Featured Speakers of The 2020 GHLC at JHU
Mikhail “Doctor Mike” Varshavski, DO
#1 Health and Medicine Influencer with over 10,000,000 Followers; Board Certified Family Medicine Physician with Atlantic Health System
Dr. Mikhail Varshavski, better known as “Dr. Mike,” is a primary care physician at Chatham Family Medicine. He believes in preventive care and in educating individuals on how small lifestyle changes can make a big impact on quality of life as well as health outcomes.
Dr. Mike has expanded his influence as a physician far beyond the walls of his practice. Through his rapidly-growing social media presence, Dr. Mike motivates, inspires and advises millions of followers and fans (with over 6 million subscribers on YouTube, 3.8 million followers on Instagram, and 1.9 million followers on Facebook as of August 2020). His work raises awareness on a broad range of health issues and offers tips on how to reduce cancer risks, improve nutrition, incorporate exercise, apply new ways to reduce stress, and, in general, learn how to live a better life.
After graduating magna cum laude from New York Institute of Technology, Dr. Mike attended the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine to attain his medical degree. He performed his internship and residency at Overlook Medical Center through the Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. He maintains memberships in a number of professional societies and participates in health-related volunteerism and charity care.
PETER AGRE, MD
Nobel Laureate (2003); Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology; Director of the Johns Hopkins University Malaria Research Institute
Dr. Agre began his research career as a medical student interested in global health. As an independent investigator, his group isolated the core subunit of the Rhesus blood group antigen. His group also discovered aquaporin-1, the first known membrane water channel. Through multiple international collaborations, his research team defined the function of this protein and identified multiple homologous aquaporins at basic and clinical levels. Recognition for this work included the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
For the past ten years Peter Agre’s lab has focused upon the role of aquaporins in malaria. As Director of the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, he serves as Program Director of the International Center of Excellence for Malaria Research in Zimbabwe and Zambia. Essential to all of these studies was the NIH support that has been uninterrupted since 1981.
Peter Agre’s extracurricular positions have included Presidency of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2009-10) and Chairman of the Committee on Human Rights of the National Academy of Sciences (2005-09). His involvement with training graduate students included serving as Director of the Johns Hopkins Graduate Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine (1998-01) and Director of the Duke Medical Scientist Training Program (2006-07).
Joshua Sharfstein, MD
Vice Dean for Public Health Practice and Community Engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Former Principal Deputy Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); Former Health Commissioner of Baltimore; Director of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative; Former Secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Early in his career, Dr. Sharfstein served as health policy advisor to Congressman Henry A. Waxman. Among the issues he worked on were HIV/AIDS, oversight of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), tobacco, and public health.
After the election of President Barack Obama in 2008, Sharfstein served as leader of the Obama transition team on the FDA. In 2009, he was appointed by President Obama as Principal Deputy Commissioner of the FDA.
Dr. Sharfstein, whose early work in politics included work for Public Citizen’s Health Watch, has been a frequent critic of drug industry marketing practices—going all the way back to his days in medical training. During his time as public health commissioner of Baltimore, he led the effort to restrict the marketing of pediatric cold remedies.
Sharfstein has also written articles criticizing the American Medical Association for its pattern of giving campaign contributions to political candidates that take stands the majority of physicians oppose. One of those articles focused on AMA donations to candidates and elected officials who have fought the regulation of tobacco—a position the medical community generally favors and that Dr. Sharfstein has advocated over the years.
He has also come under the ire of anti-vaccine groups because, consistent with the advice of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the vast majority of medical professionals, he has been an ardent supporter of vaccines as an essential part of public health.
Roopa Dhatt, MD, MPA
Executive Director and Co-Founder of Women in Global Health; Internist at Kaiser Permanente Washington D.C.
Dr. Roopa Dhatt is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Women in Global Health, a movement that strives to bring greater gender equality to global health leadership.
Dr. Dhatt also serves on the Research in Gender and Ethics (RinGS) Advisory Board; Strategic Advisory Committee for the Global Health Workforce Network (GHWN); the Women Leaders in Global Health Conference Steering Committee; the Global Health 50-50 Advisory Council, Global Health Council Advisory Council, and the GlobeMed Advisory Board.
Dr. Dhatt is an Internist, providing primary care in Washington D.C. at Kaiser Permanente. She completed her training at Case Western Reserve University, Department of Internal Medicine in the International Health Track. Formerly, she was the President of the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations, a student led organization, present in over 120+ countries, representing over 1.3 million students, where she oversaw world-wide campaigns on global health issues including Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Climate Change, Social Determinants of Health, Universal Health Coverage, and Health in All Policies. She is the founder of the Young Voices, Youth: Pre-World Health Assembly in 2013 with the Global Health Centre, Graduate Institute.
