Board of Directors

  • Sonia founded UAID to empower students to eliminate health inequities in their own communities in partnership with local organizations. She applies her passion for public health and management to her consulting firm as well, through which she has worked with organizations ranging from Johns Hopkins University to the Maryland Department of Health to the World Health Organization. In her spare time, she enjoys budget traveling and trying new vegetarian recipes. Sonia is a graduate of Yale University, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and MIT Sloan School of Management.

    sonia@uaid.org

  • Haley is a recent graduate from Duke University, where she studied International Comparative Studies and Global Health. She plans to attend medical school, with hopes of becoming a doctor and pursuing a career in clinical practice and global health research. Currently, she is working at the Ragon Institute of Mass General Hospital, MIT, and Harvard, where she researches the vaginal microbiome and its association with HIV, HPV, and preterm birth. She also has experience working on community health interventions in Kisumu, Kenya, where she focused on reducing stigma and other barriers to HPV screening for women. Haley was drawn to UAID because of the emphasis on helping local communities combat these barriers and health disparities to increase access to care. After working as a Community Projects Intern and gaining experience aiding communities in the evaluation of their health needs and the determination of effective solutions to sustain a more equitable healthcare system, Haley stepped into the role of Director of Community Projects and now serves as Executive Directoor. In her free time, she loves to go on walks, try new recipes, and travel with her family.

    haley@uaid.org

  • Nadia is an undergraduate student at Georgia Institute of Technology studying Biochemistry, with minors in Spanish and Health, Medicine, and Society. In the future, she hopes to pursue a MD-MPH and care for young patients in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) as a neonatologist. In addition to being a student, she also conducts research with Emory University and Florida International University on the role that language and bilingualism plays in the development of babies and neonates and works to construct and assess on-going programs in local and international NICUs. Nadia is passionate about all aspects of health equity, empowering communities to champion their needs, and public health education. She was drawn to UAID, because of the organization’s commitment to connecting with communities and its lasting ability to cultivate impactful and sustainable change.

    nadia@uaid.org

  • Nandita is an undergraduate student at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is a junior studying Neurobiology and Physiology on the pre-medical track. After volunteering in the College Park area at a Women’s clinic, she gained a new perspective on healthcare and the discrepancy between offered care throughout her community. Her aspiration to fight this discrepancy focuses on health literacy and access to healthcare. As a community projects intern, she hopes to aid communities towards closing their healthcare gap. In her free time, she enjoys reading, taking her dog on walks, and painting.

    nandita@uaid.org

  • Mark Youssef graduated from Rutgers University with Honors and Magna Cum Laude in 2022, where he gained recognition for his leadership and contributions as a first-generation and minority student. Mark is currently a research associate at Mount Sinai and Icahn School of Medicine studying Neurodevelopmental disorders, he is currently preparing to pursue a career as a physician-scientist, combining his passion for science, medicine, and education. Having been inspired by personal experiences and his own family's struggles with medicine, Mark’s goal is to bridge clinical practice with research to develop innovative treatments that improve patient care. Mark believes strongly in the transformative power of education to not only empower individuals but also uplift entire communities by improving health literacy and outcomes. His commitment to public health led him to join UAID as the Education Lead, an organization that targets community health from a holistic perspective. UAID focuses on identifying specific health needs in underserved communities and works to address them with tailored solutions. Additionally, the organization leverages education to train the next generation of public health professionals, helping them become advocates for necessary policy changes that will further advance health equity. Mark is passionate about the opportunity to engage in this kind of impactful work, aligning with his personal mission to address health disparities and promote well-being across diverse populations.

  • Namitha Ande is an undergraduate student at George Washington University, pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience and Public Health, with minors in Emergency Health Services and Bioinformatics. Upon graduation, she will matriculate into the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences to earn her MD. Namitha aspires to further her education by pursuing a Masters of Public Health (MPH) to integrate her interests and become a physician and healthcare policy advocate. Currently, Namitha serves as the President of GlobeMed at GWU and works on the national Access Team for Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM). Her research at George Washington University focuses on the impact of Area Deprivation Index (ADI) scores on neuropsychological test outcomes, aiming to understand how adversity and neighborhood deprivation affect cognitive abilities. As a LEND Fellow at Children’s National, Namitha researches the neurological development of adolescents with perinatal HIV infection and participates in pediatric development clinics within the hospital. Her passion for health equity was ignited by her experiences as an EMT in inner-city Baltimore, where she witnessed stark health disparities. This commitment to equity drew her to UAID, with its focus on creating sustainable health interventions within local communities

  • Amithi is currently an undergraduate at Boston University studying Neuroscience and Public Health. She found an interest in public health after preparing and leading a workshop on healthcare discrimination and medical racism. Through that experience she learned the realities and issues within the current healthcare system. Through being a part of UAID she wants to keep working towards fixing healthcare disparities, allow all people access to proper medical care, and create accesible and comprehensive public health resources through writing. Amithi plans to pursue and MD PhD after finishing college, combining her interests in research and medicine. In her free time she loves painting, crafting, and playing the cello.


