Who We Are

Christian Loucq, MD
Director
Dr. Loucq directs the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI), which seeks to accelerate the development of promising malaria vaccines and ensure their availability and use in developing countries. Dr. Loucq has more than 30 years of experience in medicine, pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and global health.
He joined MVI in February 2007, serving as Director of Strategy and Operations and as Interim Director until his appointment as MVI Director three months later.
His professional experience spans the globe: Born and educated in France, he has lived and worked in Algeria, Belgium, Chad, China, India, the Netherlands, Niger, Switzerland, Thailand, and the United Kingdom. Dr. Loucq has managed vaccine businesses in China, India, and Thailand and has been involved in most stages of vaccine development. He has worked with large vaccine companies, such as GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur, and biotech companies including Rhein Biotech and Acambis. He has extensive experience partnering with local governments, building public-private partnerships, and setting up local private collaborations.
Dr. Loucq earned his State Doctorate of Human Medicine at the University of Paris X and a Diploma of Public Health and Tropical Medicine from the University of Aix-Marseilles.

Ashley Birkett, PhD
Director, Preclinical Research and Development
Dr. Ashley Birkett directs MVI’s early-stage vaccine development-efforts, including the assessment of vaccine technologies for inclusion in its portfolio , and scientific and technical assessment of its ongoing projects. He also oversees relationships with external partners who are engaged in MVI-supported preclinical research and development (R&D) projects.
Dr. Birkett has over ten years of experience in the vaccine industry, directing research and preclinical development. Prior to joining MVI he served as Senior Director of Preclinical Research at Acambis, where he oversaw the company’s global preclinical vaccine research portfolio. He also served as Project Leader for Acambis’ Universal Influenza Vaccine candidate, transitioning it from research, through the development phase and into early stage clinical trials. He previously held the title of Vice President of Preclinical Research at Apovia, where he also served as Project Leader for their influenza and malaria vaccine programs. He successfully transitioned the malaria vaccine candidate from discovery through early-stage clinical testing and secured funding for the program from both National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID/NIH) and PATH MVI.
Ashley holds a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics from Virginia Commonwealth University and a BSc (Honors) in Applied Biological Sciences from Bristol Polytechnic (now University of the West of England) in the United Kingdom.

Carla Botting
Director, Quality Management and Commercial Affairs
Carla Botting directs the Quality Management and Commercial Affairs unit, which comprises four sets of activities: monitoring and evaluation and quality assurance (excluding clinical quality assurance), including manufacturing quality assurance; regulatory affairs; manufacturing; and business development.
Carla has more than ten years of industry experience in business development and in the development and approval of biologics. Prior to joining MVI, Carla was the Director of Government Business Development at Cangene Corporation, where she oversaw program management, business development, and government relations in the United States and other industrialized countries. At Cangene, Carla also served as Project Director for Vaccinia Immune Globulin, taking it from R&D to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. Over the last seven years Carla has worked on joint biological development programs with such partners as the Centers for Disease Control, NIH, the Department of Defense, and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.
Carla has served on the Board of Directors of the Alliance for BioSecurity and currently serves as a member of the Board of Regents at the University of Winnipeg in Canada.
Carla has an Honors Degree in Commerce from the University of Manitoba and has studied French at the University of Caen in France. She has worked in Russia, Ecuador, and the United Kingdom.

Alan Brooks, MSc, RN
Director, Policy and Access
Alan Brooks brings policy and considerations to facilitate eventual access to a malaria vaccine to MVI’s product development activities. He also works to prepare national governments in the developing world, as well as global, regional, and national partner organizations for an eventual malaria vaccine.
Prior to joining MVI, Alan served almost six years with PATH’s Children’s Vaccine Program (CVP), and worked as a consultant on policies relating to new vaccine introduction in developing countries. While with CVP, he worked on a wide range of global policy and financing issues including national-level planning for financial sustainability, health-system strengthening and capacity building, and burden of disease studies. Alan has field experience in most parts of the world and brings a background in policy relating to supply, procurement, and regulatory issues.

