President: Doris Chiu

MPH Concentration: Epidemiology & Biostatistics

Doris is a second-year student pursuing her MPH in epidemiology and biostatistics. She cares deeply about the experiences of her fellow students and wants to find ways to integrate their lived experiences into improving SPH classes and community. 

As a student, Doris is interested in environmental health, sexual and reproductive health, social epidemiology, occupational health, and land use. She is excited to serve the CUNY SPH community as President of the GSGA.

Vice President: Zaire Ali

PhD Concentration: Community Health and Health Policy

Zaire is a New Jersey native, who was born and raised in Plainfield, NJ until he left to attend Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania. While at Lock Haven he became an All-American boxer, working hard and dedicating himself to his studies while earning his AA and B.S. Degree. Ten years later, Zaire proudly holds two Master’s Degrees in Education and Public Health. 

Zaire is Director of the Urban Health Collaborative 501(c)(3), where he leads a team to help educate the community and alleviate some of the burdens of systemic racism and the negative impacts it has on folks living in urban communities throughout New Jersey and New York. 

After finishing his degree, he plans to run for state political office, and one day be part of Congress or the Senate. He pledges to amplify the voices of the people and be a major disruptor to the political system that oftentimes marginalizes and discriminates against minority and vulnerable communities.  

Zaire thanks the members of the CUNY SPH commUNITY for electing him to serve as their Vice President. 

Treasurer: Natalie Echavarria

MPH Concentration: Community Health 

Natalie Echavarria is a first-generation Dominican/Honduran first-year graduate student pursuing an MPH in Community Health. She graduated from City College with a bachelor’s degree in biology and a minor in sociology. She is passionate about equitable access to education, housing, and food for low-income Black and Latinx communities in the Bronx.

Natalie’s goal is to amplify the voices of Bronx communities and their needs, drawing on her experiences as someone who grew up in a low-income household in the Bronx. She was inspired after interning at a college support program called Bottom Line as an advisor for first-generation low-income students of color in New York City transitioning from high school to college. Her priority as treasurer is to work with the GSGA team and the CUNY SPH community to improve the school year experience for everyone with our budget. Her favorite hobbies are singing, roller skating, and listening to music.

Communications Officer: Tess Baldwin

MPH Concentration: Health Policy and Management

Tess works for a Federally Qualified Health Center as a medical coder, and previously worked as a reproductive and sexual health educator for Planned Parenthood. Currently in her second year of the MPH program in Health Policy and Management, she is interested in the political and regulatory environment surrounding cannabis program implementation in New York State, the development and evaluation of novel psychedelic therapies to achieve better mental health outcomes for patients, and exploring how equitable, socially just harm reduction practices can assist New Yorkers. 

She has a degree in nonfiction creative writing from Hunter College, and worked for many years as a licensed New York City tour guide, crafting bespoke tours and compelling narratives about city history on social media. She thoroughly enjoys delving into historical records and sources, researching and writing about topics she finds particularly compelling, such as subway and railroading history, medical history, local place names, and folkloristics. In her free time, she enjoys visiting museums, historical sites, and battlefields, writing, watching baseball, and going to concerts. 

Masters Senator: Cara Frances

MPH Concentration: Community Health 

Cara is a reproductive and LGBTQ+ justice advocate and researcher in her final year of the MPH program in Community Health. She recently worked as project coordinator at the Population Council’s Girl Innovation, Research, and Learning (GIRL) Center, where she led research initiatives supporting the health and wellbeing of sexual and gender minority adolescents internationally. She’s interested in issues around inclusion of queer identities in health data and health services.

Cara is a Chicago native and earned her Bachelor of Arts in Molecular Biology from Skidmore College. Before moving to New York, she completed the Public Health Associate Program with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She currently lives in Queens with her wife and adorable cat, Cannoli.

Masters Senator: Victoria Sunseri
MPH Concentration: Health Policy and Management

Victoria is a second year student pursuing her MPH in Health Policy and Management. Her development as a public health professional began during her undergraduate career at The University of Tampa, where she received a double degree in Psychology (BA) and Public Health (BS) with a concentration in behavioral health. In her senior year, Victoria was selected for a Fulbright scholarship to conduct research in Sicily, Italy from 2018-2019. She continues to apply the various domestic and international leadership experiences she’s had thus far to her work as a graduate student, and she looks forward to representing the HPAM department and serving the greater CUNY SPH community in this role.  

Her areas of interest include mental health services access, LGBTQ+ health, immigration, human trafficking, and substance abuse. Her personal interests include hiking, running, camping, scuba-diving (basically anything outdoors), listening to podcasts, and writing/performing poetry.  

Doctoral Senator: Amena El-Harakeh

PhD Concentration: Community Health and Health Policy

Amena, a doctoral student in Community Health and Health Policy at CUNY SPH, is from Lebanon. She earned a BSc in Environmental Health from the American University of Beirut (AUB) in 2015. She received the Penrose Award that recognizes a graduating public health student who demonstrates excellence in scholarship, character, leadership, and contribution to university life. In 2017, she graduated with her MPH (Health Management and Policy) from AUB where she became interested in health policy and systems research.

Amena was inducted into the Delta Omega Honorary Society of Public Health in 2017. She then began working as a junior research scientist at the Center for Systematic Reviews on Health Policy and Systems Research (SPARK) at AUB where she was involved in multiple systematic reviews commissioned by the World Health Organization to inform its guidelines. Her primary research interests include health policy and systems research, migrants’ health, and health equity.

Doctoral Senator: Shari Jardine

PhD Concentration: Maternal, Child, Reproductive and Sexual Health

Shari is a Public Health Practitioner, innovative strategist, and leader with a myriad of public health experience in community, city, national and multinational organizations. Shari is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Community Health and Health Policy track at the CUNY School of Public Health and Health Policy, with a specialization in Maternal Child Reproductive and Sexual Health. She is particularly interested in global health, sustainable emergency disaster management, social determinants of health, cultural competency, health equity, anti-racism, and school-based sex education.

Shari is currently the Deputy Director for the Center for Global Health at Northwell Health, where she co-leads all global health efforts for the entire health system. During her tenure, Shari served as the Chief Procurement Officer and Incident Commander of the South Beach Psychiatric Hospital COVID-19 alternate care site for over a year. Prior to this, Shari served as the Program Manager of the Community Health and Social Medicine (CHASM) Initiatives for Northwell Health, where she managed the Screening, Referral, and Navigation program and Medical-Legal Partnership with Hofstra University across three clinical sites.

Prior to joining Northwell Health, Shari served as an ASPPH Allan Rosenfield Program Management Fellow at the Centers for Disease Control in Haiti and an ASPPH Domestic Public Health Fellow in the Education and Training Services branch at CDC Atlanta. Shari received her bachelor’s degree as a double major in Health Science and History from Stony Brook University. She received her Master’s in Public Health with a concentration in Community and International Health from New York University and a second master’s in Individualized Study with a concentration in Cultural Competency and Health Education from the Gallatin School at New York University.  In addition to serving as a doctoral senator, she serves on the advisory board for the Guttman Community College Urban Studies Program.