Maternal Health Task Force
The Maternal Health Task Force strives to create a strong, well-informed and collaborative community of individuals focused on ending preventable maternal mortality and morbidity worldwide.
677 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
About
The Maternal Health Task Force (MHTF) at the Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health (MCH) continues and builds on the tradition of the MHTF in ensuring that front-line maternal health workers, policymakers, researchers, and advocates across the world have access to the most current and reliable evidence in the field.
Our vision for MHTF is a space that not only identifies and shares promising research, but serves as a catalyst for research improvement and innovation. In order to reach the Sustainable Development Goal 3 target to reduce maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 births we must invest heavily in research to ensure we are asking the right questions and prioritizing the right interventions.
Ongoing support for the MHTF at the Center of Excellence in MCH comes from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the U.S. Department of Human Services (HHS) through the Training Grant in Maternal and Child Health.
For more information, please contact us.
Leadership Board
Henning Tiemeier, MA, MD, PhD, is Professor of Social and Behavioral Science and the Sumner and Esther Feldberg Chair of Maternal and Child Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Tiemeier received both his medical and sociological degree from the University of Bonn, Germany, and his PhD from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Since 2018, he leads the Maternal and Child Center of Excellence at Harvard Chan. As one of just 13 HRSA-funded Centers of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health in the United States, the center trains future leaders in the field. See full bio>>
Sonia first joined MHTF as a Social Media Research Assistant in 2023 and completed her Master’s of Science in Global Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health with a concentration in Maternal and Child Health. Outside of her time supporting MHTF as Team Lead, Sonia serves as a Project Coordinator at Education Development Center, supporting work with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to implement a community birth strategy and build a strong doula workforce. Her research interests lie in implementation science, systems strengthening, midwifery model of care, and community-based maternal health innovations.
Team
Donessa Jenae Colley is a dual MD and MPH student pursuing a Medical Doctorate from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and a Master of Public Health in Health & Social Behavior at Harvard Chan School of Public Health through the Zuckerman Fellowship. Prior to medical school, Donessa received a Bachelor of Arts in Health & Human Biology from Brown University in 2022. During her gap year between undergraduate and medical school, Donessa served as a birth and postpartum doula providing pro-bono doula care to Medicaid-eligible pregnant patients in New York City through the Department of Health’s Citywide Doula Initiative. Following completion of her MPH, she plans to apply to residency as an OB/GYN focusing on high-risk obstetric care and community-based programming to address healthcare disparities. She hopes to continue pursuing research and projects that advance access to and quality of doula care for underserved patients.
Nosheen Amjad is a Master of Public Health student in Health and Social Behavior at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She is interested in strengthening digital health communication so that healthcare providers, frontline health workers, and the wider community can access evidence-based information on maternal and child health. Before joining Harvard Chan, Nosheen was a part of Nutrition International’s maternal nutrition campaign in Pakistan that combined provider training, policy and advocacy, and mass media and digital communication on antenatal care, postnatal care, and breastfeeding. Through the Maternal and Child Health Leadership Lab, she is currently working with Ariadne Labs on LIFT-UP, which aims to improve feeding and growth of small vulnerable newborns in low-resource settings.