Robert Bollinger, MD, MPH
Raj and Kamla Gupta Professor of Infectious Diseases at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Founding Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Clinical Global Health Education; Director of the JHU Fogarty India Program; Associate Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health
Dr. Bollinger holds joint appointments in International Health at the Johns Hopkins (JH) Bloomberg School of Public Health, and in Community Public Health at the JH School of Nursing. He is Founding Director of the Center for Clinical Global Health Education (CCGHE), Director of the JHU Fogarty India Program, and Associate Director for Medicine of the JH Center for Global Health. He is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in internal medicine and infectious diseases.
Dr. Bollinger has more than 39 years of experience in international public health, clinical research, and education dealing with such global health priorities as HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy, dengue, antibiotic resistant infections and other emerging diseases. He is also author of more than 190 peer-reviewed research publications and 15 book chapters, including the first and largest studies of risk factors for HIV transmission in India, the cloning and sequencing of the first HIV viruses from India, the only studies characterizing the primary immune response to HIV in India, and the demonstration of increased risk of HIV acquisition with recent HSV infection and lack of circumcision.
Joanna Cohen, PhD, MHSC
Director of the Institute for Global Tobacco Control at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Bloomberg Professor of Disease Prevention in the Department of Health, Behavior, and Society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Dr. Joanna Cohen is the Bloomberg Professor of Disease Prevention and the Director of the Institute for Global Tobacco Control at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She also holds an appointment in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Cohen obtained her PhD in Health Policy and Administration from the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill and her MHSc in Community Health and Epidemiology from the University of Toronto. She has been involved in tobacco policy research for over 20 years.
Trained in epidemiology and health policy, her research interests focus on the factors that affect the adoption and implementation of public health policies and on evaluating the beneficial effects and the unintended consequences of such policies. She has worked on studies of both US and Canadian legislators regarding tobacco and tobacco control policy, a longitudinal cohort of smokers focusing on factors influencing quitting behavior, tobacco promotion at the point of sale, tobacco prices including taxes, tobacco packaging, options for reducing the physical availability of tobacco products, and tobacco industry interference in tobacco control.
Dr. Cohen has been recognized for her teaching and mentoring, and has co-led a 6-year training program in public health policy.
She is a Senior Editor of Tobacco Control and was recently a voting member of the US Food and Drug Administration's Tobacco Product Scientific Advisory Committee.
Yukari Manabe, MD
Associate Director of Global Health Research and Innovation within the Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health; Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Johns Hopkins Medicine
Dr. Manabe is also a Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Johns Hopkins Department of Medicine with secondary appointments in the Bloomberg School of Public Health Department of International Health and the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Immunology.
She was the Head of Research at the Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) in Kampala, Uganda, where she built research infrastructure, improved research regulatory compliance, enlarged the pool of statistical expertise, began a translational research lab to build basic science research, and streamlined scientific research at the IDI which has led to increased academic productivity and formal recognition of the IDI as a Research Center of Excellence. She also consolidated and built the research capacity building programs which has trained numerous Ugandan masters and PhD students within the country. Her own research is in diagnostic accuracy testing in HIV, TB, sexually transmitted infections, and acute febrile illness. She has also done research in health systems strengthening and implementation science particularly in the area of TB-HIV infection and opportunistic infections.
Dr. Manabe also is an author of more than 170 peer-reviewed publications.
Sarah Hillware
Deputy Director of Women in Global Health; Founder of Girls Health Ed
Sarah Hillware brings a decade of experience in international development and global health, most recently having worked as a consultant at the World Bank for nearly four years. In 2012, Sarah founded Girls Health Ed, a grassroots non-profit focused on delivering comprehensive sexuality education in schools, community centers and health clinics to underserved adolescent girls. Sarah has worked on a range of issues, including UHC, air pollution and climate change, nutrition, sexual and reproductive health and rights, menstrual health, HIV/AIDS, TB and cervical cancer prevention. Her research and experience have led her to give two TEDx talks, and in 2014, she was named to the Leadership Center for Excellence 40 Under 40 list. In her free time, Sarah enjoys writing poetry, cooking, traveling, mentoring, and dismantling patriarchy. Sarah is also currently a member of the WGH DC chapter.
Ali Abdaal, MBBS
(FY2) Junior Doctor in the UK’s NHS; Productivity, Medicine, Technology, and Lifestyle YouTube Creator; Founder of 6med
Dr. Ali Abaal is a foundation year 2 (FY2) junior doctor currently working in the United Kingdom. He studied Medicine for 6 years at Cambridge University, performed at the top of his class, and graduated in 2018. On his YouTube channel, with over 1,000,000 subscribers, he makes videos about medicine, productivity, lifestyle, and technology. Dr. Abdaal also hosts a weekly podcast called “Not Overthinking” where he and his brother discuss topics related to happiness, creativity and the human condition. Dr. Abdaal is the founder of 6med, a medical admissions preparation company in the UK, and has his own weekly newsletter. Additionally, Dr. Abdaal writes articles about productivity, entrepreneurship and generic life advice on his website.