TEAM
The RAPID TRACKER project is conceptualized and led by Dr. Ashish Joshi, a Population Health Informatics expert who has designed, and implemented various human centered technological innovations and interventions using SMAART (Sustainable, Multisector, Accessible, Affordable, Reimbursable and Tailored) Informatics framework to support advancement of Sustainable Development Goals across various national and international settings. RAPID TRACKER is an effort of Dr. Ashish Joshi with his global team of researchers and v-INSPIRE public health interns having expertise in the field of population health informatics, disease surveillance, and public health, demography, and policy analysis.
Ashish Joshi
Lead Investigator
Dr. Ashish Joshi is an academician, researcher, mentor, administrator, innovator, entrepreneur and an inspirational speaker. Dr. Joshi is a Senior Associate Dean of Academic and Student Affairs and Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and an investigator at the CUNY Institute for Implementation Science in Population Health, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy.
Dr. Joshi blends his clinical medicine training with biomedical, public health, and informatics research. His primary areas of research include population health informatics. M-Health, consumer health informatics, population health dashboards and integrating informatics across various domains of public health. He has published more than 100 research papers in high quality peer reviewed journals. He is primary author of the first recently published text book on “Population Health Informatics: Driving evidence based solutions into practice”.
Jennifer Reres is the Director of Communications at INCLUDEnyc, a nonprofit advocating for young people with disabilities and their families. Jennifer’s expertise is in strategic communications with a background in public policy and government. She’s a native New Yorker, who brings a social justice lens to her work. Jennifer cares deeply about the disparities that exist in housing, health, and education for underserved populations, and aims to identify interventions to bridge those gaps in order to build a more equitable, inclusive society.
Jennifer earned her BA in Political Science and MPA in Public Policy Analysis from NYU. Under the guidance of Dr. Ashish Joshi, she is working towards her Population Health Informatics certificate at CUNY Graduate School for Public Health.
Jennifer Reres
Research Intern
Jennifer Reres
Research Intern
Jennifer Reres is the Director of Communications at INCLUDEnyc, a nonprofit advocating for young people with disabilities and their families. Jennifer’s expertise is in strategic communications with a background in public policy and government. She’s a native New Yorker, who brings a social justice lens to her work. Jennifer cares deeply about the disparities that exist in housing, health, and education for underserved populations, and aims to identify interventions to bridge those gaps in order to build a more equitable, inclusive society.
Jennifer earned her BA in Political Science and MPA in Public Policy Analysis from NYU. Under the guidance of Dr. Ashish Joshi, she is working towards her Population Health Informatics certificate at CUNY Graduate School for Public Health.
Apeksha Mewani
Research Intern
Apeksha is a doctoral candidate at Columbia University’s graduate school of education, health, and psychology, Teachers College, pursuing an EdD in Health and Behavior Studies and specializing in racial health inequities in dealing with COVID-19, epidemiology for public health practice, and COVID-19’s public health implications. Apeksha earned her bachelors’ degree in International Business Economics at Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, the UK in 2012 and plans to continue her work in the field of public health policy upon completing her doctorate.
Rafaela Villacres is currently pursuing her Master of Science degree in Population Health Informatics at the CUNY School of Public Health. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the City College of New York with a minor in psychology. She is interested in learning how to use the cross-sections of information science and technology to develop and drive public health interventions in an urban society.
Her experience in healthcare has shown her that a lack of proper patient education as a result of language and financial barriers from predominantly underserved populations prevents them from receiving high-quality healthcare. She is interested in the design and development of patient portals and mobile health apps to help patients better engage with their healthcare enabling them to make informed decisions. She believes using information science and technology to improve health outcomes is a valuable approach to tackling the public health challenges facing underserved populations.
Rafaela Villacres
Research Intern
Rafaela Villacres
Research Intern
Rafaela Villacres is currently pursuing her Master of Science degree in Population Health Informatics at the CUNY School of Public Health. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the City College of New York with a minor in psychology. She is interested in learning how to use the cross-sections of information science and technology to develop and drive public health interventions in an urban society.
Her experience in healthcare has shown her that a lack of proper patient education as a result of language and financial barriers from predominantly underserved populations prevents them from receiving high-quality healthcare. She is interested in the design and development of patient portals and mobile health apps to help patients better engage with their healthcare enabling them to make informed decisions. She believes using information science and technology to improve health outcomes is a valuable approach to tackling the public health challenges facing underserved populations.
Zoe Heisler
Research Intern
Zoe Heisler recently completed her MPH at CUNY School of Public Health in Health Policy and Management. In 2019 she completed a Cancer Epidemiology and Education in Special Populations fellowship at Ocean Road Cancer Institute in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania performing a return on investment analysis of their screening clinic. She has also contributed to research on cigarette use and its relationship with pregnant women experiencing depression. Additionally, she has immensely enjoyed learning from and working with Dr. Ashish Joshi on various health informatics projects. Currently, she works at Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC as Graduate Medical Education manager.
Vicky Levy completed her undergraduate degree in psychology and criminology at Bar Ilan University in Israel. After gaining knowledge using a micro perspective, she decided to pursue her master in public health (with an epidemiology concentration) to gain knowledge in research with a macro approach of society and global health.
After obtaining some knowledge on population health informatics at the CUNY School of public health, this internship has granted her to expand her horizons, gather valuable data and perform critical analysis. She is tracking critical trends and analyzing development and implementation of interventions, programs and policies to address the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel.
Vicky Levy
Research Intern
Vicky Levy
Research Intern
Vicky Levy completed her undergraduate degree in psychology and criminology at Bar Ilan University in Israel. After gaining knowledge using a micro perspective, she decided to pursue her master in public health (with an epidemiology concentration) to gain knowledge in research with a macro approach of society and global health.
After obtaining some knowledge on population health informatics at the CUNY School of public health, this internship has granted her to expand her horizons, gather valuable data and perform critical analysis. She is tracking critical trends and analyzing development and implementation of interventions, programs and policies to address the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel.
Alexander Condis
Research Intern
I graduated from Florida International University with a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies and Biology. I am currently finishing my Master of Public Health: Epidemiology & Biostatistics at CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy. I have a strong interest in infectious disease and surveillance. For my project, I wanted to look at Covid-19 in Central America to try to quantify public health policies and draw some comparisons between countries.
Summen is currently pursuing Master of Public Health in Health Policy & Management at CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Saint Peter’s University in New Jersey. She is interested in evaluating public health policies and improving public health programs designed to promote the health of people. During her project, Summen identified and compared COVID-19 government policy responses between countries in South America.
Summen Mushtaq
Research Intern
Summen Mushtaq
Research Intern
Summen is currently pursuing Master of Public Health in Health Policy & Management at CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Saint Peter’s University in New Jersey. She is interested in evaluating public health policies and improving public health programs designed to promote the health of people. During her project, Summen identified and compared COVID-19 government policy responses between countries in South America.