Leadership Team
Marie-Christine Nizzi: President
Marie-Christine is a GSAS Alumna. She earned a first Ph.D. in Philosophy from the Sorbonne University (Paris, France), before completing her Ph.D. in Psychology at Harvard University, and her Clinical Internship in Neuropsychology at the Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. At Dartmouth, she currently leads a project aiming to better support the experience of free will in paralyzed patients.
An international and interdisciplinary scientist, Marie-Christine builds on her multicultural experience to inform her research on the self. How do we form our identities in diverse cultural contexts? And how can we build a more resilient sense of self when facing adversity? She was named "2018 Harvard Horizons Scholar" for her work with U.S. Veterans and face-transplant recipients.
As a clinician, Marie-Christine works with expats., with people who have a history of trauma or loss, and with those who simply seek to grow into their best self. Specific areas of expertise include working with parents who have a baby in the NICU and with adults battling a terminal illness. A trained Neuropsychologist, she also has experience conducting neuro-cognitive assessments in both English and French.
Tell her about your favorite cross-cultural experience or which aspects of your identity are most meaningful to you. In Harvard Square, her favorites include L.A. Burdick and Toscano!
Caifang Zhu: Director of Community Services
Caifang was born and brought up in the picturesque countryside of a 1000-year-old water town close to Shanghai in East China. He continued to dream a lot about his hometown many years after he went to Beijing to attend college（Beijing International Studies University） and even years after he went to USA for his advanced studies.
For his MTS at Harvard Divinity School (2001-2004) where he was also a TF at East Asian Studies, he majored in Religions and minored in Psychology. After a one-year clinical internship at St Mary's Medical Center in San Francisco, he went on to get his Ph.D. in East-West Psychology at California University of Integral Studies. Since Harvard, he has been deliberately integrating psychology, especially counseling psychology, and spirituality in the form of meditation and Tai Chi. This effort has resulted in his model called Meditation-Initiated Integrative Therapy (MIIT) which he uses dominantly in his private practice and training at his own organization known as Beijing Counseling and Meditation Center.
An internationally published scholar-practitioner of wellness for decades as he is, Dr. Zhu is confident that he is a perfectly imperfect guy.
Ngozi Okose: Director of Diversity, Culture, and Inclusion
Dr. Ngozi Okose is a psychotherapist, a college professor, a mental health advocate, a mentor, and a community organizer/leader.
Her professional training is interdisciplinary, spanning the broad areas of Education, French, Language Arts, Counseling and Strategic Management. Dr. Okose also has specialized training in trauma and disaster mental health, cognitive therapy, and postdoctoral training in psychological assessments. Dr. Okose obtained her post graduate degrees from the University of Ibadan, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and Harvard University. She also obtained language training at Université de Nice in France.
She started her career as a core faculty member of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, taught undergraduate and post-graduate level courses in counseling, coordinated counseling programs, and provided counseling services to the university community. Dr. Ngozi Okose is currently in private practice in Houston, Texas. A multilingual with 18+ years of clinical experience in the USA, she provides counseling services to people of different life stages across all continents, including crisis counseling to expats, immigrants and refugees. With the belief that one cap does not fit all, she tailors personalized care to her diverse clients.
Dr. Okose mentors budding mental health professionals through supervision and preceptorship. She is a child advocate and a courtroom expert witness on issues of child placement and custody in the State of Texas. Dr. Okose champions mental health enlightenment programs and is a dynamic speaker on issues of mental health to diverse communities including alumni associations, youth groups, and community/social/church organizations. She also has affiliations with many professional organizations; platforms that she uses to present culturally sensitive informative papers and champion discussions on global mental health.
In her pastime she likes to sew, or enjoys activities with husband and children
Embree Thompson: Director of Research
Embree is a graduate of Harvard College (BA ‘18, Kirkland House) where she studied Molecular and Cellular Biology and Economics. She is currently a medical student at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, and hopes to pursue her passion for women’s health and the promotion of health equity for underserved populations, particularly women of generational African-American descent.
Prior to her medical school studies, Embree worked at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston as a research assistant in a gynecologic oncology quality of life lab, helping women cope with the physical, emotional, and psychological burden of cancer through digital health innovations. As an undergraduate, Embree served as a peer liaison for the Consent Advocates and Relationship Educators (CARE) group.
Talk to Embree about interdisciplinary approaches to health care, how much you miss in-person dance performances due to COVID, dance in general, journaling, your favorite Peloton instructor, book recommendations, or the last independent film you watched.
Zeenah Haddad: Director of Membership Engagement
Zeenah wants to live in a world filled with freshly baked bread, quality chocolate, and – to steer this away from food a tad –traffic-less commutes.
She is a public and global health practitioner with over 16 years of experience, and although initially trained as a professional drug dealer (a degree in Pharmacy), she soon abandoned that glorified profession after being seduced by the allure of public health work and its cushy lifestyle (and apparently thinks she can do sarcasm), and, after very little coercion, accepted a degree from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Then because, as we all know, studying for graduate degrees is fun, she eagerly attended the University of Notre Dame to receive another degree in nonprofit administration (like MBA but cooler).
Zeenah's work focuses on behavior change- and health- communications using approaches that strive to exemplify authentic communication, empathetic listening, respect, non-judgment, compassion, and humility. She also has -inadvertently- amassed an extensive background in conducting and interpreting a broad range of research across numerous fields and specialties, probably because she doesn’t like to say ‘no’ to anyone, but most likely because she feels an urge to research things to absolute death.
Zeenah has also been skirting the edge of professional baking ever since she discovered that playing with dough is a heck a lot more fun than sitting at a computer all day, and that feeding people fresh bread is probably the best thing ever.
Connect with Zeenah about HAMH or baking (or eating).
Charlotte Dowden: Director of Operations
Charlotte is a Harvard FAS alumna where she conducted research for the Nock Lab and additionally helped teach neuroanatomy and behavior for HSS. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 2014 with a Bachelor's of Science in Psychology and a concentration in neuroscience. Currently, Charlotte manages international clinical trials in oncology, primarily concentrating on concomitant toxicities that arise during chemoradiation therapy in head and neck cancer patients.
Charlotte's passion for mental health blossomed during her undergraduate studies where she conducted research in middle school children of underserved communities regarding the self, racial-identity, and success. This passion continued where she then worked at Massachusetts General Hospital as a the New England research coordinator for Autism Speaks, Autism Treatment Network. This allowed her to help provide best supportive care for pediatric ASD patients, community resources and programs for their families, and focus on mental health research.
Talk to Charlotte about your favorite travel destination, punk rock bands, research articles, piano, or your best local restaurant.
Hayoung Ahn: Director of Finance
Hayoung is a cognitive neuroscience researcher, mental health advocate, and creative artist. She graduated from Harvard College in 2020, where she studied Neuroscience with a secondary in Psychology. During her time in college, she was able to grow her interest in mental health as a Student Mental Health Liaison and a psychology research assistant. Currently, she is working as a lab manager and researcher at The University of Chicago's psychology department, where she investigates the cognitive and neural mechanisms that underlie how memory influences decision-making. Hayoung thrives off of engaging in creative activities like photography and writing. She is passionate about education, mentorship, and Asian American visibility. Her background also includes experiences in marketing, media and entertainment, digital content creation, and Korean American mental health.
Talk to Hayoung about side hustles, growing up in NYC, video storytelling, and group fitness classes.