Meet the ICATCH Team

Dr. Umoren is a Neonatologist at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital where she is Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Adjunct Associate Professor of Global Health, Neonatal Telehealth Lead and Director of the Neonatal Education and Simulation-Based Training (NEST) Program. Her research focuses on improving neonatal outcomes globally through simulation-based education and global health partnerships. She has published and presented internationally on virtual simulations for health professional education. Dr. Umoren has been a member of the ICATCH review team since 2015.

Dr. Behrmann is a general pediatrician and adjunct faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for South Asia in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. She has been part of ICATCH since 2005 and Program Director since 2017. After spending the greater part of a year as a pediatrician in the Tibetan Children's Village in north India, she was an executive committee member of SOICH 2000-2006. She credits Duke Duncan, former chair of SOICH with the great idea to adapt the CATCH program to support colleagues and friends working on expanding child health access and pediatric education in low/low middle-income countries. Her photo was taken after eating butter chicken at KaKe-Da-Hotel in Delhi, India.

Abha Athale, DO, is a pediatrics specialist and pediatric emergency medicine fellow at Nationwide Childrens Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. She completed her medical education at Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine of Midwestern University. She became an ICATCH Fellow in 2021.

Dr. Balsara is a dental surgeon and a public health professional. She currently serves as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Department of International Health, Health Systems at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her research focuses on addressing the global challenges posed by non-communicable diseases including injury prevention, tobacco control, mental health, health outcomes and disparities, particularly in the realms of health systems and policy. She has extensive skills and experience in mixed methods research, policy analysis, and global health, and has contributed to multiple projects, publications, and curriculum development in these domains. Dr. Balsara has been a member of the ICATCH review team since 2023. 

Keerthi Charannasappa, MD, is a general pediatrician who works in the Emergency Department at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She joined ICATCH in 2021 and is very excited to be a part of this organization that allows her to pursue her interest in global health and a chance to support children’s health around the world.

My name is Molly Childers. I am a 3rd year PICU Fellow in St. Petersburg, Florida after spending time in the Army as an Active Duty Pediatrician. My hope is to continue to work with limited resource settings in some capacity and believe in the mission of ICATCH. Glad to be on the team! 

Dr. Cordes is a general pediatrician at Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She joined ICATCH in 2015 because it presented the perfect opportunity to apply her skills in epidemiology and biostatistics and connect with pediatricians committed to promoting child health around the world.

Dr. Das is a neonatologist at Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. He joined ICATCH in 2018 and has always been interested in public health since his days in India where he worked in an underserved area for 4 years. 

Dr. Dhansay works in general pediatrics and public health nutrition at the Burden of Disease Research Unit of the South African Medical Research Council and the Division of Human Nutrition and Department of Pediatrics and Child Health at Stellenbosch University in Cape Town, South Africa. He joined ICATCH in 2015, attracted by the work done by ICATCH as well as the chance to participate in a worthy global child health initiative.

Rajesh Dudani, MD, is a neonatologist at John H. Stroger Hospital of Cook County, Illinois. He did his medical school from B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal. He joined ICATCH in 2015, which has provided him a platform to work with colleagues from United States and other countries in activities related to improving child health care in resource-limited settings. He has been involved in pediatric global health education and organizing international conferences and workshops, such as the Helping Babies Breathe program, Stable courses, and PICC line courses, for healthcare professionals in resource-limited settings.

Dr. González is a retired academic general pediatrician. She worked for the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine for over 30 years and has been active at the AAP since the eighties having participated in national committees and serving as editor for the Spanish edition of several AAP books. She joined ICATCH in 2016 as it joins two of her passions: community pediatrics and promoting a socially responsible pediatric practice.

Jeff Green is a pediatrician specialized in medical genetics but with a strong interest in international maternal-child health.  He retired as a Section Chief of a cancer research lab at the National Cancer Institute where he also served in the US Public Health Service.  Post-retirement he received an MPH at Hopkins, began the NGO Apricity Solutions, Inc. to improve newborn survival in LMICs, is co-director of an ICATCH grant to improve the lives of children with cerebral palsy in Uganda and is a Health Volunteers Overseas program director for pediatrics in Nepal.

