Partners in Health Project Team


Gene Bukhman, MD, PhD
Partners In Health
An expert in strategic planning, Gene propels social change on a global level.
Read MoreGene Bukhman, MD, PhD is a cardiologist and a medical anthropologist. He has worked with Partners In Health for more than 15 years. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School where he directs the Program in Global Non-Communicable Disease and Social Change. Dr. Bukhman is a Senior Technical Advisor on Non-Communicable Disease to the Rwandan Ministry of Health. In this capacity, he is working closely with colleagues in the Rwandan government who are integrating services for the long tail of endemic non-communicable disease (such as rheumatic heart disease, epilepsy, cervical cancer, and Burkitt’s lymphoma) into the process of health system strengthening. As part of this effort, Dr. Bukhman is helping to develop a strategic planning framework with more general application for countries engaged in similar efforts.
Dr. Bukhman is also an advisor to the Global Taskforce on Expanded Access to Cancer Care and Control in Developing Countries.


Jon Shaffer
Partners In Health
Working within communities to create connections, Jon brings about equitable healthcare.
Read MoreJon Shaffer is the Community Engagement Coordinator for Partners In Health. In this role, he works to build a community organizing strategy that can strengthen the movement for global health equity and move us ever closer to achieving justice in health. Previously, Jon served for two years as the Executive Director of GlobeMed, during which time its national network grew from 17 university-based chapters and 500 students to 46 chapters and more than 1,500 students, all working in partnership with 47 grassroots health organizations on four continents. He graduated from Northwestern in 2009, where he studied biomedical engineering and was active in the GlobeMed chapter.
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Liz Rose Chmela
Firebelly University
Through collaboration and craft, Liz seamlessly traverses between the commercial and social sector.
Read MoreLiz Rose Chmela is the founder of Made By We, a design and communication firm for the social sector. She studied cultural communication as a Graphic Design major at Miami University and is currently a Fellow at Firebelly University. She has worked with universities, non-profits, social enterprises, start-ups, and is passionate about applying the lessons she has learned working with corporate clients to the social sphere. She is ever-curious and currently intrigued by urban micro farming, how to make tofu from scratch, and traditional print practices.
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Cori Shepherd Stern
Partners in Health
A film producer and agent for social change, Cori is passionate about helping to heal people in extraordinary circumstances.
Read MoreCori Shepherd Stern is a writer and producer, working in both documentary and narrative film. She is currently producing The Untitled Global Health Documentary, based on the extraordinary work of Partners In Health, directed by the award-winning documentary filmmaker Kief Davidson. Her other film projects include Warm Bodies directed by Jonathan Levine for Summit Entertainment, and The Arizona Project for Miramax, written by Sheldon Turner. In addition to film, Cori is known for her work as a social change strategist and as a co-founder of Strongheart, a residential healing and progressive education community for exceptional young people from extreme life circumstances across the globe including former child slaves, child soldiers, refugees, and other young survivors of conflict or poverty.
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Aaron Shakow
Partners in Health
Through research and education, Aaron's work expands global health possibilities.
Read MoreAaron Shakow is a Lecturer in history at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Lecturer in the global history of non-communicable disease at Harvard Medical School. He is also a past editor of the journal Health and Human Rights. During the roll-out of the “3 by 5” initiative to expand global access to antiretroviral treatment in the mid-2000s, he was policy advisor to the director of HIV/AIDS at the World Health Organization. Dr. Shakow’s research interests include health financing, international governance in the health sector, and the historical impact of public health interventions on economic relations and cultural exchange. He completed his doctoral dissertation on plague and the origins of clinical epidemiology at Harvard University in 2009.
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Maggie Breslin
Through communication and collaboration, Maggie is designing new channels for healthcare.
Read MoreMaggie Breslin is a designer and researcher with a unique focus on healthcare delivery. She pioneered the role of designer/researcher at Mayo Clinic’s Center for Innovation when she joined in 2005. She leads research, design and development efforts around topics as diverse as decision-making, risk communication, integrated practice models, remote care, caregiving and minimally disruptive medicine. She believes strongly that good conversation is a critically important but mostly ignored component of our healthcare system and champions this idea in all her work. She has logged many hours observing and talking to patients and clinicians and counts those opportunities as among her most treasured. She has published in journals ranging from Design Issues to Archives of Internal Medicine and had a previous life in film/television/animation/motion graphics where she learned how to tell compelling stories in a variety of media. Maggie holds a Masters of Design (MDes) from Carnegie Mellon University and a BS in Mass Communications, Film and Television, from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.
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Katie Heit Gardner
Tomorrow Partners
As a Tomorrow design director, Katie brings her indefatigable midwestern charm and wide-ranging expertise to every project.
Read MoreKatie is a design director at Tomorrow. Her talents include packaging and environmental graphics, annual reports, marketing materials, websites, books, ad campaigns, branding, photo art direction, and magazine publishing. Her work has earned her recognition in Communication Arts, Print, STEP, and How, and in the AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers show. Katie honed her skills in Chicago’s design community at companies like Designkitchen, VSA Partners, Inc., and the Modern Luxury Magazines before packing her bags to explore the west coast. Prior to joining Tomorrow, she thrived as a freelance designer in San Francisco, most notably designing and illustrating 13 titles for Chronicle Books. A native of Minneapolis, Katie earned a fine arts degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison where she studied graphic design and printmaking. After spending her entire life land-locked in the Midwest, Katie now enjoys hiking the ocean trails and savoring the mild weather of the Bay Area with her family.
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