2026 Winokur Fellows

Moono is a physician and Doctor of Public Health student at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health with over a decade of experience in public health. Her research interests focus on maternal and child health, health equity and community-engaged approaches to improving health outcomes in underserved populations. She is particularly interested in strengthening primary health care delivery in low-resource settings.

Moono’s project focuses on mapping the social service and food security landscape across eleven counties in the Mississippi Delta in partnership with the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi. Working directly with community organizations, health providers, and local leaders, she will conduct a structured needs assessment to identify where resources exist and gaps persist to inform strategic investment.

Twambo Nambao is a first-year Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) student at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a Zambian physician with over 13 years of experience in Maternal and Child health, infectious disease control, and health systems strengthening. She currently serves as a Malaria Field Officer at the National Malaria Elimination Centre in Zambia and formerly worked as a District Health Director, leading programs that improved maternal outcomes and service delivery. Her interests focus on community-engaged quality improvement, malaria, and maternal health in low-resource settings.

Twambo’s project focuses on understanding how children, families, and schools in Mississippi experience screen use and social media, beginning with a pilot in Tupelo. Working with the Children’s Foundation of Mississippi and Mediatrics, she will conduct listening sessions, home visits, and policy review to identify community-driven strategies for promoting healthy digital habits. The project will generate recommendations and tools that can inform policy and be adapted for other Mississippi communities.

Jake Wheeler is a Winokur Fellow at the DeSoto County Dream Center in Horn Lake, Mississippi, and a first-year DrPH student at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. As Director of Medicine Security Strategic Advancement at Americares, he has spent more than a decade working across global humanitarian response and health systems — improving access to essential medicines in resource-constrained settings worldwide. Through the Winokur Fellowship, he is bringing that global experience to domestic public health, working to strengthen the Dream Center’s community resource infrastructure for DeSoto County residents. He holds degrees from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and Emory University.

The DeSoto County Dream Center is a community-anchored organization in Horn Lake, Mississippi, providing social services, emergency support, and resource navigation to individuals and families in need. The Dream Center operates with a lean staff and volunteer base, relying heavily on a community resource guide and informal referral networks to connect clients with local services. This project focuses on strengthening the Dream Center’s community and resource connections through three interrelated areas of work: (1) updating and improving the usability of the community resource guide, (2) mapping and clarifying the referral and follow-up process, and (3) building the organizational capacity to sustain and expand these connections over time.