Our team

Erica Layer -Chief Operating Officer

Erica Layer
Chief Operating Officer

Erica Layer – Chief Operating Officer

Erica is the Chief Operating Officer at health.enabled, where she leads portfolio management, operations, and strategic partnerships to advance health equity through inclusive digital transformation. She brings over 18 years of experience in digital health, systems strengthening, and technology innovation, with a track record of driving health impact in low- and middle-income countries.

Prior to joining health.enabled, Erica was CEO of D-tree International, where she led national-scale digital health initiatives that strengthened government health systems and improved maternal, newborn, and child health outcomes across East and Southern Africa. Earlier in her career, she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in South Africa, focusing on community development and health education.

Erica holds an MSPH from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and has served on the WHO Roster of Experts in Digital Health.

Patricia (Patty) Mechael,
PhD, MHS
CEO & Co-Founder

Patricia (Patty) Mechael, PhD, MHS – CEO & Co-founder


Dr. Patricia Mechael is an internationally recognized expert in digital health, AI for health equity, and global health policy. As CEO and co-founder of health.enabled, she leads the organization’s mission to drive whole-person health through inclusive, ethical, and equity-driven technology solutions. With nearly 30 years of experience in over 45 countries, Patty has advised governments, multilateral agencies, and the private sector on digital transformation strategies, with a focus on gender-intentional approaches as a key strategy to increase health impact, improve governance, and strengthen health systems.

Patty holds faculty appointments at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she co-leads the Digital Health Exemplars research initiative, and serves as a strategic advisor to the Global Health Institute at the American University of Beirut. Previously, she was Executive Director of the mHealth Alliance at the United Nations Foundation and EVP at HIMSS’ Personal Connected Health Alliance. A recipient of the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Fellowship, the Johns Hopkins Knowledge for the World Award, and the British Council Social Impact Award, Patty is also an award-winning author of middle-grade fiction, which reflects her passion for technology, youth empowerment, public health, and environmental justice.

She has a PhD from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where she studied health-related uses of mobile phones in Egypt, an MHS in Social and Behavioral Studies from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, and a BA in Near Eastern Studies from Johns Hopkins University.

Tara Nutley

Tara Nutley
Senior Advisor, Digital Health

Tara Nutley – Senior Advisor, Digital Health


Tara Nutley is an executive leader in public and digital health with over 30 years of experience supporting health programs worldwide. She is a globally recognized expert in translating data for policy and program improvement, health information systems improvement, digital health, and monitoring and evaluation.

Tara is passionate about harnessing the potential of digital technologies for health equity. She is at the forefront of bringing together stakeholders and digital solutions across the data value chain to leverage the power of data for decision making, and has published numerous papers in peer-reviewed journals and developed tools and curricula on these topics. She is a demonstrated leader experienced in strategic planning, business development, thought leadership, and organisational growth.

Prior to joining health.enabled, Tara was a Vice President at Palladium, where she led the Data, Informatics, and Analytical Solutions practice that implemented and managed projects related to digital health, digital information systems, and data analytics. Tara holds an MPH from the Gillings School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina.

Emeka Chukwu
Yara Aboelwaffa

Yara Aboelwaffa
Digital Health Senior Advisor

Yara Aboelwaffa – Digital Health Senior Advisor


Yara Aboelwaffa is a global health and digital innovation professional with a background in the pharmaceutical industry and over 14 years of experience, driving system-level transformation through data-driven strategies, scalable tech-enabled solutions, and impactful public-private partnerships.

Her expertise lies in the co-design, scale-up, and governance of national public health technologies, advancing inclusive digital ecosystems and private sector engagement in low- and middle-income settings.

Currently serving as Senior Digital Health Advisor at health.enabled and Honorary Associate Researcher at the University of Cambridge, Yara leads research and advisory work on sustainable digital transformation and innovative partnership frameworks.



Emeka Chukwu
Senior Digital Health Advisor & Capacity Lead

Emeka Chukwu – Senior Digital Health Advisor & Capacity Lead


Dr. Emeka Chukwu is a seasoned digital health professional with over two decades of experience working at the intersection of public health, clinical systems, and technology. He has supported a range of digital health initiatives across multiple countries, contributing to the development of organizational and national digital health strategies, tools, and standards.