Sally Ethelston, MA
Director, Communications and Advocacy
Sally Ethelston oversees the development and implementation of MVI’s communications and advocacy strategy.
Prior to joining MVI, Sally worked in international reproductive health for more than 15 years, with an emphasis on communications, policy analysis, and advocacy. She directed the communications program at Population Action International for more than 10 years, followed by three years leading the group’s Financing Project, focused on tracking the policies, programs, and funding of the international donor community. She also has worked as a consultant to the World Bank and International Planned Parenthood Federation.
Sally has an interdisciplinary Masters degree in Arab Studies from Georgetown University, where she focused on economic and social development in the region and wrote on such issues as women and work in the Arab world and Egypt’s agricultural development. Following graduate school, she worked for five years on Middle East peace and related issues. She speaks Spanish and Arabic.

Katya Spielberg, MBA
Director, Finance and Administration
Katya Spielberg serves as the Chief Financial Officer for MVI.
With PATH since 1989, Katya has over 20 years of non-profit accounting and financial management experience, including serving as PATH’s financial controller for four years. She also served as a Personnel Supervisor for United States Information Agency at the 1988 World's Fair in Brisbane, Australia and as a Program Coordinator for the University of Washington’s Executive MBA program.
Katya holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Washington, with an emphasis on nonprofit management, and a Bachelor in Business Administration degree from James Madison University in Virginia, where she majored in International Business and Spanish.

Tonya Villafana, PhD, MPH
Director, Portfolio Management
Dr. Tonya Villafana joined MVI as a Senior Program Officer in 2005, to manage the clinical aspects of MVI’s work, including oversight of the development of clinical trials and coordination of the scientific and ethical review of protocols. Following the establishment of the PMS in 2007, she was appointed Director, Portfolio Management. In this role she is responsible for the oversight of MVI’s vaccine candidate portfolio and works closely with vaccine project teams and other units, including R&D and Business Development, to ensure MVI’s vaccine-development goals are met. She also chairs MVI’s Portfolio Management Committee and is MVI’s representative on the board of the Malaria Clinical Trials Alliance.
Prior to joining MVI, she was the Site Director of the HIV Vaccine Initiative at the Botswana Harvard School of Public Health AIDS Initiative Partnership for HIV Research and Education, where she was awarded the Site Director of the Year Award in 2004 by the HIV Vaccine Trials Network. As Site Director, Villafana established sites to conduct HIV vaccine trials, oversaw research regulatory requirements, and collaborated with local and national institutions for the conduct of HIV vaccine research. She has also served as a technical advisor to WHO on HIV vaccine research issues and as Secretary of the Botswana National HIV Vaccine Committee.
Tonya holds a PhD in immunology from Cornell University Graduate School of Medical Sciences and an MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health.

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Galina Agoureeva
Network Administrator
Galina Agoureeva provides network and computer support for the MVI team. She has more than 12 years of experience in the networking field. She holds several industry certificates and has worked in similar positions for non-profit, educational, and private sectors in Russia, Australia, and the US. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Moscow Technical University and a Bachelor or Science degree in Mathematics from MIEM in Russia.

Kalpana Antony, CCRA
Program Officer, India
As Program Officer, Kalpana is responsible for monitoring and maintaining project plans for MVI's India projects. She also handles project budgets, milestones, and documentation for technology transfer and manufacturing as well as documentation for regulatory and ethical review.
Kalpana Antony has three years of experience in clinical research. Prior to joining MVI, Kalpana served as Senior Executive-Clinical Research with the Reliance Clinical Research Services Pvt. Ltd. where she managed oncology and cardiology studies.
Kalpana received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Microbiology and Biochemistry from the Mumbai University.

Chris Atim, PhD, MA
Program Officer
Dr Chris Atim is an economist in the Policy and Access unit, working on cost effectiveness and financing issues related to the currently most advanced malaria vaccine candidate. He works with MVI’s partners to ensure that relevant economic and financing data needed by decision makers to make an informed decision on malaria vaccine adoption is available at the required time. This includes health economics modeling and the collection and analysis of economics and financing data alongside the vaccine clinical trials.
Prior to joining MVI, Chris Atim had about 15 years of experience providing technical support in health financing-related issues to African and other developing countries. In that connection, he worked at Abt Associates as their Regional Advisor for West and Central Africa and based in Dakar, Senegal, and later at the HLSP Institute in London as a senior economist providing technical support to African countries and international organizations on health financing and health systems’ issues. Chris was one of the leading pioneers in the development, promotion and analysis of community-based health insurance schemes in West Africa, and has published extensively on the subject.
Chris Atim obtained his MA at the University of Norwich and his PhD at the University of Sussex, both in the UK and in the field of Development Studies, focusing on African economic development issues.

