University of Miami Public Health Policy Lab
Our Team
The AHF Global Public Health Institute
Jorge Saavedra, MD, MPH, MSc
AHF Global Public Health Institute
Jorge is the executive Director of the AHF Global Public Health Institute and Global Public Health Ambassador for AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), President of AHF-Mexico. Dr. Saavedra is a former Global Fund Board Member for Latin America & The Caribbean and served on the Global Fund Strategy Committee and the UNAIDS Global Targets Setting Steering Committee. He is the Interim Chair of IAPAC and Chair-elect of MPACT. He also participated in the Independent Panel to Evaluate the Global Response to Ebola.
A Mexican national, Dr. Saavedra earned his Medical Doctor degree from UNAM and two Master’s degrees from Harvard. He was Director General of Mexico’s National AIDS Program (CENSIDA) from 2003 to 2009 and Deputy Director General at the Ministry of Health from 2001 to 2003. He has published extensively on AIDS economics and global health issues. Dr. Saavedra also advised the National Human Rights Commission in Mexico.
Guilherme Ferrari Faviero, Esq., MS, MPH
Director
AHF Global Public Health Institute at the University of Miami
Guilherme is the Director of the AHF Global Public Health Institute at the University of Miami.A scientifically trained attorney with graduate degrees in biomedical sciences and public health, Guilherme oversees the collaboration between the University of Miami and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Licensed to practice law in California, he specializes in FDA life science law in private practice.
Graduating cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law and magna cum laude from Florida Atlantic University with a B.S. in biological sciences, he previously worked as a research scientist in immunology and cell biology. His writings have been featured in publications like The Lancet, The Lancet Public Health, Frontiers, Devex, and the Practicing Law Institute (PLI).
Fernando Ariel Garcia Terron, MD, MSc
Director
AHF Global Public Health Institute for Latin America and The Caribbean at the National Institute of Public Health, Mexico
Ariel serves as the Director of the AHF Global Public Health Institute for Latin America and the Caribbean. Dr. Terron is a Medical Doctor, graduating from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education in Mexico. He also holds a Master of Science in Health Policy, Planning, and Financing from the London School of Economics and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
His clinical career spans both public and private institutions, with a focus on community medicine and public health in Chiapas, Mexico. He has worked to improve healthcare access for children, adolescents, and pregnant women living with HIV, influencing national public health policies.
Recognized for his dedication to health and innovation, Dr. Terron received an award for innovation in healthcare access from the ESSCA School of Management in Paris in 2018.
Juan Manuel Alvarez Iraizos
Assistant to the Executive Director
AHF Global Public Health Institute
Juan Manuel Alvarez is the Assistant to the Executive Director of the AHF Global Public Health Institute. With strong skills in planning, teamwork, and proven leadership, he graduated in Administration from the Technological Institute of Oaxaca and holds a Master’s in Administration and Finance from the Milenio Technological Institute.
His experience includes roles at the National Institute of Public Health in Cuernavaca and the Ministry of Health in Mexico City, as well as the National Center of HIV Prevention, where he managed the AIDS Summit in 2008. Since 2020, he has collaborated with the AHF Institute, contributing to the COVID Conference.
Adara Lopez, MD
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AHF Global Public Health Institute for Latin America and The Caribbean at the
National Institute of Public Health, Mexico
Dr. Adara López is a Medical Doctor who graduated from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education in Mexico. She currently serves as the Community Manager for the AHF Global Public Health Institute, focusing on social media and public health. Her experience includes working with the Ministry of Health in Mexico City and the University of Health, conducting qualitative and quantitative research in oncology, obstetric violence, and burnout syndrome. She also acts as a Teaching Assistant for the Diplomate of Global Health for Leaders at her alma mater.
José Szapocznik, PhD
Dr. José Szapocznik is among the top 100 NIH-funded investigators globally, with 300 scholarly publications. He was the Founding Principal Investigator and Director of the Miami Clinical Translational Science Institute and Chair Emeritus of the Department of Public Health Sciences.
Recognized for his work with disadvantaged populations, he has received honors from the US National Institute on Mental Health, the American Psychological Association, and the Society for Prevention Research. He has served on various national advisory councils, including those for the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. Most recently, Dr. Szapocznik was the Founding Director of the Secretariat for the Panel for a Global Public Health Convention.
Ana Palacio
Dr. Ana Palacio is a Professor of Clinical Medicine and clinician investigator at the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Miami and the Miami VA Health System. She holds a Master’s in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University with a concentration in epidemiology.
Early in her career, she contributed to health reform in Ecuador, focusing on universal health insurance. At the University of Miami, she developed an algorithm to identify racial minorities in clinical trials and implemented a system to collect Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) data for integration into the UHealth electronic health record (EHR).
A prolific researcher, Dr. Palacio conducts clinical studies with significant minority representation and co-leads a Long COVID clinic at the Miami VA Health System, which serves all of Florida. She is currently building a Practice-Based Research Network of Long COVID clinics to improve care models for post-viral chronic illnesses.
Anicca Liu, MPH, MA
Anicca Liu, MPH, MA is Assistant Director of the University of Miami Public Health Policy Lab, where she oversees operations and strategic development of the lab’s global and domestic policy research and advocacy priorities. She is dedicated to advancing systems, policies and norms that work to harmonize individual and organizational behaviors for collective health and flourishing.
In addition to investigating the improvement of global collaboration and governance of health emergencies, Anicca is interested in how infectious diseases intersect with noncommunicable conditions, including substance use and mental health, within a global context of increasing urbanization, climate change and economic inequality.
Anicca holds a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from the University of Pennsylvania, and graduate degrees in public health and international administration from the University of Miami. She is currently pursuing doctoral studies at the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice.
Jacob N. Batycki, MPH
Jacob N. Batycki, MPH is Director of Education and Advocacy in the University of Miami Public Health Policy Lab of the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
Jacob leads the lab’s U.S. partnerships and collaborations and directs the lab’s U.S.-centered global health policy work. As a researcher-advocate, Jacob conducts health policy studies and translates science into application to promote equitable and accountable global health governance reform and health system preparedness.
Prior to this work, Jacob’s research centered around design and evaluation of substance abuse and co-morbid mental health and infectious disease clinical trials, with special interest in gender- and sexuality-minority populations. He also has a background in public health curriculum development, teaching, and accounting.
Jacob was previously an ORISE Fellow in the Epidemiology Workforce Branch of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, and completed his MPH Capstone with the Inter-American Development Bank’s Salud Mesoamerica Initiative in Panama City, Panama.
Jacob holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Miami and a B.S. in Biology (Honors) and a B.A. in Spanish (Honors), with minors in Bioethics and Women’s Studies & Gender Studies, from Loyola University Chicago.
Rachel Waldman, MA
Rachel Waldman serves as the Senior Research Associate for the University of Miami Public Health Policy Lab. She holds a Master of Arts in Medical Anthropology from the University of Miami, where she graduated summa cum laude. Her research interests include trust in public health, disease stigmatization, and community-centered approaches to public health.
Prior to her work at the Policy Lab, Rachel engaged in research around the knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes of Orthodox Jewish communities in Miami toward genetic and infectious diseases. She was also previously a member of a research team that explored the delivery of remote therapeutic interventions and the mental health impacts of discrimination and police violence on Haitian youths in Miami.