Eric Nelson, MD, PhD
Originator and Principal Investigator, Haiti
“The idea for MotoMeds was inspired by my experiences volunteering during the 2010 cholera outbreak in Haiti. In the mornings we would see patients arriving at the clinic with severe dehydration because they were isolated from access to oral rehydration fluids and sound clinical advice during the night. While MotoMeds is Haitian inspired, once validated, we hope it can serve as a model for global deployment.”
The mission of Dr. Nelson’s lab at the University of Florida is to combine medical, scientific and technology skill-sets to discover new approaches to combat infectious disease outbreaks.
Dr. Nelson is a pediatrician at UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital in Gainesville, Florida. He earned his medical degree from Tufts University and completed his pediatric residency at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University. While at Stanford, he completed a pediatric global health fellowship and served as a Pediatric Global Health Physician Scientist and instructor for the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases.
Dr. Nelson is currently on faculty at the UF Emerging Pathogens Institute and is an Assistant Professor with the UF Department of Pediatrics.
Torben Becker MD, PhD, RDMS, FAWM, FAEMS
Principal Investigator, Ghana
Dr. Torben Becker is board-certified in Emergency Medicine, Critical Care Medicine and Emergency Medical Services (Prehospital Medicine). He completed his MD and PhD in biomedical sciences at the University of Heidelberg in Germany.
At the University of Florida, Dr. Becker teaches in the Department of Emergency Medicine and the Department of Environmental and Global Health. He is the Chief of the Division of Critical Care Medicine and also serves as Director of the Section of Global Health in the Department of Emergency Medicine. In the community, Dr. Becker serves as a Medical Director for Alachua County Fire Rescue.
Dr. Becker has authored over 70 manuscripts in the peer-reviewed literature and has received regional and national research awards.
Dr. Becker has been engaged in a number of projects in Ghana since 2014, and serves as the Principal Investigator for MotoMeds Ghana with funding support from the United States Agency for International Development and the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. Dr. Becker is the President of Global Health Coalition Corp., a non-profit organization that supports global health education.
Molly Klarman, MPH
Project Director, Haiti
Molly earned her undergraduate degree from Lewis & Clark College and a Masters of Public Health degree from Emory University.
Molly has conducted research across Latin America and the U.S. in diverse areas including household water purification, development of diagnostic tests for parasitic diseases and best agricultural practices for watershed management. She spent seven years working for health and community development based NGOs in rural Haiti.
Molly began working at the Nelson Lab in December 2017. To date she has contributed towards the following research projects; a needs assessment to investigate the healthcare seeking behaviors of Haitian families with the onset of illness during nighttime hours, a case control study to investigate specific causes of household diarrhea in children under five years, a sero-surveillance study of COVID-19 and the Improving Nighttime Access to Care and Treatment (INACT) studies to evaluate and expand MotoMeds .
“I am especially drawn to the work being done at the Nelson Lab because of its focus on bridging the gap between research and actionable public health improvements and I am excited to have the opportunity to contribute to this endeavor.”
Katie Flaherty
Graduate Research Fellow and Project Director, Ghana
As a future physician-scientist in public health, Katie’s research is helping MotoMeds expand to Ghana.
Katie completed her undergraduate degree at Emory University and joined the University of Florida MD PhD Training Program in 2018. She has completed her preclinical education in the College of Medicine and passed the first stage of the medical licensing exam. She is currently appointed as a Graduate Assistant in the Department of Emergency Medicine and in the Nelson Lab.
“My research goals are to evaluate and to improve prehospital care in underserved communities. I am committed to a career dedicated to understanding and rectifying health disparities on a global scale.”
Chantale Baril, MD
Pediatrician and Advisor, Haiti
As the Assistant Chief of the Department of Pediatrics at the State University Hospital of Haiti, Dr. Baril is an invaluable member of the MotoMeds team. Since 2018, she has advised on the development of culturally appropriate and locally feasible research study protocols and treatment plans as well as taking on a role in training MotoMeds staff. She acts as the go-to physician for MotoMeds nurses when questions arise with more complex patients.
Dr. Baril earned her medical degree from Haiti State University Medical School. She has now worked at the State University Hospital for almost 35 years specializing in pediatrics and neonatal care. The hospital, located in Port-au-Prince, is one of the largest in the country and serves the most marginalized patients.
Lerby Exantus, MD
Physician and Advisor, Haiti
Dr. Exantus is a Haitian physician and radiology resident at the State University Hospital of Haiti. He has been working with MotoMeds since its establishment, as an on-call physician and helping with trainings as well as medical and research translations.
