COHERE Founders
Kim Dong, DrPH, MS, RDN
Program Director & COHERE Founder
Kim Dong (she/her) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. Before joining Tufts as faculty in 2017, Kim was a research assistant and project manager for over a decade working on several studies related to HIV and nutrition. Kim’s current research focuses on healthcare access and food and nutrition security as determinants of health, particularly with people with HIV and justice-impacted individuals. Her current projects explore food insecurity among adults on probation, evaluating interest in PrEP for HIV prevention among incarcerated adults, assessing unmet nutritional needs among people participating in methadone treatment programs, and evaluating the role of CHWs in the health care workforce. Additional areas of interest include AAPI health equity. Kim holds a DrPH from Tufts University School of Medicine, an MS from Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, an RD from Frances Stern Nutrition Center at Tufts Medical Center, and a BS from the University of California, Berkeley.
Fernando Ona, PhD, MPH, MSW, MDiv, LCSW
COHERE Founder
Fernando’s research focuses on mental health and psychosocial stabilization interventions in contexts of war, conflict, and complex humanitarian emergencies, especially with survivors of torture. Over the course of twenty-five years, Fernando has held public health appointments at local, State, and global health institutions to address health inequities and structural violence in communities that are disproportionately impacted by disease morbidity and mortality. Fernando holds a doctoral degree from the University of California, Berkeley, an MPH from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, an MSW from Boston University School of Social Work, and an MDiv (magna cum laude) from Boston University School of Theology. He is currently a DMin student as the Whitney M. Young Fellow and the FOR Walter Wink and June Keener Wink Fellow at Boston University School of Theology.