Luann Tia Blount, MA
Senior Communications Associate
Tia works with the Communications and Advocacy team on strategic planning, site-specific communications, writing and editing, coordinating events, and maintaining the Web site.
Tia Blount has more than seven years of communications experience and has worked in the non-profit, agency, and public affairs arenas. Prior to joining MVI, Tia worked overseas at the American embassies in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. and Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago. Tia was also a community reporter for a weekly newspaper in Tallahassee, FL.
Tia holds a Master of Arts degree in Public Communication from American University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Relations from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.

Walter Brandt, PhD
Senior Program Officer, Product Evaluation
Dr. Walter Brandt joined MVI after five years as Senior Scientist at Science Applications International Corporation, ten years at the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC), and twenty-five years at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR). At WRAIR he served as microbiologist, supervisor, and assistant chief of the Department of Virus Diseases, studying viral infections in animals and humans, developing reagents for diagnostic tests, and establishing markers for live attenuated candidate vaccines. He served as project manager for the US Army Medical Materiel Development Activity at USAMRMC, managing the development, manufacture, and testing of vaccines and immune globulins, submitting regulatory documents to the FDA, and leveraging government resources to facilitate licensure or distribution of four vaccines. Dr. Brandt received his Bachelor, Master, and PhD degrees in microbiology and immunology from the University of Maryland.

Afiya Brent-Kirk
Technical Coordinator
Afiya Brent-Kirk provides technical assistance to preclinical vaccine development projects, as well as assays and immunopotentiators. Prior to joining the MVI team, Afiya was a molecular biology research technologist in the Division of Malaria Vaccine Development at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR). At WRAIR she gained experience in Standard Operating Procedure development, immunoassays, malaria microscopy, and coordinated preclinical safety/immunogenicity studies. She also has experience in scientific data management and budgeting. Afiya holds a Bachelors degree in Anthropology (Biology) from Howard University.

Jo-Ann Brinkley
Program Assistant
Jo-Ann Brinkley provides administrative support to the MVI project team in Melbourne, Australia. She has worked extensively in the health sector with organizations such as the Royal Flying Doctor Service, the Orana and Far West Mental Health Services, and The AIDS Society of Asia and the Pacific. Prior to joining MVI she spent time as the personal assistant to the Australian President of the Franchise Council of Australia assisting the development of franchise systems and training resources.

Vicky Cárdenas
Program Officer
Vicky Cárdenas is a member of the Policy and Access team where she focuses on implementing projects designed to assist international organizations and developing countries prepare for the future introduction of malaria vaccines. Prior to joining MVI, she worked for several years on a cholera vaccine trial in Peru. In addition to her vaccine experience, Vicky has worked in the areas of perinatal clinical epidemiology and injury prevention. She has worked in Peru, Thailand, Guatemala, and Indonesia. Vicky holds a Masters of Health Science degree from Johns Hopkins University, a doctorate in epidemiology and a law degree from the University of Washington.

Terrell Carter, MHS
Senior Technical Coordinator
Terrell Carter provides project-management and technical assistance on various malaria-vaccine projects—including the AMA-1, MSP-2, and RTS,S projects. She is also the project manager for the Measuring Malaria Transmission Intensity project.
Prior to joining MVI, Terrell served as a research coordinator in the Department of Epidemiology and Health Policy Research at the University of Florida College of Medicine, where she coordinated research projects studying vaccine policy and safety issues.
Terrell received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX and her Master of Health Science from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in International Public Health with a certificate in Vaccine Science and Policy.

Elfrida Cline-Cole, MA
Project Administrative Officer
Elfrida Cline Cole brings to MVI over 10 years of experience in finance, contract administration, and project coordination. Most recently, Elfrida worked as a Senior Finance and Contract Administrator for Abt Associates, Inc. in Bethesda. Prior to Abt, Elfrida served as a Project Coordinator for the International Business Ethics Institute in Washington, DC. Elfrida holds a MPA in Public Policy from Howard University, a graduate diploma in Institutional Administration from Concordia University, and a Bachelor of Commerce and Economics from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. Elfrida has traveled extensively and is fluent in French.

Yvette Collymore, MA
Communications Officer
Yvette Collymore brings global health communication and media experience to the MVI team. She’s responsible for developing communication and advocacy strategies, overseeing the publication of MVI materials, and managing MVI's celebrity advocacy project. Yvette has written extensively on global population and health issues, including HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, and cervical cancer. She has also worked as a print and radio journalist in developed and developing countries and holds an Master of Arts in Journalism from the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland.

