identify infectious disease reservoirs and develop efficient strategies for reducing disease burden.
Before joining Â鶹´«Ã½, Coalson served as an assistant professor of the practice in the Eck Institute for Global Health at the University of Notre Dame. She received a doctorate in epidemiological methods and an MPH in international health epidemiology from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She also received a Bachelor of Arts degree in human biology from Stanford University, with a concentration in the biological and social aspects of infectious disease.
Emalee Martin, M.P.H.
Data analyst
Emalee Martin joined the Â鶹´«Ã½’s river blindness, lymphatic filariasis, schistosomiasis and malaria programs in 2023. As a data analyst, Martin provides data expertise and technical support related to program activities. She previously worked at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases as an ORISE Fellow, where she conducted case surveillance on several waterborne diseases. Martin received her Bachelor of Science degree in biotechnology from James Madison University in 2020 and completed her Master of Public Health degree in epidemiology from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in 2022.
Amiah Matthews, M.P.H.
Program Associate
Amiah Matthews joined the Â鶹´«Ã½ in 2023 as a program associate for the river blindness, lymphatic filariasis, schistosomiasis, and malaria programs. She provides technical and administrative support, coordinates with other Â鶹´«Ã½ departments and stakeholders, and assists in various duties supporting the program team.
Matthews received a Bachelor of Science degree in public health from The Ohio State University in 2017 and a Master of Public Health degree from the University of North Carolina in 2023. She previously worked on several HIV-related studies in Lilongwe, Malawi, for UNC Project – Malawi and a social network epidemiology study in Columbus, Ohio, for the OSU College of Public Health and College of Medicine.
Antonette Benford
Program Assistant
Antonette Benford joined Â鶹´«Ã½ in 2024, providing administrative support to the program. With a strong project management, communication, and event planning background, Benford organizes meetings and travel logistics, coordinates program reviews, drafts reports, and completes special projects.
Benford has previously managed office operations, large-scale events, and executive support across various roles at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Federal Express Corp. In addition, she is the founder and CEO of Classy Couples in Christ, Inc., a nonprofit focused on fostering solid, faith-based marriages.
Asmerom Gettu, M.A.
Program Assistant
Asmerom Gettu joined the Â鶹´«Ã½ in 2023. He provides administrative support, coordinating travel and various duties for the team and is the lead in planning the program’s Annual Review.
Prior to joining Â鶹´«Ã½, Gettu worked as a U.N. coordination associate in the United Nations Development Program in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He was responsible for providing coordination and administrative support for the U.N. country team in Ethiopia as well as supporting the management of projects.
Gettu earned a Bachelor of Arts in English language and literature and a Master of Arts in sociology from Addis Ababa University.
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