Emeka chairs Nigeria’s National Technical Committee (NTC)/ISO mirror Committee on Medical devices, and is a member of other informatics committees. He holds a PhD in Technical Interoperability from the University of Malta, a MSc degree in Information Systems Management from the University of Liverpool, and an Engineering degree.

Sarah Chaney

Sarah Chaney
Research Analyst

Sarah Chaney – Research Analyst

As a Research Analyst at health.enabled, Sarah translates research, evidence, and experiences into actionable guidance on the effective and equitable use of digital health tools and applications.

She supports the coordination, management, and monitoring of multi-country initiatives and is the lead writer and contributor to technical briefs, landscape reviews, and practical implementation guides.

Sarah is a public health and insect science professional with over 20 years of experience in a variety of countries and sectors. Her passion for public health began as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya, where she led HIV/AIDS prevention and education programs in a rural community.

She holds an MPH from the George Washington University and a MSc in Entomology from the University of Florida.

Olivia Drouhaut

Olivia Drouhaut
Technical Advisor

Olivia Drouhaut – Technical Advisor


Olivia Drouhaut is a communications and international development strategist specializing in digital health, health financing, and equity-driven partnerships to strengthen health systems across emerging markets. At health.enabled, she focuses on cross-sector business development, AI, and health financing strategies for digital health initiatives.

Her public health and international development experience includes work at Helen Keller International, the United States’ State Department, and the World Bank, focusing on neglected tropical diseases, health financing, and sanitation.

She also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mozambique under the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (JHUCCP), leading malaria and HIV prevention initiatives and training community health workers in data collection and GIS mapping with Open Street Maps.

Olivia holds an Executive Master's in International Service with a focus on Development and Public Health from American University and a BA in Communications Studies from Pace University, with additional studies in Mandarin Chinese at Suzhou University and Xiamen University in China.

We’re a lean, global team of strategists, researchers, designers, and systems thinkers united by one goal:

making digital technology work for better health for everyone.

We work across geographies, sectors, and communities to deliver smart, scalable strategies that advance health equity.

Our expert network

Our Expert Network is a group of highly skilled professionals from diverse disciplines and regions, whose local insights and global expertise strengthen our ability to deliver innovative, context-driven solutions.

Amelia Rock, PhD

Amelia Rock, PhD

Amelia Rock, PhD, MS, is a global health researcher and consultant with 20 years of experience advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights. She specializes in HIV, gender-based violence, and their structural and social determinants, including stigma, gender and sexual norms, criminalization, and economic inequities. Her work integrates qualitative and quantitative approaches from the social, behavioral, epidemiological, and implementation sciences.

As Principal Consultant of Amelia Rock Consulting, established in 2022, she partners with community organizations, universities, international NGOs, advocacy groups, and donors to address the health and rights of sex workers, LGBTQ+ communities, and other historically marginalized populations. Amelia has worked extensively in Latin America and the Caribbean, Southern and East Africa, MENA, and the U.S., and is proficient in Portuguese and Spanish.

She is an adjunct faculty member at American University, where she teaches program design in global public health. Amelia completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a PhD in Health Behavior at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, and an MS in Global Health and Population at Harvard School of Public Health.

Alpha Johnson

Alpha Johnson

Alpha is a global health specialist with over 10 years of experience spanning healthcare, multimedia, and startup leadership. He brings a unique combination of public health expertise and creative skills, which he has applied to developing AI-driven products, innovative ed-tech solutions, and healthcare initiatives with significant community impact.

Clarisse Loe

Clarisse Loe


Clarisse Loe is a pediatrician with over 20 years of experience in child health across hospital and community settings, working in low-, middle-, and high-resource environments. She is a passionate advocate for children’s access to basic healthcare, immunization, and malnutrition prevention, with more than two decades of experience driving advocacy efforts at community, national, regional, and global levels.

Since 2010, Clarisse has represented civil society through partnerships with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, amplifying the voices of communities and local organizations. She brings deep expertise in capacity building, coaching sub-Saharan NGOs and networks, and bridging the gap between local and international stakeholders to improve health outcomes for children.

In addition to her consulting work—supporting field projects from design to implementation—Clarisse manages a public institute for children with suspected physical and social disabilities, leads a private pediatric practice, and runs a multidisciplinary parenthood support center. Her skills in communication, presentation, and cross-cultural collaboration underpin her commitment to advancing equitable access to health for all, especially children.