Virginia del Rosario
Program Assistant
Virginia del Rosario provides administrative support to the Science and Technical and Leadership Teams at MVI. Previous experience includes Business Office Coordinator for Healthsouth Rehabilitation Center in Lanham, Maryland, and Pharmaceutical Specialist for Boehringer Ingelheim, Philippines, Inc. Virginia received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines.

Nicole Erickson
Office Assistant
In addition to her administrative role in managing the Bethesda office, Niki provides administrative support to the MVI director and to the Commercialization and Corporate Partnerships Team. Niki joins MVI from an insurance company located in Silver Spring, MD where she worked as an office manager. Prior to that, she worked as a childcare provider.
Niki moved to the DC area after graduating with an Associate of Science degree from Dixie State College in St. George, Utah.

Paul Fahey, MS
Senior Project Manager, Vaccine Development and Manufacture
Paul Fahey has more than 18 years of vaccine development and manufacture experience. He joined MVI to manage vaccine development projects in Australia and provide technical input into process development and scale-up manufacture of candidate vaccines.
Prior to joining MVI, he served as project manager for eight years at CSL Limited—an Australian pharmaceutical company—leading a pediatric, combination, vaccine candidate from development through clinical trials, regulatory approval, technology transfer, and manufacture. At CSL he also spearheaded an adjuvant-development project that included design, construction, and validation of a GMP facility and has extensive experience with process development.
He received his Bachelor of Science degree from La Trobe University and his Master of Biotechnology from Monash University—both in Melbourne, Australia.

Rajat Goyal, MD
Director, Vaccine & Health Technologies, PATH India
Dr. Rajat Goyal is responsible for in-country leadership of MVI's malaria vaccine development efforts in India. As Director of Vaccine & Health Technologies, Dr. Goyal will also have overarching responsibilities for various vaccine and health technology-related projects at the PATH office in India. Dr. Goyal joins PATH after working with the Medical Biotechnology Initiatives in one of the leading corporate houses in India. While there he was responsible for medical and scientific assessment potential of new products and product development and for conceptualizing and implementing technical marketing strategies. He also led and set up a Contract Research Organization (CRO) from the ground up; it is currently one of the leading CROs in the country. Dr. Goyal is a trained physician in the field of hemato-oncology. He received his Doctorate of Medicine from Haffkine Institute of Research and Training, Mumbai University, India.

Donald Kelemen, PhD
Senior Commercialization Officer
Dr. Donald Kelemen takes a primary role in the commercialization aspects of the early stage projects in the MVI vaccine development portfolio. Dr. Kelemen brings to MVI a strong background in the research and development, commercialization, and marketing of products from the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Prior to joining MVI, he was an Associate Director at Amylin Pharmaceuticals in San Diego, California where he developed and led and implemented the product planning, commercial, and marketing strategies for Amylin’s drug development programs. He was also a Co-founder and Senior Scientist at Ensolve Biosystems in Raleigh, North Carolina where he directed the research and development of commercial products for the environmental biotechnology market. Dr. Kelemen received a PhD and Master of Science degree in Nutrition from North Carolina State University.

Laurence Lemiale, PharmD, MBA
Senior Program Officer
Laurence Lemiale serves as team leader for the Sanaria attenuated sporozoite vaccine project. She is in charge of establishing project management plans for this vaccine strategy, and for moving the candidate vaccine from laboratory manufacture through cGMP production, regulatory review, and clinical development. Prior to joining MVI, Laurence worked for five years as a Project Manager and Quality Assurance Specialist at the Vaccine Research Center at NIAID/NIH in Bethesda, Maryland. This effort resulted in successful advancement of multiple vaccine candidates from basic research to phases 1 and 2 clinical trials. Laurence holds a Doctorate in Pharmacy and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Tours in France.

Emily Locke, PhD, MPH
Program Officer
Dr. Emily Locke focuses on pre-clinical development of malaria vaccine candidates, with a particular interest in identifying assays that are predictive of protection in the field. Prior to joining MVI, Dr. Locke spent two years as a project manager for Biomedical Center in St. Petersburg, Russia where she managed Johns Hopkins University’s involvement in an international effort to engage Russia in global HIV research and prevention. She also worked for five years as a structural biologist and yeast geneticist for the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Locke received a Masters of Public Health and a PhD in biology from Johns Hopkins University.

