Gavin Myers - gavinm@plaidsproject.org
President | Board of Directors, Chair
Gavin has a master’s degree in social anthropology from Harvard University and a master’s in public health from Brown University. Gavin has research interests in infectious disease epidemiology, global health, and the study of HIV epidemiology among Asian populations, MSM, and trans populations. Gavin has research experience in cultural anthropology, qualitative methods, behavioral endocrinology, endocrinology, and epidemiology and has published in peer reviewed medical and public health journals. Gavin has done extensive volunteer work among HIV positive patients at Fenway Health, a community health center in Boston. Currently, Gavin is interested in reducing health disparities among Asian American MSM and other minorities and is currently working on a qualitative research project with Professor Don Operario at Brown University. This project seeks to examine the complex relationship between drug use, sexuality, and HIV transmission among Asian American MSM in San Francisco. Gavin is also interested in pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV (PrEP), an antiretroviral drug that is being tested in high-risk MSM to prevent HIV acquisition.
Harold Coleridge - haroldc@plaidsproject.org
Board of Directors
A Bentley University MBA candidate (2011), Harold holds a B.A. in Music Licensing from Berklee College of Music (1999) and a M.S from Bentley University (2006). After working in the music industry for four years and completing his Master’s Degree, he successfully transitioned to a career in technology with Liberty Mutual Insurance Group where he presently serves as an Associate Systems Analyst. Harold’s interests in philanthropy started as early as 2006 as a sponsor of the Program for a Better Peru, a charitable nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for underprivileged residents of Peru. The Program works with local communities and families to provide goods and services where they are most needed.
Han-Woong Lee - hanl@plaidsproject.org
Treasurer | Board of Directors
Han holds a B.A. in both Economics and Organizational Management track of C.O.E (Commerce, Organization, and Entrepreneurship) from Brown University. He has trained his financial and investment skills by participating in Citi Bank’s Bourse Game program and by working at Global Markets Foreign Exchange division of Standard Chartered First Bank. Han’s passion in social services started as early as in 2005, when he went to Philippines on a medical mission to provide health assistance to villagers of Tacloban. Since then, his primary interest in social services has been related to education. During his high school years at Phillips Exeter Academy, Han served as the Board Coordinator of Exeter Social Service Organization (ESSO) for educational outreach programs. In the recent years at Brown, he has found vision in social enterprises as powerful tools for creating necessary social changes. His belief in had led him to run a social enterprise in the past summer to address Korea’s high reliance on private tutoring institutions giving rise to inequality in educational level and available opportunities among youth.
Zachary Long - zachl@plaidsproject.org
Assistant Treasurer
Zach Long is an undergraduate at Brown University who aims to graduate with a bachelors of science in applied mathematics-economics and a bachelors of arts in sociology. On the financial front, Zach is the Director of Research for the Brown Investment Group and has had various internships in several sectors throughout the financial industry, particularly in asset management. With regards to nonprofit work, he was the president of the Ubuntu Club at the American School of London. This club was a fundraising arm for a charity organization based in the township Port Elizabeth, South Africa that that dealt in particular with HIV.
Jonathan Sung - jonathans@plaidsproject.org
Fundraising | Outreach | HIV Prevention Education | Secretary | Board of Directors
Jonathan holds a B.A. in community health from Brown University and is a candidate for a master in public health from Emory University. He is interested in psychiatric epidemiology, especially depression among college students, adolescents, and stigmatized populations. His other research interests include health promotion among people with chronic illness and underserved Asian/Asian-American communities; the relationship between psychology and illness; and long-term quality of life for premature infants. Jonathan has research experience in both clinical and behavioral epidemiology, and has interned for the Taiwanese Bureau of Health Promotion, focusing on tobacco control, smoking cessation, and policy implementation. Jonathan is passionate about working with underserved communities, and has worked with his church and college fellowship on numerous volunteer activities. He is currently interning at the National Chung Kung University College of Medicine in Taiwan, working on neonatal mortality and quality of life.
