OUR TEAM
Seble Kassaye, MD. Medical Director
Dr. Kassaye is an Infectious Diseases specialist and epidemiologist whose research and professional interests include HIV [HIV transmission, prevention, co-morbidities, and long-term outcomes]; use of technology to improve health [mobile health technologies, ethical and privacy-assured use of health data]; and education [medical education, effective health communication]. As part of her role in the GHUCCTS she leads the Hub Liaison Team, supports investigators in their study designs, and protocol development, she also provides her expertise in community engagement and innovative ideas on expanding our community engagement and inclusion diverse populations. . She leads our GHUCCTS team as Medical Director and oversees various projects underway.
Wendy Enriquez, Operantions Director
Ms. Enriquez oversees programmatic elements of the Recruitment Unit of the Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical and Translational Science to ensure all projects are traceable to the objectives. The Recruitment Unit aims to increase clinical trial participation amongst underserved populations in the DC-metropolitan region. Prior to this role, Ms. Enriquez managed programs and projects focused on promoting healthy behaviors and well-being among vulnerable populations in the DMV region.
Finie Richardson, MPH, PAB Director
Dr. Richardson is an Instructor and Program Manager for the Department of Community and Family Medicine at the Howard University College of Medicine. She is the Coordinator for DC PrimCare, a network of primary care practices serving the DC Metropolitan area. Her professional background merges translational and community-based research conducted in medically underserved communities. She has implemented projects that developed culturally and linguistically appropriate interventions using a community-based participatory research approach to improve health outcomes among low-literacy minority populations. She coordinates programmatic activities for the Volunteer Participant Advisory Board and local Practice Based Research Networks to facilitate recruitment for GHUCCTS research.
Elan Donnellan, Research Match Coordinator
Ms. Donnellan serves as the Program Coordinator for the Clinical Research Unit. She is the ResearchMatch Liaison for Georgetown University, an administrator for the GU CRU, and member of Participant Clinical Interactions, Including Diverse Populations and the Hub Liaison Team recruitment core. She completed her undergraduate degree in psychobiology at Simmons University and is currently a doctoral student at Howard University in the department of psychology. Her research there focuses on how cardiovascular response to racially provocative stimuli might be influenced by racial and ethnic identity. Furthermore variation in these responses may have implications in the inequity of health outcomes in African Americans. She grew up in the proximity of the impactful Framingham Heart Study and hopes to improve health outcomes for those in the DMV region through clinical research participation and scientific advancement.
Allie Moses, Recruitment Director
Ms. Moses is the Director of Research Support Services at the MedStar Health Research Institute. Allie provides leadership and oversight for the GHUCCTS Participant Recruitment and Engagement initiatives, and directs the Research Institute’s participant recruitment efforts, with a focus on community engagement and community partnered research. At the Research Institute, she also oversees a variety of programs and tools to facilitate research, including OnCore, the Clinical Trials Management system used across MedStar and Georgetown. Allie is committed to advancing health equity and co-chairs the Research Institute’s Equity, Inclusion and Diversity Council.
Almina Kirdar, Research Assistant
Ms. Kirdar is a research assistant in Recruitment North at MedStar Health Research Institute, within the Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical and Translational Science (GHUCCTS). She provides technical assistance to research staff to facilitate a variety of research activities including study development, participant recruitment, database management, and dissemination. Prior to working at MHRI, she has had experience in various fields of research, including genetic testing, oncological data analysis, and patient recruitment.
Tonya Bishop, Outreach Lead
Ms. Bishop has over 25 years of research experience with MedStar Health. In her current role as Lead Outreach Coordinator, Tonya attends local community events to bring research awareness to the community. Since joining the GHUCCTS Team, Tonya acts as a liaison between investigators and community members, and has been a key member of several research teams. Notably, Tonya is a co-author of the recent research publication Community-Based versus Traditional Research among Older Minority Women with Urinary Incontinence, published in the Journal of Urogynecology.