H.E.L.P Faculty

Gilbert Burnham is a professor of International Health at BSPH. He has been involved in humanitarian projects in many countries and teaches a number of courses at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere. Before coming to Johns Hopkins he worked in rural Africa for 15 years as a physician and hospital director. During this time he managed health care for Mozambican refugees with leprosy and tuberculosis. 

Mija Ververs has degrees in nutrition, medicine and public health. She has worked for many humanitarian organizations and with the various UN agencies in some 25 countries affected by conflict or natural disasters. She has taught in H.E.L.P, courses in Europe and Iran with the ICRC before coming to Johns Hopkins to take responsibilities in the Baltimore H.E.L.P. course. 

Jana is a lawyer serving as senior advisor for external relations and government affairs at the UNHCR Washington DC office. Previously she has worked with the International Rescue Commission and for 11 years served as policy analyst for the US Committee for Refugees assessing refugee and asylum situations in Asia.

A major focus of Sarah's research to date has been the rigorous evaluation of interventions designed to treat mental disorders and distress for survivors of torture and conflict-related violence in diverse global settings. Currently, her primary research interest is in using mixed-methods to understand the multifaceted relationship between violence, stigma, and common mental disorders to inform the development of effective strategies to promote the mental health and psychosocial well-being of individuals living in situations of complex adversity in high-, middle- and low-income country contexts, with a particular focus on women with young children and sexual and gender minority adults. 

Kwaku Nuamah teaches at American University and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. His areas of specialty are the causes of conflict and conflict resolution, particularly in low and middle-income countries. He teaches popular courses on armed conflict and health. 

Jean-Luc served as a disaster manager and consultant for many years with PAHO (WHO in the Americas) in Washington as well as in field situations such as Haiti, during and after the earthquake. He has spent many years building disaster response capacities among national disaster programs in the Americas but also working in Mali and Yemen.

Les Roberts trained as a water engineer and as an epidemiologist. He worked with the Centers for Disease Control providing assistance in humanitarian emergencies before joining the International Rescue Committee where he was Director of Health Policy. He has led over 50 surveys in 17 countries, mostly measuring mortality in times of war. Dr Roberts has taught in more than 30 H.E.L.P. courses in Baltimore. 

Lauren Sauer has directed the Johns Hopkins Critical Event Preparedness and Response unit for Johns Hopkins Medicine and has carried out extensive experience with evaluating emergency operations centers and biological containment. A special interest of hers has been international health regulations. 

Over the course of his career, Setchell has played a crucial role in designing policies and implementing urban reconstruction programs as well as disaster risk reduction activities in response to major international disasters and crises, ranging from the 2010 Haiti earthquake to 2013 Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, to the conflict in Syria and Iraq. He holds graduate degrees in urban and environmental planning. 

Paul Spiegel is the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health. After completing his MPH and BSPH he worked with the CHC on HIV among refugees before joining the UNHCR where he worked for many years before returning to Johns Hopkins. He has been very active in health and migration issues. 

Hannah is a senior advisor at Jhpiego - an affiliate of Johns Hopkins University, and associate faculty in the Department of International Health where her work focuses on generating and using evidence to improve the quality of reproductive, maternal and child health services in conflict-affected settings. She has worked for over 15 years with NGOs, Ministries, UN agencies and interagency committees to improve maternal and child health in conflict.