  • Rachitha Avatapally is an undergraduate student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, pursuing her Bachelors degree in neuroscience and her Masters in Public Health on the Pre-Med track. Rachitha initially found her interest in public health through her work with Operation Smile an organization dedicated to fundraising for Cleft palate surgeries, where she put together care-packages, held seminars explaining the realities of living with cleft palate, and fundraising money for over 30 cleft palate surgeries. She continued her interest in public health and found an interest in women’s health, volunteering at Brookwood Baptist Medical Center at the Women’s Diagnostic Center. She decided to bring her interest of women’s public health to her the research lab of Dr. Jeremy Herskowitz where the lab is dedicated to understanding the pathology of Alzheimers Disease (AD) through the dendritic spines of human samples with AD pathology. Her passion for health equity started when she received her EMT certification and noticed the health disparities in her hometown of Cary, North Carolina. These experiences within public health brought her UAID where she hopes to bridge the gap and make healthcare more accessible to everyone.

Board of Advisors

  • Peter L. Holtgrave, MA, MPH, (he/him) is the Senior Director of Public Health Infrastructure and Systems at the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), where he oversees the organization’s Performance Improvement, Workforce and Leadership Development, and Health Equity and Social Justice portfolios. Mr. Holtgrave brings over 20 years of public health experience, including serving as the National Health Manager at the OASIS Institute, a national nonprofit focused on healthy and productive aging, managing the evaluation of the Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities national initiative, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and directing programs for the Boston Public Health Commission.

  • Lisa Howley is an Educational Psychologist and Senior Director for Transforming Medical Education at the Association of American Medical Colleges. She joined the AAMC in 2016 and currently leads a diverse portfolio and multiple teams to advance the continuum of medical education, support experiential learning, and curricular transformation across its member institutions and their clinical partners. Under her leadership and vision, the long-standing national initiative FRAHME (pronounced ‘frame’) was born and built which is designed to realize the Fundamental Role of Arts and Humanities at improving the practice, education, and wellbeing of medical learners and practicing physicians. Prior to her national role, she spent eight years as the Associate DIO and AVP of Medical Education and Physician Development for Carolinas HealthCare System, one of the largest independent academic medical centers in the U.S. In that role, she led several medical education initiatives across the professional development continuum, including graduate medical education accreditation, as well as physician leadership development for the large integrated healthcare system. She holds an adjunct faculty appointment at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. She began her career as a member of the medical education faculty at the University of Virginia School of Medicine where she designed and led performance-based assessments and simulationenhanced curricula. She received her bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Central Florida, and both her M.Ed. and Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Virginia.

  • As Associate Director of the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC), Shelley McKearney collaborates with IPEC’s 22 member associations to develop initiatives, resources, and events that position member schools and programs in successful, evidencebased teaching and learning for collaborative practice. At IPEC, Ms. McKearney is involved in facilitating a variety of projects including the 2021-2023 Core Competencies revision and interprofessional education and patient care scoping literature review, as well as the development of faculty institutes and interprofessional leadership program. She also serves as a member of the IPEC Planning and Advisory Committee and as Secretary on the IPEC Board of Directors. Previously, Ms. McKearney was a Program Manager at the American www.uaid.org Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). At AACN, she helped coordinate Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) faculty development grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and assisted with AACN’s 2016 innovative report, Advancing Healthcare Transformation: A New Era for Academic Nursing. Prior to AACN, Shelley executed international events and teleconferences as Member Forums Coordinator at Frontier Strategy Group, a market intelligence and advisory firm for global business professionals. Ms. McKearney earned a Bachelor of Arts in Diplomacy and International Relations from Seton Hall University.

  • Tracie Seward is passionate about helping students find their path to a meaningful career in public health. As the Senior Director for Educational Pathways and Undergraduate Education for the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH), she oversees student pathways to public health, from awareness of the field to career entry, through the brands This Is Public Health (TIPH), SOPHAS and Public Health Jobs. Additionally, she oversees the Undergraduate Network for Academic Public Health. Prior to her role at ASPPH, Tracie worked in admissions, alumni relations, and legal recruiting, giving her a unique perspective of the student journey to career readiness, including the places where there are opportunities for enhancements. Tracie received her Master of Arts in Education and Human Development – Higher Education Administration (MA) from The George Washington University and her Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Psychology from the University of Virginia. She is currently a DrPH student at The George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, where she is focused on how academic public health institutions can improve both the health of their local communities and the diversification of the field by providing education in public health to K12 students. When not at work or school, you can find Tracie with her husband and two boys, usually at an O’s or travel baseball game. Or you might find her writing, dreaming up new businesses, planning adventures or renovating her home.