Meet the COHERE Team
Kim Dong, DrPH, MS, RDN
Program Director
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.
Saloni Dev, PhD, MA
Program Associate
Dr. Saloni Dev is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. She obtained a Master’s degree in clinical and counseling psychology at Columbia University and a PhD in Population Health from Northeastern University. The goal of her research is to make mental health accessible and available to all by simultaneously addressing mental health stigma, the drivers of mental illnesses, and bringing evidence based mental health interventions closer to those who would benefit the most from it. This is where her primary research areas (global mental health, implementation science, and social/psychiatric epidemiology) intersect. Her global mental health work has spanned across many countries, especially India, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and the United States. Her work has largely focused on the lived experiences of marginalized populations around mental illness and understanding mental health stigma in cross-cultural contexts. Within the stream of implementation science, her research work has focused on studying interventions aimed at increasing availability and access to mental health care in India and Latin America, especially integration of mental health care into primary care, community-based mental health interventions, and training non-specialist health workers for delivering mental health care interventions. Finally, she has actively utilized social epidemiology and causal inference to further understand mental health and implementation science.
Alice Tang, PhD, ScM
Co-Director of Evaluation
Dr. Tang is a Professor and epidemiologist in the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine at the Tufts University School of Medicine, MD/MPH Program co-Leader, and Director of the Center for Global Public Health. She has been at Tufts since 1999. Her training is in infectious disease epidemiology, and she has spent much of her career working at the intersection of HIV, nutrition, and global health. She has collaborated on research programs in several countries including the US, Argentina, India, Vietnam, and Namibia. Currently her research focuses on mitigating health disparities and improving advocacy among Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities in the Greater Boston area. Dr. Tang holds a PhD from Johns Hopkins and a ScM from Harvard University.
Kenneth Chui, PhD, MPH, MS
Co-Director of Evaluation
Kenneth Chui (he/him) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Chui is a methodologist with expertise in research design, data analysis, and data visualization, and brings his expertise to a broad range of research projects. Dr. Chui has worked on research focusing on evaluation of physical activity and nutrition interventions for children, the opioid overdose epidemic in the US, the Hepatitis C infection epidemic in the US, and testing the effectiveness of food aid formulas to combat and prevent childhood wasting. Dr. Chui’s current research focuses on the effectiveness of “food is medicine” (FIM) interventions. He has a secondary appointment as an Associate Professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. He received his PhD and MS from Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and his MPH from Tufts University School of Medicine.
Pep Vicente, BA
CHW Instructor
Pep Vicente is a Community Health Worker and Team Lead at Massachusetts General Hospital, serving disadvantaged populations. Additionally, he teaches Medical Spanish and in educational programs for the city of Chelsea. He was born in Barcelona, Spain.
Albert Pless, MS
Community Liaison and Instructor
Albert W. Pless, Jr is the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Town of Andover, Massachusetts. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Tufts School of Medicine Online MPH program and a guest lecturer at the Tufts School of Community Health. Albert has over 25 years of experience working in community-based programs in the Greater Boston area.
Angela Ting Lu, MBA, MPH Candidate
Program Administrator
Angela Ting Lu (she/her) is currently pursuing her Master of Public Health (MPH) at Tufts University School of Medicine, concentrating in biostatistics and epidemiology. Before joining Tufts, she completed her undergraduate studies in psychology and earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts Boston. With a diverse background in operations, administration, and marketing, Angela is eager to combine her analytical skills with her interests in health care systems. She aspires to utilize her interdisciplinary experience to drive positive change to US healthcare.
Tong (Lilly) Zeng, BS
Tufts MPH Candidate
Lilly Zeng (she/her) is an MPH candidate at Tufts School of Medicine, with a concentration in Health Services Management & Policy. She graduated with a dual degree in Nutrition (Dietetics) and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology from UMass Amherst. Her previous experiences as a nutrient analysis assistant, nutrition advisor, and research assistant in the field have endowed her with valuable practical skills and valuable insights into nutrition and wellness sectors. Lilly is passionately navigating the intersection of comprehensive healthcare and scientific research, contributing her knowledge and expertise towards practical advancements in public health and medicine.
Lisa Small, MS
Lisa is an alumna of Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. Her diverse background includes administration and apparel design, and she currently works in human resources. Lisa is particularly intrigued by mind-body medicine, behavior change interventions and community-based research.
Olivia Stewart
Tufts MPH Candidate
Olivia Stewart (she/her) is an MPH candidate at Tufts School of Medicine, with a concentration in nutrition. She is continuing her career in healthcare after graduating from Manhattan College with a Bachelor of Science in exercise science. She is passionate about health and food access and is committed to advancing knowledge and practices in the field of nutrition to improve health outcomes.