Trainees

Salvador Balkus is a Doctoral Candidate in Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where he is advised by Professor Nima Hejazi. He joined the team in May 2026 to support reproducible statistical analyses of the Mass-ACCERT data, including studies on cancer screening at community health centers. His methodological research focuses on solving semiparametric causal inference and missing data problems using machine learning, with an emphasis on environmental data. 

Santana Silver, MPH is a third-year doctoral student in Population Health Sciences in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her research focuses on implementation science, health equity, and community-engaged research, with an emphasis on developing participatory approaches that strengthen implementation of evidence-based interventions in structurally disadvantaged communities. She uses qualitative and mixed methods to examine how patients, community organizations, and other people with lived experience can contribute to the design, adaptation, implementation, and evaluation of chronic disease prevention programs. Her current MCPCRN research includes qualitative and participatory engagement of community health center patients to improve delivery of tobacco cessation treatment. With Mass-ACCERT, she is working on community-engaged development of data visualization tools for cancer prevention and investigations of how structural and contextual factors shape access to care and equitable implementation. Across her research, she seeks to advance implementation science by integrating lived experience into implementation decision-making to improve the reach, equity, and sustainability of evidence-based interventions. 

Tom Walsh, MPH is a PhD candidate in Population Health Sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. His current research centers on cancer prevention. He is interested in implementation and community-based participatory research approaches, the role of neighborhood context in health-protective behaviors and resilience, and how public health can bridge gaps between cancer centers, community health centers, clinicians, researchers, and the communities they serve. He also has an interest in public health ethics and how researchers can better incorporate community and stakeholder perspectives into research. As part of Mass-ACCERT, he contributes to work examining structural stigma and how broader social and institutional conditions shape cancer prevention and care. Outside of work, he enjoys coaching and playing Ultimate Frisbee, cycling around the city, and relaxing with his wife, Melissa, and puppy, Santiago.