Philip Chan - philipc@plaidsproject.org
Medical Officer
Philip Chan, MD is Assistant Professor of Medicine at Brown University Medical School and a specialist in infectious diseases and HIV. He is also a staff physician at Miriam Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island. He holds a medical degree from the University of Vermont College of Medicine and completed a residency in internal medicine at Rhode Island Hospital. Dr. Chan also completed a fellowship in infectious diseases at Rhode Island Hospital. As the medical officer at PL-AIDS, Dr. Chan oversees the HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) hotline.
Nathan Feng - nathanf@plaidsproject.org
Associate Director of Development
Nathan Feng is a senior at Brown University concentrating in neuroscience. He has a keen interest in HIV/AIDS that extends from the basic science of the virus to the social and economic issues that arise as a result of the disease. Nathan is focused on improving and promoting prevention among the at-risk HIV/AIDS population. He is especially interested in the use of Post-exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) as a means of prevention. Nathan has helped PL-AIDS establish its first post exposure hotline in Rhode Island, which was launched in March 2012.
Etna Tiburcio - etnat@plaidsproject.org
Operations Manager
Etna holds a B.A. in community health from Brown University. She has worked as a research assistant at the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico assisting with health-economics research. She has also worked as a research assistant at Bradley Hospital. Etna also embarked on a health-comparison study abroad program that gave her the opportunity to travel to Brazil, Vietnam, and South Africa where she focused on looking at HIV. Etna is also currently a volunteer at Health Leads and is broadly interested in HIV prevention.
Danielle Crumley - daniellec@plaidsproject.org
HIV Prevention Education
Danielle holds a B.A. in human biology from Brown University. Her main health-related interests include the epidemiology of infectious diseases and preventative interventions for high-risk populations. Danielle has traveled to several developing nations and done community service work, and these experiences greatly contributed to the development of her interests in reducing health inequities globally. The summer before last she spent in Ecuador, working with other students to lay the foundations for eco-tourism operations in a region of the Ecuadorian Amazon and to start an education fund for the Secoya, a group indigenous to the region. She has also interned with the Rhode Island Department of Health in the Office of Minority Health. Danielle recently returned from India, China, and South Africa where she was working on a comparative health study program.
Julianne Elofson - juliannee@plaidsproject.org
HIV Prevention Education
Julianne graduated from Brown University in May 2011 with a B.S. in biology. She is particularly interested in the fields of immunology, vaccine development, and public health. Julianne has worked as a research assistant on several different projects as an undergraduate, including investigating the effects of prenatal cocaine exposure on the sleep habits of adolescence, analyzing the emergence of gender differences in early childhood, and exploring vaccine development for neglected tropical diseases and influenza. Her experiences teaching English in India and visiting Swaziland have strengthened her interest in international medicine and in working to diminish health care disparities. Since graduation, Julianne has been applying to medical school and working in the Department of Hematology and Oncology at Rhode Island Hospital. She is now starting work as a medical scribe in the Emergency Departments of Rhode Island Hospital and Miriam Hospital.
Richard Holcomb - richardh@plaidsproject.org
Community Adviser
Richard Holcomb is a commercial sex worker specialist, street outreach worker and HIV prevention counselor in Providence, Rhode Island. Holcomb is an advocate for male sex workers living on the streets who exchange sex for money. He is best known for his groundbreaking work in HIV prevention when he founded Project Weber, a program for male sex workers in Rhode Island. The program is named after Roy Weber, a 22 year old male sex worker who was murdered on Christmas Day, 2003. Mr. Holcomb has done extensive research on male prostitution in the U.S., Canada and Europe, and has created several short documentary films on this subject. He is excited to be working with PL-AIDS on HIV prevention issues affecting the community.
Andrew Chang - andrewc@plaidsproject.org
Post Exposure Prophylaxis Outreach
Andrew is a senior studying for Bachelor of Arts of Business, Entrepreneurship, and Organizations from Brown University. Andrew’s vision is to help create a sustainable, accessible, and affordable global healthcare. Andrew has experience in consulting bio-pharmaceutical