Team
Sten Vermund, MD, PhD
President
Dr. Sten Vermund is a pediatrician and infectious disease epidemiologist focused on diseases of low- and middle-income countries. His work on HIV-HPV interactions among women in Bronx methadone programs motivated a change in the 1993 CDC AIDS case surveillance definition and inspired cervical cancer screening programs launched within HIV/AIDS programs around the world. The thrust of his research has focused on health care access, adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights, and prevention of HIV transmission among general and key populations, including mother-to-child. Dr. Vermund has become increasingly engaged in health policy, particularly around sustainability of HIV/AIDS programs and their expansion to non-communicable diseases, coronavirus pandemic response and prevention, and public health workforce development. His recent grants include capacity-building for public health in Chad, molecular epidemiology for HIV in Kazakhstan, and COVID-19 vaccine studies in Dominican Republic and Connecticut. He has worked with schools and arts organizations for COVID-19 risk mitigation and institutional safety.
Andrea Ridenour, MPA
Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships
Andrea Ridenour leads both GVN’s Corporate Partnerships Program and the solicitation of leadership gifts to ensure GVN’s long-term viability, working in collaboration with GVN leadership and engaging its Board of Directors and partners.
Andrea brings years of experience in the development space, with a targeted focus on implementing large-scale partnerships between nonprofits, corporations, government entities and foundations. In her most recent roles with Susan G. Komen and the Colorectal Cancer Foundation, Andrea focused predominantly on building strong corporate relationships with key players the cancer space, including top-tier pharmaceutical companies. She has also held leadership positions with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and the Conquer Cancer Foundation.
Andrea holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Journalism from the University of Iowa, a Nonprofit Leadership Certification from North Park University and a Master of Public Administration from American University in Washington, DC.
Email: [email protected]
Linman Li, MBA, MPH, PMP, CPH
Vice President of Operations and Partnerships
Linman Li manages development and operational activities for GVN. She leads in strategic business development, contracting, partnership scoping and management in both public and private sectors as well as promoting GVN globally.
Linman brings several years of partnership building experience to GVN. In 2016, she developed a Sister City agreement between the City of Tampa and the City of Lanzhou, China. This was a unique opportunity to work with the mayors of both cities and thereafter, Linman worked as the Chair for China collaborations through the Tampa Sister Cities Committee and still directs this major partnership between Tampa and Lanzhou.
Linman received an MPH from the University of South Florida (USF) in 2019, an MBA from USF in 2013 and a BA in Finance from the Chongqing Technology and Business University, China in 2010. She has extensive knowledge in strategic business planning and development, contract negotiations, budget planning and management, organizational development, business outreach, project management, public relations, and partnership development.
Linman is the first recipient of the USF President Genshaft Outstanding Global Achievement Award and is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, Tampa Bay Area Council on Foreign Relations, and Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Tampa Bay. Linman is actively involved with the Project Management Institute’s Tampa Bay Chapter.
Prior to joining GVN, Linman served as the Associate Director of USF Medicine International and Director of Asia Programs at the Morsani College of Medicine (MCoM), at USF.
Email: [email protected]
Robert Frederick, MS
Chief Content Officer / Editor-in-Chief
Robert Frederick is the inaugural Chief Content Officer of GVN. In this editorially independent role, he is responsible for overseeing GVN’s mission to produce authoritative science-driven information and policy perspectives within the ever-changing media content and distribution landscape.
Robert brings two decades of experience in science journalism to GVN. Previously, he was the first Digital Managing Editor of American Scientist, where he also contributed as a columnist, editor, producer, and podcaster. Prior to that, he served as Science’s Associate Online Editor and later, Web Editor, where he also created videos and hosted the magazine’s podcast. Robert additionally served as St. Louis Public Radio’s first Science Reporter, contributing to the Associated Press and NPR's national broadcasts.
Throughout his career, Robert has freelanced for a wide variety of outlets, including helping to launch the news section of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He is also a contributor to The Science Writers' Handbook (Da Capo, 2013).
Robert's formal education includes a year-long fellowship at Harvard researching trust in science and in journalism, a masters in applied mathematics from the University of Michigan with a focus on fluid dynamics, and a triple major in mathematics, philosophy, and statistics from The University of Chicago.
He is an AAAS Mass Media Science & Engineering Fellow and a Fellow with the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, where he teaches in the university’s journalism program.
Email: [email protected]
Maggie Bartlett, PhD
Program Director
Dr. Maggie Linn Bartlett, a virologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, specializes in emerging infectious diseases, focusing on RNA persistence and post-infectious conditions. Her groundbreaking work spans neurotropic viral diseases, post-viral syndromes, and immune-privileged zones. Utilizing multimodal sequencing and systems biology, she explored the resilience of bat immune systems to the filovirus Marburg. From addressing filovirus outbreaks at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases to studying B cell responses to SARS-CoV-2, Dr. Bartlett's expertise extends to alphaviruses, paramyxoviruses, and bunyaviruses. Her innovative multi-modal single-cell sequencing provides a holistic analysis of host-virus interactions, impacting therapeutic development and patient care. Dr. Bartlett's systems biology analyses identified potential biomarkers for neurotropic viral illness and are being explored for prognostic capacity in post-viral syndromes. Passionate about infectious disease mysteries, she investigates links between post-acute SARS-CoV-2 syndrome and post-viral illnesses, particularly in individuals with genetic connective tissue diseases. Dr. Bartlett's expertise in BSL-3/4 research and innovative methodologies positions her at the forefront of virology, reflected in recent grants for agnostic virus detection, therapeutics, and biomarker discovery.
Email: [email protected]
Kevin Kishpaugh
Operations Manager
Kevin oversees the daily operations of the GVN, dealing with procurement, finances, and logistical organization. Prior to joining GVN, he worked for a law firm specializing in consumer protection and ran media monitoring on a political campaign. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from The George Washington University.
Email: [email protected]
Avita Ukpabia
Program Administrator
Avita is a current Public Health Science student at the University of Maryland, College Park, pursuing a degree with a concentration in Program Management. She has previously supervised a food insecurity awareness project with a local group and interned at a non-profit organization to integrate global health efforts with the United States Congress.
Email: [email protected]
Ruby Ferrari
Action Committees Coordinator
B.S. from the University of Maryland on Neurobiology and Physiology and is currently working on her MPH at George Washington University. She is originally from Venezuela (fluent in Spanish, English and Italian). She also has a cat, loves to hike, and likes to play TTRPGs in her free time.
Uchenna Mildred Udeh
Administrative Assistant
Uchenna leads in the provision of administrative and project support to ensure workplace productivity at GVN. Prior to joining GVN, she lived and worked in Nigeria and Canada. She worked as an administrative assistant on operations for a global hotel group. She was also the sole proprietor of her small business, dealing in cultural cuisine. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology & Sociology from UNBSJ.
Email: [email protected]
Marvin S. Reitz, Jr., PhD
Marvin Reitz served forty years as a virologist-molecular biologist, first at NCI-NIH, and then at the Institute for Human Virology, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore as Professor. He has advised the GVN for the past three years.
Email: [email protected]
Caroline Vega, JD
Legal Advisor
Caroline provides legal support at GVN. She received her JD from Brooklyn Law School and BS in Neuroscience from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is currently barred in New York and California.
Email: [email protected]