Elissa Malkin, DO, MPH
Senior Medical Officer
Dr. Elissa Malkin will serve as the senior medical officer for all of MVI's Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials. Dr. Malkin joined MVI after four years as a Staff Clinician with the Malaria Vaccine Development Branch (MVDB) at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, were she organized, managed and performed the Phase I trials in the United States for MVDB's candidate malaria vaccines. Dr. Malkin spent nine months in Blantyre, Malawi caring for children with cerebral malaria and a variety of other tropical diseases at the Malaria Project and Wellcome Trust Centre. She also completed a Preventive Medicine residency at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Dr. Malkin received a Masters of Public Health degree from the Johns Hopkins University and a Doctor of Osteopathy degree from Nova Southeastern College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Christopher Maltby, MBA
Business Development Associate
Chris Maltby works with the Commercialization team in the development of early stage malaria vaccine projects. Prior to joining PATH, Chris worked three years in administration with Casey Family Programs, a private foster care agency, and seven years in human resources management for the Seattle-based factory trawler fishing fleet.
Chris holds both a Bachelor of Art degree in mass communications and speech communications and a Master of Business Administration degree in human resources, international business, and finance from the University of Washington. He has also studied at the Cranfield School of Management in Cranfield, England.

Gretchen MacLeod
Senior Finance Officer
Gretchen supports the RTS,S and AMA1 vaccine project teams, bringing to MVI over ten years of financial experience working in the non-profit environment, including extensive experience training finance staff in Africa and Asia.
Most recently, Gretchen served as a Project Administrator for the HIV, AIDS, and Malaria Strategic Program in PATH’s Washington DC office. Prior to that assignment, Gretchen served as a Finance Officer/Team Leader for PATH in Seattle, where she managed and trained a team in donor financial reporting and USAID compliance. In addition to her role at PATH, Gretchen served as a trainer with the Association for PVO Financial Managers where she developed curriculum and provided workshops on USAID compliance to NGOs in developing countries.
Gretchen holds a Bachelor of Arts, Accounting, and Business Management from Seattle Pacific University.

Nyaka Mwanza
Communications Assistant
Nyaka Mwanza provides multi-functional support to the Communications and Advocacy Team, Vaccine Project Teams and other units at MVI.
Prior to joining the MVI team, Nyaka served as the Administrative and Technical assistant for the Philadelphia Mayor's Office for the Reentry of Ex-Offenders, orchestrating special events, maintaining up-to-date communications materials and providing previously incarcerated individuals with a broad range of transitional and referral services as they reentered Philadephia communities from correctional institutions.
Nyaka holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications: Visual Media from American University in Washington, DC.

Jennifer O’Reilly
Program Assistant
Jennifer O'Reilly works on the RTS,S malaria vaccine project team and its clinical trial sites in Africa.
Prior to joining the clinical operations team, Jennifer held the position of Administrative Coordinator for Finance and Administration also at the Malaria Vaccine Initiative. Prior to joining PATH, Jennifer worked with the Boston Consulting Group.
Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Maryland and a Masters Degree in International Affairs from Georgetown University.

David Poland, MPS
Communications Officer
David Poland’s focus with MVI is on communication activities related to the RTS,S vaccine. He has worked in science communication for development—ranging from hands-on extension to mass media—since the mid-1980s, primarily in agriculture and biotechnology, notably in the arena of transgenic crops. David has worked as a newspaper reporter and photographer, as well as a videographer, and holds a Masters of Professional Studies degree in Communications (with a concentration in intercultural communication) from Cornell University.

Theresa Raphael
Communications Officer
Theresa Raphael brings over 20 years of health-policy and communications experience to the MVI team. She plays a key role in developing content for the MVI website and publications, as well as for reports and proposals for current and prospective donors. She also functions as MVI’s media liaison, coordinating with external partners and staff to respond to inquiries and interview requests from members of the press.
Prior to joining MVI, she worked at Northrop Grumman Health Solutions where she served as the senior writer, responsible for the development of a wide range of materials—from fact sheets and talking points, to reports and proposals for funders. She also served as Executive Director of the National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD), where she managed all aspects of the organization’s work, including communications, resource development, and external relations.
Theresa holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Rutgers University and a Master of Public Health from Yale.