Fouad Abu-Hijleh

Fouad Abu-Hijleh


Fouad Abu-Hijleh is a digital health specialist with over five years of experience supporting health information system (HIS) strengthening and digital health strategy across USAID and John Snow, Inc. (JSI). His work spans East and West Africa, the Middle East, and North Africa, with a focus on applying digital tools to improve health service delivery in complex settings.

Fouad contributed to the development of the Maturity Model Navigator as part of the MEASURE Evaluation team and later supported the rollout of USAID’s Vision for Action in Digital Health. At JSI, he served as the digital health focal point for a range of donor-funded programs, providing technical guidance and implementation support. Most recently, he worked on the USAID-funded MOMENTUM Integrated Health Resilience program, supporting maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) services in fragile settings in Yemen.

Fouad is Jordanian American and brings a strong commitment to advancing digital health in underserved and crisis-affected communities.

Dawkins Kamara

Dawkins Kamara


Dawkins Kamara is a digital health expert with extensive experience implementing and managing innovative health information systems across Africa. He has led multi-country projects focused on improving health outcomes through technology, with particular expertise in deploying iHRIS, a leading human resources for health management system.

As the founder of Santinum, a mentoring program for digital health leaders in Francophone Africa, Dawkins is committed to building local capacity and empowering professionals to drive healthcare transformation. He also created Coach CommCare, a specialized training platform where he shares practical strategies for designing impactful and scalable digital health solutions. His work continues to strengthen health systems, promote data-driven decision-making, and deliver sustainable innovations that address critical healthcare challenges across the continent.

Inas Abdelwahed

Inas Abdelwahed

Dr. Inas Abdelwahed is a digital health professional and public health expert with over 12 years of experience across Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. A recipient of the prestigious Kofi Annan Global Health Leadership Fellowship, she has extensive expertise in sexual and reproductive health, refugee health, and mental health, with a strong focus on sensitive and context-specific health challenges.

Recently, Inas co-founded a digital health start-up focused on diabetes management, building on her experience in both the public and private sectors. She has collaborated with international NGOs, including Save the Children International, and worked closely with UN agencies such as UNHCR, UNAIDS, and WHO. Her expertise spans project management, training curriculum design, and research on HIV/AIDS, mental health, and refugee health. As she transitioned into digital health, her work has centered on quality assurance and patient safety for telehealth services and chronic disease management.

Inas is proficient in quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, systematic reviews, and research ethics. She is a contributing author to Sexuality in the Middle East and North Africa: Contemporary Issues and Challenges, published by Syracuse University Press.

Jeremiah Mwiinga

Jeremiah Mwiinga


Jeremiah J. Mwiinga is an experienced IT and digital health professional with over 12 years of expertise leading health informatics initiatives across Africa. He specializes in leveraging global digital public goods—such as OpenMRS, DHIS2, and OpenLMIS—to strengthen health systems and improve outcomes in low-resource settings.

Jeremiah has managed large-scale electronic health record systems, data quality programs, and health information systems for HIV, TB, and malaria in countries including Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mozambique. He has collaborated extensively with government ministries, global health organizations, and donor-funded initiatives such as PEPFAR and the Global Fund.

Holding Master’s degrees in Computer Science and Public Health, Jeremiah combines technical expertise with strategic leadership. His recent work includes developing a tailored HIV/TB solution for PATH DRC on OpenMRS and integrating family planning data into the Zambia Health Analytics Platform to enhance data-driven decision-making.

Jamie Arkin

Jamie Arkin


Jamie Arkin is a digital development professional with 10 years of experience leading innovative projects across East and Southern Africa. She specializes in leveraging emerging technologies—including AI, machine learning, drones, IVR/SMS/USSD, and social media—to drive social impact and reach underserved communities.

Jamie’s work focuses on applying these tools to social behavior change, communication, and monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL). She thrives on designing and managing programs that prioritize innovation, measurable impact, and calculated risk-taking to solve last-mile challenges. As an independent consultant, she supports digitally-driven startups in Africa to scale and deliver meaningful, sustainable impact, while championing solutions that close gaps in connectivity and opportunity.

