Staff

Abby is the senior project manager for a CDC-funded award focusing on mathematical modeling development to improve national and global responses to emerging health threats. She also spearheads strategic planning, fundraising and development efforts at CCDD, working closely with leadership. Abby brings deep connections to the global and public health community at Harvard and beyond, with past roles at the Harvard Global Health Institute and Global Health Delivery Project at Harvard Medical School. Abby has also led department administration in the sciences at UC Santa Cruz. She received a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree from the College of Saint Benedict, and has worked in France, Senegal and Haiti.

Laurie Coe joined the CCDD as the director of research and administration in 2022. She’s a seasoned manager with more than 20 years of experience leading public health programs. Laurie has worked with the Cochrane Collaboration supporting the development and dissemination of systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials; the Massachusetts Department of Public Health implementing programs to improve health outcomes related to stroke and multiple chronic diseases; and Tushinde Children’s Trust (a Kenyan non-profit in Nairobi) focused on child protection in the informal settlements. She has lived and worked in Russia, Argentina, Italy, and Kenya. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Russian Language and Area Studies at Dickinson College and her Master’s in Public Health at Boston University.
Before starting her public health career Laurie worked in the field of immigration. Laurie is passionate about global health and addressing health inequities. She loves traveling, skiing, going to the beach, and spending time with friends and family. 

Suzana Kim joined CCDD in January 2024 as the Program Coordinator. She completed her BS in Applied Nutrition at Montclair State University (NJ) and MPH with a Policy and Management concentration at the University of Arizona. Here, she also worked as an outreach coordinator to connect uninsured Arizonans with health insurance enrollment navigators; graduate research assistant to assist the University in making informed COVID-related decisions; and project manager on exciting university initiatives, including campus safety projects and expanding lactation spaces on campus. Suzana is passionate about creating healthy communities and has served two terms of AmeriCorps VISTA service, contributing to meaningful public health projects in Tucson, AZ.

While she misses the Arizona sun, Suzana is excited to have joined the Harvard community and brings her enthusiasm, commitment to public health, and coordination skills to the CCDD. Outside of work, Suzana enjoys traveling, dancing, spending time with cats, and knitting/crocheting!

Jesse Rezende is the administrative and operations coordinator at CCDD. He holds a Bachelor of Science in International Management from the University of Massachusetts-Boston and a project management certification from the Harvard Extension School. Jesse thrives in multicultural environments and is fluent in Portuguese. He has a passion for historical documentaries and enjoys playing soccer, swimming, and exploring nature with his son during his free time.

Caroline Thomas is the research program coordinator for the CCDD at Harvard Chan School. She received a BSA in Neuroscience from the University of Texas at Austin where she completed a thesis investigating the efficacy and epidemiology of employing pharmacotherapies for pediatric ADHD. Caroline has conducted clinical research investigating the link between cognition and emotion, and managed the delivery of large-scale public health programming to undergraduate students. In her free time, she enjoys embroidery, tennis, and live music.

Al Xin is a member of the Harvard College class of 2023 and is studying statistics with a secondary in linguistics. They have an interest in machine learning and hope to incorporate their skills in computer science with medicine, possibly pursuing an MD-PhD program. Al maintains the website, updates social media, and provides graphics for the CCDD. They have previously done research with the von Recum lab at Case Western Reserve University in computational chemistry for affinity-based drug delivery systems as well as with the Gow Lab at Massachusetts General in neural decoding. Additionally, Al has an interest in illustration and is president of the Harvard Breakers dance group.