# Visiting Scientists ## expand\_more Visiting scientists make significant contributions to academic projects and programs in collaboration with Harvard Chan School (SPH) faculty. This includes individuals who occasionally visit SPH to provide scientific expertise on a research project, scientists at non-Harvard institutions who facilitate an SPH research project by serving as liaison to her/his home institution, as well as individuals engaged in teaching and mentoring activities such as hosting SPH students and postdocs at their home institution. In some cases, faculty members from other institutions who visit SPH while on sabbatical are appointed as visiting scientists. Ordinarily, visiting scientists hold a doctoral degree. The Office of Faculty Affairs at Harvard Chan School is responsible for the appointment of Visiting Scientists. Learn more about annual appointments at The Office of Faculty Affairs [website](https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/faculty-affairs/annual-appointments/annual-titles-and-appointment-procedures/annual-titles-and-descriptions/). [### Drew Boyd, MA ](/people/drew-boyd-ma)Visiting Scientist, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Drew Boyd has more than a decade of experience in civilian protection, security, humanitarian technology and direct cooperation with at-risk communities. He has worked extensively with human rights defenders around the world, including in the Democratic... ![Drew Boyd](/sites/g/files/omnuum6866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-11/Drew%20Boyd.jpg?itok=ZMo8gYZK) [### Vittorio Bruni ](/people/vittorio-bruni)Visiting Scientist, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Vittorio Bruni is a final-year DPhil candidate in Migration Studies at the University of Oxford and an ESRC Scholar with an Advanced Quantitative Methods award. He holds an MSc in Public Policy and Human Development from UNU-MERIT/Maastricht University... ![V.Bruni](/sites/g/files/omnuum6866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2026-03/v.Bruni_.png?itok=y5vU9aU6) [### Maple Goh, MBChB, MPH ](/people/maple-goh-mbchb-mph)Visiting Scientist, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Maple Goh, MBChB, MPH is a global health physician, assistant professor, and program director whose work bridges clinical research and humanitarian response. She is a graduate of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (MPH, Global Health) and holds a... ![maple goh headshot](/sites/g/files/omnuum6866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-02/Staff%20Maple%20Goh.jpg?h=e846c312&itok=3VhqEUHJ) [### Donell Harvin, DrPH, MPH, MPA ](/people/donell-harvin)Visiting Scientist, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Donell Harvin is a public health emergency and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) expert from Washington, DC, who provides analysis for MSNBC/NBC News and CNN. In his capacity as a Visiting Scientist, he helps oversee the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative... ![d.harvin](/sites/g/files/omnuum6866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/humanitarianinitiative/files/d.harvin_headshot1_cropped.jpg?itok=byNWVs6B) [### Anna Kneifel, MA ](/people/anna-kneifel)Visiting Scientist, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health A Harvard Graduate herself, Ms. Anna Kneifel presently works as UNHCR’s Senior Development Officer in the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, with frequent work trips across the region, including to Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Previously... ![rsz_anna.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum6866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/humanitarianinitiative/files/rsz_anna.jpg?itok=9nx-qCOX) [### Kurdvin Rasool, MA ](/people/kurdvin-rasool-ma)Visiting Scientist, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Kurdvin Rasool is a senior humanitarian leader, policy strategist, and academic with over two decades of experience in complex Level 3 emergencies and high-risk operational environments. His expertise spans humanitarian coordination, civil–military... ![Kenny Rasool ](/sites/g/files/omnuum6866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2026-02/Screenshot%202026-02-11%20at%202.46.31%E2%80%AFPM.png?itok=fbjg0BM5) [### Nicolas Rost, PhD, MA, MS ](/people/nicolas-rost-phd)Visiting Scientist, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Nico’s research as Visiting Scientist at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative focuses on early warning signs of humanitarian crises. This is closely linked to his work as head of programme for the UN’s global humanitarian fund, CERF . At CERF, Nico has... ![Nicolas Rost headshot](/sites/g/files/omnuum6866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/humanitarianinitiative/files/nico_aug2022_2.jpg?itok=e2mH-SYH) [### Yvonne Su, PhD, M.Sc ](/people/yvonne-su-phd-msc)Visiting Scientist, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Dr. Yvonne Su is an Associate Professor in the Department of Human Rights and Equity Studies at York University, a Visiting Scientist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and a Research Fellow at Oxford’s Centre on Migration, Policy and... ![Yvonne Su](/sites/g/files/omnuum6866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-12/Square%20headshot.png?itok=Gpp5kHOc) [### Mohammad Tarikul Islam ](/people/mohammad-tarikul-islam)Visiting Scientist, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Dr. Mohammad Tarikul Islam is a Professor of Government and Politics at Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh, recognized as an emerging political scientist and local government expert in South