- Senior Vice President, Boston Children's Hospital
- Director, Sandra L. Fenwick Institute
- Associate Professor of Radiology, Harvard Medical School
Valerie L. Ward, MD, MPH, is a Senior Vice President at Boston Children’s Hospital, providing strategic leadership to improve health outcomes for all children. She directs the Boston Children’s Hospital Sandra L. Fenwick Institute providing leadership, direction and strategic oversight of a team focused on advancing pediatric health care through national and global collaborations. She co-created and directs a leadership development program for emerging and current health care leaders called the Fenwick Institute’s Leadership Development Fellows Program; and she co-directs a clinical faculty health equity research fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital that is within the Harvard-wide Pediatric Health Services Research Fellowship Program. Dr. Ward’s clinical and research expertise focus on improving pediatric health care access and healthcare delivery. She is also actively involved in the development of clinical and research collaborations to impact maternal and child health outcomes.
Disclosures: Dr. Ward is the Associate Director for Health Services Research at the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA); and the Faculty Advisor for Maternal and Child Health Strategy for the Systems and Policy Research Network.
Dr. Lee is a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Boston Children’s Hospital. Her work centers on health equity and policy. At Harvard Medical School, she is an Associate Professor of Pediatric and Emergency Medicine. Her research explores causes of and solutions for the impact of health-related social needs on access to health insurance and healthcare, the provision of healthcare to diverse patients and families, and on health outcomes. She has led advocacy efforts that helped pass key child safety laws in Massachusetts. During her time as the Nick Littlefield Health Policy Fellow for the Network for Excellence in Health Innovation, she spent time working in the office of U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). As the past inaugural director of the Academic Pediatric Association’s Health Policy Scholars Program, she co-created a faculty development program for those interested in having a scholarly approach to child health advocacy. Dr. Lee is also the Associate Director for Policy in the Sandra L. Fenwick Institute and spearheads the annual Sandra L. Fenwick Institute Pediatric Health Policy and Research Symposium. Through her work, Dr. Lee advances equity through clinical care, research, education, and policy.
- Associate Director for Research, Sandra L. Fenwick Institute
- Chief, Division of Cardiovascular Critical Care
- Callaghan Family Chair in Cardiac Intensive Care
Dr. Thiagarajan is a staff physician in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Boston Children’s Hospital. He is interested in exploring social and clinical mechanisms that influence health outcomes for children.
Dr. Thiagarajan obtained his medical degree at the University of Madras, Tamil Nadu, India, and subsequently moved to the United States to complete residency training in pediatrics, and fellowship training in pediatric critical care and pediatric cardiology.
He has cared for Boston Children’s patients since 1998 and earned a Master of Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health in 2005. His research interests are in studying short and long outcomes of critical illness in children, especially those requiring mechanical circulatory support.
Howard Brightman, ScD, PE, CSP, CIH
- Associate Director for Leadership & Continuous Improvement
Howard is the founding director of Boston Children's Enterprise Project Management Office (EPMO), which was formed in October 2014. He received his undergraduate engineering degree from Tufts University and his master’s and doctoral degrees from Harvard University School of Public Health in Environmental Health Science and Industrial Hygiene.
Howard has more than 40 years of combined engineering, project management, and consulting experience. As a licensed professional engineer, he has spent his career assessing and mitigating safety risks by applying human factors engineering, public health, and Lean Six Sigma methodologies. Prior to his current role, Howard was the executive director of Environmental Health and Safety. As a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Howard has led or coached many successful process improvement projects here at Boston Children’s. Howard contributes his expertise to the Fenwick Institute by supporting the Leadership Development Fellows Program. In his free time, he enjoys working on his family’s Christmas tree farm and fixing things in his shop.
Melicia Whitley, MM
Melicia supports the Fenwick Institute as an organizational partner with the director and associate directors to develop, execute, and monitor strategic planning to advance the institute’s three focus areas: pioneering research, leadership development, and setting the standards for care. Before joining Boston Children’s Hospital, Melicia was the associate director for finance and research administration at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Center for Biostatistics in AIDS Research, where she managed the finance team and oversaw the overall fiscal, operational, and administrative management of two international NIH HIV clinical trials network awards (cooperative agreements).
Patrice Melvin, MPH
- Senior Health Data Analyst/Biostatistician IV
Patrice is part of the Office of Health Equity and Inclusion and Fenwick Institute team. She has been collaborating with researchers across the hospital for more than 15 years. Prior to joining OHEI and Fenwick Institute, sheworked as a biostatistician at the Program for Patient Safety and Quality (PSQ). She has expertise in the design, analysis, and evaluation of clinical research and quality improvement projects. She has expertise in both quantitative and qualitative analytical methods and enjoys working with large national benchmarking databases including the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS). Patrice has a special interest in research related to health equity, disparities in care, and social determinants of health.
Stephanie Tuttle, MS, PMP
Stephanie Tuttle is a Project Manager at the Fenwick Institute, providing project management support across all the institute’s work to help advance its mission to improve health outcomes for all children.
With more than five years of experience leading clinical research projects, she brings a strong background in research management paired with a deep commitment to improving outcomes for children and families. Stephanie holds a bachelor’s degree in family studies with a focus on child advocacy and family policy, as well as a master’s degree in child and adolescent psychology.
Mia Umali, BA
- Clinical Research Assistant
Mia is a clinical research assistant at the Fenwick Institute. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychological Science from the University of Vermont, where she graduated from in 2023. At the Fenwick Institute, Mia assists with study procedures for several studies relating to pediatric health equity. Mia is passionate about equitable healthcare access and is excited to contribute to research that aims to eliminate barriers for patients and families at Boston Children's Hospital and beyond.
Miriam Gandham, MPH
- Clinical Research Assistant
Miriam Gandham is a clinical research assistant at the Fenwick Institute. She received her Master of Public Health degree from the University of Michigan with a focus in Epidemiology. Miriam brings technical research skills paired with a fascination for social science to her work. Her research interests lie in perinatal epidemiology, especially in global populations. Outside of work, Miriam enjoys staying active, through various sports, and reading historical fiction.
Soana Pierrette
- Senior Administrative Associate
Soana Pierrette is the senior administrative associate at the Fenwick Institute. She brings more than 10 years of administrative experience with expertise in operations, scheduling, and project coordination. As an experienced healthcare professional, she’s very hands-on in her leadership skills. Prior to her current role, she excelled as a unit coordinator, project coordinator, and the lead senior practice coordinator at Mass General Brigham.