Dr. Greene is Vice Chair of Pediatrics, Pediatric Cardiology, Director of the Arrhythmia Service, Director of Faculty Development, and Senior Advisor for the Global and Rural Health Track at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Dr. Greene has been involved in Global Medical Education in person and remotely with the Malawi School of Medicine Pediatric Training Program. She joined ICATCH in 2016, feels the program is so very needed and is how she envisions the role of the AAP in helping to provide pediatric care worldwide. 

Dr. Grosso is a general pediatrician in Billings, Montana, USA. She joined ICATCH in 2018, becoming interested in global health ever since she went on several cleft lip and palate missions’ trips with her husband and family.

Hannah Gu, MD, was born in China but grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and is currently a neonatology fellow at Stanford. She studied engineering as an undergraduate, and her current research interests involve the design of medical devices to improve neonatal care. She sent time in Botswana as both a medical student and a resident, most recently working clinically in the neonatal intensive care unit in Gaborone. In a field as technology dependent as neonatology, her experiences in Botswana have motivated her to work toward the development of medical devices for NICUs in all settings, including those with lower resources. She became an ICATCH fellow to get insight into ongoing efforts to improve healthcare globally.

Dr. Jacobs is a general pediatrician on the faculty of George Washington University Department of Pediatrics, Children's National Hospital and a contract staff with the US Agency for International Development. He joined ICATCH in about 2010, appreciating it as a way to advance domestic-global health connections with AAP work on community pediatrics/ICATCH grants.

Michele Jedlica RPh, MD has practiced in the Piedmont of North Carolina as a primary care pediatrician and is an assistant professor of physician assistant studies at High Point University’s Congdon School of Health Sciences. She cares for a large immigrant population in her community. She joined iCATCH in 2023 to contribute and better understand the challenges for healthcare education and delivery for children globally.

Dr. Johnson is a neonatologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, where she is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and International Health. Her research focuses on epidemiology of neonatal sepsis and infection prevention strategies in low-resource settings. Dr. Johnson has been a member of the ICATCH review team since 2023.

Dr. Kurbasic is a general academic pediatrician at Norton Children's Medical Group and the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. She has been providing patient care, including refugee health, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Ecuador and USA. Dr. Kurbasic is involved in pediatric global health education, both internationally and domestically. She joined ICATCH in 2006 and has been involved in the program as the reviewer, advisor, and liaison to multiple ICATCH project.

Dr. Lauden is an academic pediatric hospitalist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital | The Ohio State University. She trained at the University of Minnesota, where she completed a global health chief year and a Certificate in Tropical Medicine through the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. She has experience in multi-institutional and international research collaboratives, grant review, global health education, and bioethics.

Katy Miller, MD, works at Children's Minnesota in the Adolescent and Gender Health Program. She is involved in ICATCH because she thinks it is one of the most meaningful programs the AAP is involved with, and it does an incredible amount of good with a very small budget.

Mohamed A. Mohamed, MD, MS, MPH, FAAP, is dually certified in general pediatrics and neonatal-perinatal medicine by the American Board of Pediatrics. He currently serves as the vice chairman of the Department of Neonatology at Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital. Dr. Mohamed is interested in improving the health outcomes of newborns and children. He teaches pediatrics & neonatal-perinatal medicine and certifies practitioners in neonatal resuscitation. He has authored several articles on neonatal mortalities, morbidities, and pregnancy outcomes. His research focus on health disparities and health outcomes among minority groups. He mentors public health students in their practicum experience and has supervised their research proposals. Dr. Mohamed was also funded through USDA to lead joint efforts with National Research Centre in Egypt to develop research agenda for examining neonatal infections related mortality and morbidity in Egypt.

Dr. Mustafa is a consultant pediatrician and pediatric pulmonologist at Nishtar Medical University in Multan, Pakistan. He joined ICATCH in 2006, was one of the first ICATCH grant awardees, and is passionate about helping people around the world who have great, innovative ideas.