Asia. Before joining the university in 2014, he spent seven... ![Dr. Tarik smiling](/sites/g/files/omnuum6866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/humanitarianinitiative/files/dr_tarik.jpg?itok=_dlYrRay) [### Geoffrey Anderson, M.D. ](/people/geoffrey-anderson-md)Visiting Scientist, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Geoffrey Anderson is a trauma surgeon at LA General Hospital and an Associate Professor of Clinical Surgery at the University of Southern California Medical School. He did his training at the Massachusetts General Hospital and LA County Hospital and has... ![Geoffrey Anderson smiling](/sites/g/files/omnuum6866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2026-05/Anderson%20Geoffrey.jpg?itok=WlSs8OhE) ## Past Visiting Scientists ### 2024 Visiting Scientists expand\_more [### Sonny Patel, MPH, MPhil ](/people/sonny-patel-mph-mphil)Visiting Scientist, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Sonny S. Patel, MPH, MPhil, is a former National Institutes of Health Fogarty Global Health Scholar who has developed protocols, programs and training to build capacity and knowledge in communities worldwide - from subject matters in Public Health... ![Sonny Patel Headshot](/sites/g/files/omnuum6866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/humanitarianinitiative/files/patel-headshot.jpg?itok=KkawY2Ny) [### Vandana Sharma, MD, MPH ](/people/vandana-sharma)Visiting Scientist, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Dr. Vandana Sharma is Project Director for the External Evaluation of the Disasters and Emergencies Preparedness Programme at HHI and a Research Associate at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She is a public health researcher with expertise... ![sharma_headshot.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum6866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/humanitarianinitiative/files/sharma_headshot.jpg?itok=2mTJ72CM) ### 2023 Visiting Scientists expand\_more [### Yasir Shafiq ](/people/yasir-shafiq)Visiting Graduate Student, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Yasir Shafiq is global health researcher from Pakistan. He brings extensive experience in the field of public health both in research and implementation and been working for vulnerable communities in Pakistan. His focus os research is maternal, neonatal... ![yasir_shafiq_headshot.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum6866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/humanitarianinitiative/files/yasir_shafiq_headshot.jpg?itok=98l7bYhP) [### Maria Meza, PhD ](/people/maria-meza-phd) Maria is a social science researcher focused on creating justice and social peace by studying gender-based and domestic-related violence issues. Her expertise includes preventing violence against children, adolescents, and women. Maria was the president... ![2022.12.15.mariameza.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum6866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/humanitarianinitiative/files/2022.12.15.mariameza.jpg?itok=6f2K9JP4) [### Soad Fuentes- Alabí, MD, MPH ](/people/soad-fuentes-alab%C3%AD-md-mph) Fuentes-Alabi obtained her master in public health from T.H. CHAN Harvard School of Public Health and established the first Population-Based Pediatric Cancer Registry in El Salvador and contributed to Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Honduras Population-Based... ![Soad Linneth Fuentes-Alabi Headshot](/sites/g/files/omnuum6866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/humanitarianinitiative/files/soad_fuentes-alabi_headshot.jpg?itok=qXg6h4VG) [### Kelsey Gleason, ScD, MS ](/people/kelsey-gleason-scd-ms) Dr. Kelsey Gleason is a public health researcher whose work focuses on reducing health disparities and building resilience for improved health outcomes. Her research incorporates principles of health equity across global health, environmental health, and... ![Kelsey Gleason Headshot](/sites/g/files/omnuum6866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/humanitarianinitiative/files/picture1_1.jpg?itok=EqO9trm7) [### Markus Enenkel, PhD ](/people/markus-enenkel-phd) At HHI Markus Enenkel concentrates on the use of earth observation data to detect and predict patterns between extreme weather/climate events, social conflict, food security and migration. He coordinates one of the World Bank’s projects on drought risk... ![Markus Enenkel Headshot](/sites/g/files/omnuum6866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/humanitarianinitiative/files/markus_enenkel.jpg?itok=0MfPGPIR) [### Juan Chaves-Gonzalez, MA ](/people/juan-chaves-gonzalez-ma)Visiting Scientist, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Juan is a political scientist who has worked for the past 20 years in conflict prevention and recovery, peacebuilding, development, and humanitarian action. He works at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in New York... ![Juan Chaves-Gonzalez headshot](/sites/g/files/omnuum6866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/humanitarianinitiative/files/juan_chaves-gonzalez.jpg?itok=JMrbs6O5) ### 2022 Visiting Scientists expand\_more [### Thiri Shwesin Aung, PhD, MBA ](/people/thiri-shwesin-aung-phd-mba)Visiting Scientist, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Dr. Thiri Aung is a Visiting Scientist at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative. Thiri's research aims to understand the relationships among energy crisis, violent conflicts, climate and land-use change, ecological and hydrological processes, and economic... ![Thiri Aung Headshot](/sites/g/files/omnuum6866/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/humanitarianinitiative/files/thiri_aung_headshot_1.jpg?itok=5NsnRrv0)