Our Team
Team Members
Sarah Cairns-Smith
Sarah Cairns-Smith is an expert in R&D with a focus on biomedical and digital innovation. She has worked with players across the public, private and philanthropic sectors – on projects across the globe. Sarah is a Senior Advisor at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) where she worked as a Senior Partner and Managing Director. She is the Board Chair of the Amyloidosis Research Consortium, a member of the Board of Directors of Engender Health, and was a 2019 Harvard ALI Fellow. Sarah has expertise in the development of consortia related to innovation, including helping launch the NIH’s Accelerating Medicines Partnership. She has an MBA from Columbia University, a PhD in biochemistry and conducted post-doctoral research at Columbia University’s Center for Neuroscience. She coauthored “Reboot Contraceptive Research."
Helen Kahng Jaffe
Helen is a community advocate focused on healthcare and education. She has spent over two decades creating educational initiatives and leading advocacy efforts to improve food allergy safety. Helen serves as Board Director at Planned Parenthood of Southern New England Inc., Trustee at Teachers College at Columbia University, Co-Chair on the Advisory Board at the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Board Director on the national food allergy non-profit FARE, Food Allergy Research and Education Inc. Helen is a 2021 Harvard ALI Senior Fellow.
Research Associates
Current
Amy Liu
Amy Liu is a Biostatistics MS Candidate at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Before coming to Chan and joining the NewGen team, Amy conducted policy research to support the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services in improving their hospital quality reporting programs. She graduated from Brown University with a BS in Statistics and Public Health, and completed her research thesis on social well-being and insurance enrollment patterns among the elderly population. Amy is passionate about the intersection of data and policy, including how to use data analytics to improve women’s health outcomes.
Research Associates
Alumni
Morgan DeLuce
Morgan DeLuce is a Health and Social Behavior MPH Candidate at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, concentrating in Maternal and Child Health. Prior to joining the NewGen team, she worked for five years to advance family planning and girls’ education access in West Africa. She graduated from Boston College with a BA in Sociology. Her research interests are in improving maternal health outcomes for the most vulnerable populations. She is passionate about developing and evaluating programs that advance reproductive justice in the United States.
Chloe Diggs
Chloe Diggs is a passionate advocate for improving the overall well-being of women and their communities. She recently earned her master of education degree in Human Development and Psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her growing expertise includes research methods and implementation evaluation. In her spare time, she explores how massage therapy and other modalities within complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) influence mental and physical wellness. She graduated from Georgetown University with a BA in Justice and Peace Studies.
Alyssa Kumler
Alyssa is a Health and Social Behavior MPH Student at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2019 with a BS in Psychology and BA in Sociology. After this, she obtained her MA in Sociology from the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Her research interests are in understanding contraceptive behaviors and their impact on reproductive health and well-being. She is interested in a career doing research and advocacy.
Zoe Matticks
Zoe is a Health Policy MPH student at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. After graduating from Wellesley College in 2018 with a BA in Neuroscience and a minor in Health & Society, she worked as a healthcare consultant at Cloudmed in San Francisco, CA. Her research interests have focused on health care payment policy for emergent services for survivors of sexual assault. She will be attending medical school next year and is excited for a career in women’s health advocacy.
MJ Ulrich
MJ has over 5 years of experience in the field of community building and social advocacy. Currently, MJ works full time at Sabin Vaccine Institute applying principles of leadership development and community building to tackle vaccine hesitancy challenges and increase vaccine demand across diverse communities. As a retired D1 swimmer, she has also applied these concepts to improve the visibility of athletes of color and women's sports, as well as support Title IX policy and programs. At her core, she is a passionate advocate for health equity and reproductive justice and looks forward to continuing to be an active community builder to inspire change.
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