Dr. Nanda is a Neonatologist at John H Stroger Hospital of Cook County in Chicago, Illinois. She joined ICATCH in 2018. Dr. Nanda has been working with underserved populations while in India and in the US. She was impressed by the work done by ICATCH of empowering the grantees from under developed countries who are caring for Pediatric patients

Dr. Ng'eno is a general pediatrician and epidemiologist at the US Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. She joined ICATCH in 2015, adding her broad experience providing clinical and epidemiology services in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. She believes in the in the impact of ICATCH's work in resource limited settings.

Dr. Okolo is a neonatologist at Federal Medical Center in Asaba, Nigeria. She joined ICATCH in 2015 and has always been interested in public health and feels ICATCH offers a great opportunity to get involved, reach out, and share more with others around the world who have similar interests.

Dr. Oyerinde is a general pediatrician in Minot, ND, USA. He has been a member of the ICATCH Executive Committee since 2015. He enjoys working on ICATCH grants because they enable frontline health workers to pursue homegrown projects to enhance children's well-being and health in low and lower-middle-income countries.

Dr. Panda is a neonatologist at El Paso Children's Hospital, Texas Tech University of Health Sciences in El Paso, Texas, USA. He Joined ICATCH in 2018, wanting to contribute to and improve global children's health

Dr. Pfeffer is an adolescent pediatrician at the Columbia University Medical Center in New York, USA. She joined ICATCH as a reviewer in 2014. She has worked closely with her colleague, Dr. Sabrina Kitaka, in Uganda to help scale up care of the adolescent patient by organizing and presenting at scientific conferences, creating the first public adolescent clinic and, creating semi-annual adolescent health newsletters. Most recently she is part of an NIH grant that supports the design and piloting of test text message and automated phone reminders on timeliness of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine series completion in Ugandan adolescents with the goal of increasing uptake.

Dr. Mary Rysavy is an obstetrician-gynecologist with the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston where she works in the Harris Health county medical system.  She is passionate about serving underserved women both locally and globally. She is a former ICATCH grant recipient for a project improving infant nutrition in Mozambique and loves the ICATCH mission to fund impactful projects in communities around the globe.

Dr. Santos is a pediatric infectious diseases and a pediatric HIV provider at the Children’s of Mississippi where he serves as the Vice Chair of Pediatrics for Diversity & Inclusion. He is a professor of pediatrics at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He joined ICATCH in 2022 and has always been interested on global health issues affecting infants, children, and adolescents.

Dr Janet Schairer is a general academic pediatrician at Jersey Shore University Medical Center where she is the pediatric clerkship site director. She has always had an interest in global health and has been involved in icatch since 2015 after her first trip to Haiti.

Dr. Staton is a retired primary care pediatrician now living in San Francisco, CA. She helped to found ICATCH in 2005, loving the AAP's US-based CATCH Grant Program model and expanding it to the international community, helping pediatricians help one another implement a community-based health program to improve local children's health.

Alcy R Torres, MD, FAAP, Director, Pediatric Brain Injury Program, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine. I joined ICATCH 10 years ago because I believe healthcare is a global right and this is an instrument to empower emerging global health leaders.

Yvonne E. Vaucher, MD, MPH, is a neonatologist at the University of California, San Diego, with a special interest in neurodevelopmental outcome of NICU graduates. As a neonatal/perinatal consultant and educator, she has served in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa for over 25 years to facilitate advances in newborn and NICU care. As an ICATCH steering committee member since 2014, it is her privilege to help community-based providers worldwide improve children’s access to health care. Although the grants are small, impacts may be large. ICATCH grantees’ creativity and accomplishments are truly inspiring!

Dr. Vides is a pediatric neurologist, headache specialist at Centro Médico Escalon in El Salvador. He joined ICATCH in 2015 and feels ICATCH initiatives have allowed him to support underserved populations on a global scale with team members who are passionate pediatricians with a mission to help children!

Dr. Wu is a primary care pediatrician in a suburb of Boston, MA where she serves a large immigrant population. She joined ICATCH in 20118 because she wanted to better understand the families she serves.