He has assisted several Haitian organizations with healthcare education and is currently pursuing an Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates certification as well as a United States Medical License.
Ahmed N. Zakariah, MBChB, MPM, EMBA, MPhil
Professor and Advisor, Ghana
Professor Zakariah is the lead Ghanaian partner and National Ambulance Service (NAS) representative for implementation of MotoMeds in Ghana. He has held the position of CEO of NAS for over 15 years, and under his leadership, the NAS grew from seven EMS stations to 297 stations. Additionally, a Paramedic & Emergency Care Training School was established during his tenure.
Professor Zakariah is a trained Specialist in Intensive Care Medicine, Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Anaesthesia. He has attained numerous qualifications over his career including an International Visiting Professorship at the University College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA, a Fellowship at the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons, an Advanced Life Support Instructor Certificate from the USA, an Executive MBA from GIMPA in Accra, Ghana, an MPhil in Biomedical Sciences and an MSc in Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Medicine from Free University in Brussels, Belgium, and an MD degree from The Faculty of Medicine, University of Villa Clara in Cienfuegos, Cuba.
In addition to leading NAS, Professor Zakariah is extensively involved in training programs in Ghana. He is a lecturer at the Critical Care Nurses Training Program at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, a Lecturer at the School of Anaesthesia at the Ridge Hospital, and a lecturer at the Physician Assistant Training Program at the Central University College.
Maxwell Osei-Ampofo, MBChB, MBA, MPH, FGCS
Physician and Advisor, Ghana
Dr. Osei-Ampofo provides guidance for implementation of MotoMeds in Ghana and facilitates the partnership with the Ghana National Ambulance Service (NAS). He is the Deputy CEO of NAS and Head of the NAS Paramedic & Emergency Care Training School. Dr. Osei-Ampofo’s credentials have been attained globally and include Fellowships in Emergency Medicine at The Ghana College of Surgeons and The University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, an MPH from KNUST Ghana, an MBA from Delta International University of New Orleans, USA, and a MBChB and a BSc from SMS KNUST Ghana.
Dr. Osei-Ampofo contributes significantly towards the training of Ghanaian health professionals and directs courses in Advanced Trauma life Support, Basic Life Support, Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Advanced Emergency Trauma and Basic Emergency Care.
Youseline Cajusma
Research Supervisor, Haiti
Youseline is originally from Jeremie Haiti. She graduated from the Faculté des Sciences Infirmières de Léogane Nursing School in 2012. She has been working for The University of Florida since 2013 as a nurse researcher assisting with data collection and supervising staff for many different studies investigating different topic areas ranging from sexually transmitted infections to causes of household diarrhea.
Youseline joined the Nelson Lab in 2019 as part of the field team for the healthcare needs assessment in Leogane and Gressier, Haiti. She was integral in helping to transform the idea for the MotoMeds call center into a functioning clinical service. She values the follow up component of MotoMeds where we check in with patients 24 hours or 10 days after their initial call. Youseline is currently enrolled in a master's program to become a Family Nurse Practitioner.
MotoMeds Providers, Haiti
In Haiti the MotoMeds call center is staffed by a team of dedicated Haitian providers (Nurses and Family Nurse Practitioners). Our providers help guide parents through the consultation process by referencing clinical guidelines and applying their accumulated personal clinical experience. They are backed by a team of on-call doctors to ensure each patient receives the high quality, professional care they need.
One provider, Marlene, who knows many families hesitate to seek care at clinics because they lack the financial means had this to say about MotoMeds.
“The parents always hope their child will get better without intervention. But some of these children get sicker over the course of the day and by evening they are in a really bad situation with no options for care. MotoMeds has now provided the community with an option.”
MotoMeds Delivery Drivers, Haiti
Our delivery drivers are the backbone of MotoMeds’ remote telemedicine service. Their invaluable knowledge of the local terrain is the key to accessing homes without an address system. Many homes are in locations only accessible by motorcycle. Drivers navigate winding, narrow roads on rugged terrain in the dead of night. Their heroism is saving the lives of children in rural Haiti.
“My wife called MotoMeds for my 10-month old son who had a cold. The nurse recommended we follow up at a clinic the next morning where he received an x-ray and antibiotics. They told us he had a pulmonary infection. We would not have known that he had something so serious had we not consulted MotoMeds.”
— Junior, MotoMeds Driver