Leadership Team
Boston University Faculty and Staff
Dr. Patricia L. Hibberd – Chair and Professor of Global Health, Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, Boston University School of Public Health and Medicine
Dr. Patricia Hibberd, MD, PhD is the Chair of Global Health in the Boston University School of Public Health. Dr. Hibberd is also a professor of Global Health for the BUSPH and professor of Medicine in Infectious Diseases for the BUSM. Dr. Hibberd trained in internal medicine and infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.Dr. Hibberd is a practicing infectious disease consultant who also leads a clinical and translational research program focusing on the prevention and treatment of childhood pneumonia, neonatal sepsis, and diarrhea—the leading killers of children under age 5 worldwide. She has worked in India for 20 years, and her research in India has been funded by NIH/NICHD’s Global Network for Women’s and Children’s Health Research since 2008. She is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Malawi and by Saving Lives at Birth in Pakistan for the development of novel point of care diagnostics for pneumonia in young children. One of her passions is mentorship and fostering the development of the next generation of global health leaders—these include undergraduate, public health, and medical students, residents, fellows, and junior faculty.
Dr. Lisa Messersmith – Associate Professor, Department of Global Health, Boston University School of Public Health
Dr. Lisa J. Messersmith received her PhD and MA in Anthropology from the University of California, Los Angeles, a Masters in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University, and a Bachelor’s degree in creative writing from Hamilton College. She has over 25 years of research, program and policy experience on gender, sexuality, HIV, and sexual and reproductive health and rights in Sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia. Dr. Messersmith is the principal investigator (PI) on several studies, most recently on a National Institute of Mental Health-funded study to test the effectiveness of wireless technology and data-informed counseling to improve retention in HIV care and adherence to antiretroviral therapy in HIV positive pregnant and postpartum women in Uganda. Dr. Messersmith worked in residence for over 13 years in Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Vietnam and has worked in a number of other countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Before joining BUSPH in 2007 she was as an Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy and Research Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. From 1998 to 2004 Dr. Messersmith served as the Sexuality and Reproductive Health Program Officer for the Ford Foundation’s Office for Vietnam and Thailand. She served as the Country Program Advisor for UNAIDS in Bangladesh from 1996 to 1998. From 1994 to 1995 she was a Research Associate in the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health and concurrently served as the Women and AIDS advisor for USAID in Washington, DC.
Dr. Sowmya Rao – Senior Research Scientist, Department of Global Health, Boston University School of Public Health
Dr. Rao is a Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Global Health at the Boston University School of Public Health and the Core Statistician on one CDC and three NIH funded projects. Additionally, she serves as a Statistical Consultant to several international organizations, including UNICEF and the WHO. She is a UNICEF-approved consultant in the pool of Statisticians for Health. Her primary research interest is in developing and deploying statistical methods that utilize survey data to address questions of epidemiologic and public health importance. She has extensive experience in applying statistical techniques to the fields of epidemiology and health services research, and to topics within each of these, including measurement/surveillance of disease outcomes, health inequities, adoption of Electronic Health Records, impact of clinical tools, survey research, and global health. Dr. Rao has a long track record of mentoring masters and doctoral students, as well as junior faculty at BU and Massachusetts General Hospital. Her current research projects focus on health inequities and infectious diseases.
Alyana Z. Ladha, MPH – Research Fellow, Department of Global Health, Boston University School of Public Health
Alyana Ladha, MPH is a Research Fellow at the Department of Global Health in the Boston University School of Public Health. Alyana received her Masters of Public health from Boston University with certificates in program management and global health. She serves as the project manager and IRB liaison for this project.