Heather Richards
Project Administrative Officer
Heather Richards serves as project administrator and financial officer for multiple grants and vaccine project teams, responsible for contracts management, financial management and project administrative issues. In addition, Heather works closely with the Director of Finance on financial matters relating to the overall MVI portfolio, including compliance and headquarter relations.
With PATH since 2001, Heather spent six years as Finance Officer in charge of donor financial reporting before joining MVI.
Heather holds a Bachelor in Business Administration degree from Andrews University in Michigan, where she majored in Accounting.

Lujain Said
Administrative Assistant to the Director
Lujain Said is the Administrative Assistant to Christian Loucq, the Director of the Malaria Vaccine Initiative.
Prior to joining the MVI team, Lujain served as an Office Administration Aide for the Department of Defense, supporting department staff members and course managers in proofreading documents and installing course designators on the Agency's database. She also served as an Intern for U.S. Coalition for Child Survival where she had an opportunity to research and develop fact sheets on malaria and measles and advocated for the U.S. Commitment to Global Child Survival Act of 2007 legislation on Capitol Hill.
Lujain holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Global Health from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Barbara Savarese, RN
Senior Program Officer, Head of Clinical Operations
Barbara joined the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) in early 2006 after a 19 year career at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). At MVI Barbara leads a multidisciplinary team in the clinical development of the RTS,S malaria vaccine in partnership with GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals. She is passionate about the work supporting the development of ten African clinical research centers that will conduct a pivotal Phase 3 efficacy trial on RTS,S and carry out research on other MVI vaccine candidates as they enter the field.
Initially, Barbara worked in the NIH wards and clinic as a study coordinator on trials related to HIV, oncology, and sexually transmitted infections. Subsequently, she was appointed project officer and assisted in the development and administration of clinical trial networks, including the AIDS Vaccine Evaluation Unit and the Sexually Transmitted Infections Group. These activities involved setting up trial sites internationally.
Her background and training is in nursing and clinical research. She received a BScN from Emory University and completed advanced training in clinical research at the NIH Clinical Center.

Shannon Shanahan, JD
Senior Counsel
Shannon Shanahan works with the PATH Legal Affairs Division to handle complex legal issues that impact the organization. She is also the primary attorney responsible for all MVI legal matters including advising, drafting and negotiating agreements, and performing legal analysis and research. Shannon has been practicing law for more than 14 years, the last 10 years of which have been in the life sciences and global health field. Prior to joining PATH, Shannon served as Director of Corporate Legal Affairs with the Cell Therapeutics, Inc. in Seattle, WA where she provided legal counsel to senior management, subsidiaries, and department heads and developed and implemented corporate legal strategies and compliance plans. Shannon received her JD at Gonzaga Law School and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from California Polytechnic State University.

Marla Sillman, MS
Program Officer
Marla Sillman manages the clinical, operational, and financial aspects of vaccine trials in designated African research centers. Additionally, she serves as the overall Project Manager for the RTS,S Vaccine Project team. Marla’s previous role within MVI included providing technical assistance for clinical trials, tracking and coordinating the Internal Review Board process as well as the project milestones. Marla came to MVI from Social & Scientific Systems, Silver Spring, MD, where she served as a Clinical Trial Specialist for The Adult AIDS Clinical Trials Group and Section Leader for an immunology-based research committee. Marla holds a Master of Science degree in Biotechnology from the Johns Hopkins University.

Larry Sturgeon, MSLS
Senior Administrative Officer
Larry Sturgeon manages contractual agreements and contracts, develops and monitors financial tracking systems, and assists with budget preparation and monitoring at MVI. Larry has more than 22 years of experience in administrative work. Prior to joining PATH, he was the administrator for a non-profit organization, The National Legal Aid and Defender Association, where he was responsible for managing key components in the areas of office services, human resources, and technology management. He has also served as an administrative assistant/administrator for the non-profit Project Advisory Group, an organization of federally funded legal services programs. Larry has a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and English, as well as a Master of Science degree in Library Science.

Preeti Vansadia, MHS
Technical Coordinator
Preeti Vansadia provides technical support to clinical trials for the RTS,S vaccine program. She comes to MVI with prior experience working for a contract research organization doing work in vaccine clinical trials. She has also worked on nutrition related issues in Uganda, which involved rapid assessments, monitoring and evaluation, and survey research. While in India she worked with an NGO conducting research on development and female health issues. Preeti holds a Bachelors degree from the University of Michigan and a Masters of Health Science degree from Johns Hopkins University.