Our Team
Dr. Philip A. Chan, MD
Dr. Chan is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Public Health at Brown University and an Attending Physician in Infectious Diseases at The Miriam Hospital, a major Brown University teaching affiliate. Dr. Chan is also Chief Medical Officer at Open Door Health, the state’s first LGBTQ+ Health Care Center. Drawing on core competencies of conducting research, providing culturally competent care and training the public health workforce, Open Door Health offers educational training for medical and other health professions’ students. Open Door Health will also serve as hub for research focused on improving LGBTQ + health.
Dr. Chan also serves as Consultant Medical Director of the Rhode Island Department of Health Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STDs, and TB and is actively engaged in many clinical and community-based public health programs to respond to HIV, Hepatitis C, STDs and COVID-19 in Rhode Island.
Alexi Almonte
Alexi Almonte completed a bachelor’s degree in Human Biology at Brown University. On the team, Alexi is a research project director. His primary responsibilities are data management and IRB management. He is also the program coordinator for Testing 1-2-3, an online testing service created by the Department of Health. In his spare time, Alexi plays the accordion.
JD Crooks
JD Crooks joined the Lifespan team as a Community Outreach coordinator/ODH Liaison in May 2021. He became a Research Project Director in August 2022. JD is currently working with a program entitled RESULTS that looks to reduce stimulant use among HIV+ individuals using contingency management and mindfulness training. He is also collaborating on other studies looking at PrEP use among minority MSM, PrEP knowledge amongst PCPS servicing young adult LGBTQ, and other similar areas. He graduated from Roger Williams University with a masters in Forensic Psychology and has specialized in juvenile sex offender therapy, substance abuse group therapy, and sexual abuse and risk assessment. He has worked as a child and family therapist and a psychometrician. JD is an avid traveler and reader, loves to cook, and owns over a 100 different board games.
Brianna C. Salcedo
Brianna C. Salcedo, MS, completed her bachelor’s degree in biology at Rhode Island College and her master’s degree in medical laboratory science with a concentration in cytology at the University of Rhode Island. Brianna recently became a Licensed Practical Nurse at the Community College of Rhode Island. She began working in research as a clinical research assistant in 2016 and joined our team as a research project director in 2022. Her primary responsibilities are coordinating the R01 PrEP Continuum Study and Brown University AIDs Program (BRUNAP) and being the principal investigator of the HCV/Hepatitis C project. In her free time, Brianna enjoys spending time with her puppy Theo and her two nieces.
Jun Tao
Dr. Tao is an assistant professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at Brown University and is an infectious diseases epidemiologist at the Miriam Hospital. She had a Bachelor’s degree in Preventive Medicine at Tianjin Medical University and completed her Master’s degree in Immunology at the Chinese Center for Diseases Control and Prevention (China CDC). Subsequently, Dr. Tao went to Vanderbilt University for her Ph.D. education in Epidemiology. Her main research interest is HIV/AIDS prevention and intervention, and other sexually transmitted diseases. Dr. Tao received a career award (K01) to promote pre-exposure prophylaxis among African American and Hispanic/Latino men who have sex with men. She is also interested in machine learning and implementation science to promote health behavior change. In her free time, she likes cooking and baking.
Matt Murphy
Dr. Murphy is an Assistant Professor of Medicine with a secondary appointment as Assistant Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences. Additionally, he is Medical Director of Open Door Health, an initiative of the Rhode Island Public Health Institute, and Rhode Island’s first comprehensive primary care clinic dedicated to meeting the needs of the state’s LGBTQ+ population. Dr. Murphy is also a staff physician at the Rhode Island Department of Corrections where he manages a number of population health programs including HIV prevention programming, Hepatitis C treatment and gender affirming care.
Dr. Murphy’s research interests align with his clinical work, which focus on reducing health disparities among marginalized populations. Dr. Murphy has significant experience working with vulnerable populations globally. His work has been supported by the NIH, the CDC, the World Health Organization, the Pan American Health Organization and the European Commission. He was a Fulbright research fellow in Morocco where he conducted descriptive analyses of the country’s national HIV program. He was an Erasmus Mundus fellow and completed the European Masters of Public Health in Spanish at the Andalucian School of Public Health in Granada, Spain and defended his Master’s thesis on global health system reform in French at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sante Public, France’s preeminent public health training institution. Through his global health work, he has acquired a fluency in Spanish, French and Arabic.
He has authored a number of articles that have been published in high impact journals such as the Lancet, the Bulletin of the World Health Organization and the American Journal of Public Health. For his contributions to public health, he has received national recognition from the United States’ Public Health Service and the American Medical Association.
Jack Rusley
Jack Rusley, MD, MHS is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Adolescent Medicine and Department of Health Services, Policy, and Practice at Brown University. He is an attending physician in the Department of Pediatrics at Hasbro Children’s Hospital and Rhode Island Hospital, and provides primary and specialty care to adolescents and young adults at the Adolescent Healthcare Center, the only adolescent and young adult-focused medical home in Rhode Island. His clinical and research interests include HIV prevention, improving primary care services for LGBTQ+ youth, and engaging families in sexual health interventions for youth.
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Natalie Fenn
Natalie Fenn, PhD (she/her) is a Postdoctoral NIH Research Fellow with Brown University’s T32 Training Program in Adolescent/Young Adult Biobehavioral HIV Research. Dr. Fenn completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Rhode Island and her Pre-Doctoral Clinical Internship with the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Dr. Fenn is interested in health equity research, examining structural determinants of health, and developing and evaluating interventions for health promotion and behavior change among equity-deserving communities. Her current work examines relationships between civic engagement (e.g., volunteering, voting, community outreach) and mental and physical health outcomes among LGBTQ+ populations. Dr. Fenn spends her free time running, avoiding injury while playing soccer, and scoping out the best beaches Rhode Island has to offer.
Emily Toma
Emily Toma received her Bachelor’s of Arts from Wheaton College Massachusetts in 2019, with a major in public health and a minor in political science. She joined the Do It Right team as a research assistant in May of 2020. She is involved in projects focused on HIV prevention and PrEP in high-risk populations and keeping those newly diagnosed with HIV engaged in care. In her free time, she enjoys knitting, hiking, and playing guitar. Emily uses she/her pronouns.
Harrison Martin
Harrison Martin is a Senior Research Assistant on the Do it Right team. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Wesleyan University in 2022 with a double major in Science and Society and Hispanic Literatures and Cultures as well as a minor in Chemistry. He is involved in projects that aim to reduce HIV and STI incidence at all points along the care continuum with a particular focus on providing services to, and developing interventions for, sexual and gender minorities as well as those with substance use disorders. In his free time, Harry enjoys swimming, reading, and dog-sitting.
Amanda Maguire-Wilkerson
Amanda Maguire-Wilkerson, MPH, is a Senior Research Assistant on the Do It Right team. She is currently working on her Doctorate in Public Health (DrPH). She graduated from Southern New Hampshire University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Health, and in 2021 with a Master of Public Health degree. In her free time, Amanda enjoys reading, running, and spending time with her family and friends.
Hannah Parent
Stacey Ferreira
Stacey Ferreira Received her BS in Business Administration from the University of Rhode Island. As Budget and Financial Analyst, Stacey’s responsible for the team’s overall financial management, including budget preparation, financial planning and analysis. When not working, Stacey enjoys gardening and spending time with family and friends