Jamie has lived in Botswana, Zambia, Uganda, and Kenya, and currently resides in South Africa. She holds a Master of Public Health from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

Joy Kamunyori

Joy Kamunyori

Joy Kamunyori, MCS, PMP, is a digital health and project management expert with over 15 years of experience implementing and scaling digital solutions to strengthen health systems across Sub-Saharan Africa. Her work spans technical and strategic leadership roles focused on advancing health information systems and supporting data-driven decision-making.

Most recently, Joy served as a Senior Health Information Systems Advisor in the Office of HIV/AIDS at USAID’s Bureau for Global Health. Prior to that, she held leadership positions at John Snow, Inc. (JSI) as Program Director in the Center for Digital Health, and at ICF as a Senior Health Informatics Advisor. She has provided technical and managerial guidance on a wide range of digital health initiatives, working across government, donor, and private sector partnerships.

Joy holds a BA in Computer Science and Economics from Vassar College and a Master of Computer Science from the University of Virginia. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and is TOGAF 9 certified.

Kristy Hackett

Kristy Hackett


Dr. Kristy Hackett is a global health researcher and consultant with 15 years of experience and multidisciplinary training in public health and social sciences. She specializes in reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health (RMNCAH); global health ethics; and the use of digital health technologies to improve access to care.

Kristy has a proven track record in applied research, program evaluation, and implementation science, with a focus on building strategic partnerships between research institutions, NGOs, and health systems to advance evidence-informed programming and policy. Her research emphasizes mixed-methods, community-based studies aimed at improving the quality, reach, and impact of RMNCAH services. She has collaborated with organizations including WHO, World Vision, the Aga Khan Foundation, FHI360, BRAC, UNFPA, and UNICEF.

Kristy holds a PhD from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, an MSc in Medical Anthropology from the University of Toronto, and an H.BSc from McMaster University. She is an Assistant Professor and Assistant Director of the Institute on Ethics & Policy for Innovation at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Kristina Celentano

Kristina Celentano


Krissy Celentano brings 15 years of experience in digital health, partnering with countries across income levels to support strategic planning, program design, policy development, governance, and technical implementation. Most recently, she supported USAID on the Agency’s Digital Health Position Paper and technical guidance for investments in country-level digital health transformation.

Previously, Krissy served as Senior Health Information Systems Advisor in USAID’s Office of HIV/AIDS, where she chaired the Health Informatics Work Group, led internal capacity-building initiatives, managed the digital health field champions community of practice, and contributed to the development of the Agency’s Digital Health Vision. Prior to USAID, she held multiple roles at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Krissy is an Adjunct Professor of Health Informatics at George Washington University and the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and she is an emeritus Advisory Board member of the Global Digital Health Network.

Nathaëlf Hyppolite

Nathaëlf Hyppolite

Nathaëlf Hyppolite is a digital health leader with over 12 years of experience advancing equitable health systems across low- and middle-income countries. He is passionate about leveraging technology to bridge the digital divide in healthcare, ensuring that innovation drives inclusive and sustainable health transformation.

Nathaëlf played a key role in pioneering Haiti’s first national digital health policy, combining technical expertise with a deep commitment to addressing the needs of marginalized communities. As Senior Monitoring & Evaluation Manager at PSI, he developed data-driven strategies that emphasized the human stories behind the data. His work implementing OpenMRS and DHIS2 has strengthened interoperability and digital infrastructure across diverse settings, from the bustling clinics of Haiti to remote healthcare centers in Burkina Faso.

Vittoria Crispino

Vittoria Crispino


Vittoria is an epidemiologist and global health specialist with extensive expertise in health systems strengthening, health information systems, disease surveillance, and data use. She has contributed to the design and implementation of epidemiological studies, digital health solutions, impact assessments, and Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) initiatives in collaboration with academic institutions, international organizations, and INGOs across low- and middle-income countries.

Her work spans a broad range of health areas, addressing complex global health challenges through innovative, data-driven approaches tailored to resource-limited settings. Fluent in Italian, English, French, and Spanish, Vittoria combines technical expertise in quantitative and qualitative research with cultural adaptability to advance and evaluate health interventions worldwide.

Vittoria holds an MMedSc in Global Health from the Karolinska Institutet and a BSc(H) in Biological Sciences (Infectious Diseases) from the University of Edinburgh. Her academic foundation and field experience underscore her commitment to advancing equitable and sustainable improvements in global health.

Nour Sharara