Our Team
Core GHAE Faculty
Thoai Ngo, PhD, MHS
Professor and Chair, Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health
Dr. Thoai Ngo is an internationally recognized scientist working at the intersections of global public health, population dynamics, gender equality, and sustainable development. Thoai has led international research collaborations to advance sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), adolescent health and well-being, mental health, education, gender equity, and climate justice in 30 countries. His work has been widely cited and utilized in amicus briefs, parliamentary briefings, national policies, and guidelines from the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Thoai founded the Girl Innovation, Research, and Learning (GIRL) Center —a global hub for research collaboration focused on enhancing the health and well-being of 1.8 billion youth worldwide—and launched the Adolescent Data Hub, a pioneering global portal for sharing and accessing data on adolescents. He also held senior leadership roles at Innovation for Poverty Action and MSI Reproductive Choices, directing large-scale research efforts to inform global health and development programs and policies. Thoai advises on research and policy agenda-setting on health and development issues for multilateral and bilateral donors, private foundations, universities, UN agencies, the WHO, and governments worldwide.
S. Patrick Kachur, MD, MPH
Professor of Population and Family at the Columbia University Medical Center
Vice Chair for Education, Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health
Patrick Kachur is a public health physician with over 30 years of global health experience. He trained at the Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Ilorin in Nigeria. At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he held leadership roles in the Malaria Branch and Center for Global Health, earning the agency’s highest service award. His research has shaped malaria and child health policies, including studies on insecticide-treated nets in Kenya and artemisinin-based therapy in Tanzania. In 2016, he was appointed to the WHO’s Malaria Policy Advisory Group. Since joining the faculty in 2018, Patrick has led implementation science partnerships to expand global health services and teaches courses on malaria program planning, implementation science, and evidence-based public health.
Stephanie Grilo, PhD, MA
Assistant Professor, Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health
Stephanie Grilo, PhD, whose pronouns are she/her/hers, is an Assistant Professor in the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health at the Mailman School of Public Health. Dr. Grilo is a social scientist and public health researcher whose research area of interest focuses on adolescent health, globally and domestically, and emphasizes the need for taking a resiliency approach to improving health outcomes for vulnerable populations. This includes work on understanding multiracial identify formation and the influence on health outcomes, adolescent preventive services, comprehensive sexual health education and its role in preventing sexual assault, pregnancy outcomes for young women of color, as well as global research on fertility decision making in areas of high HIV prevalence. Dr. Grilo co-teaches Qualitative Methods in the Core Curriculum as well as in Population and Family Health. Dr. Grilo is also the co-founder of MOSAIC (Mentoring of Students and Igniting Community) a faculty and student mentorship community for first generation and students of color in the Department.
Lynn Freedman, JD
Professor, Population and Family Health at the Columbia University Medical Center
Lynn P. Freedman, JD, MPH, currently directs the Mailman School's Averting Maternal Death and Disability (AMDD) Program, a global program of research, policy analysis, and technical support that, since 1999, has worked with UN agencies, NGOs, and governments in more than 50 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America to reduce maternal mortality. Before joining the faculty at Columbia University in 1990, Professor Freedman worked as a practicing attorney in New York City. Professor Freedman has published widely on issues of maternal mortality and on health and human rights, with a particular focus on gender and women's health. She also serves on the advisory boards of maternal health projects and human rights projects with programs in Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.
Affiliate Faculty
Sara Casey, DrPH
Assistant Professor, Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health
Marina Catallozzi, MD, MSCE
Associate Professor, Pediatrics and Population and Family Health at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Director, General Public Health Program
Chelsea Clinton, DPhil, MPH
Vice Chair, The Clinton Foundation
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management
Assistant Professor of Population and Family Health
Assistant Professor of Population and Family Health
Assistant Professor of Population and Family Health