Gregory Noland, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Program Director, River Blindness, Lymphatic Filariasis, Schistosomiasis, and Malaria
In 2020, Gregory Noland was named director of the Carter Center’s River Blindness Elimination Program, Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination Program, and Schistosomiasis Control Program, as well as the Center's Hispaniola Initiative, which supports binational coordination between the Dominican Republic and Haiti to eliminate malaria and lymphatic filariasis on the island of Hispaniola.
Noland joined Carterin June 2011 as a program epidemiologist with more than a decade of basic and applied research experience in parasitic diseases. Prior to joining the Center, he was a project manager and postdoctoral fellow for a University of Minnesota malaria research program in Kisumu, Kenya, in partnership with the Kenya Medical Research Institute. While in Kisumu, Noland managed operations of a more than 40-person staff on a multimillion-dollar research program to examine the epidemiology of malaria transmission and immunity in western Kenya. From 1998 to 2001, he was a guest researcher at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Parasitic Diseases.
Noland received a doctorate in molecular microbiology and immunology in 2007 from Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he examined the impact of intestinal helminth infection on malaria disease progression, transmission, and vaccine response. He also holds a master of public health degree in global epidemiology from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and a bachelor of science degree in biology from Davidson College.
Karen Hamre, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Senior Associate Director, Research
Karen Hamre leads the Epidemiology, Research, and Innovation unit of the Carter Center’s River Blindness, Lymphatic Filariasis, Schistosomiasis, and Malaria programs where she oversees the development, design, and implementation of surveys and operational research to support disease elimination. Hamre joined Carterin 2021 as the program Epidemiologist for the Hispaniola Initiative, which supports binational coordination between the Dominican Republic and Haiti to eliminate malaria and lymphatic filariasis from their shared island. She arrived with a decade of experience working in malaria, including relevant work as an Epidemiologist and CDC Foundation field employee in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria (DPDM) supporting malaria elimination efforts in Haiti through the Malaria Zero consortium.
Hamre earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Epidemiology from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, where she analyzed a decade’s worth of surveillance data collected from cohorts in an epidemic-prone area of highland Kenya using traditional, spatial, and immuno-epidemiologic approaches. During her doctoral studies, she worked in the university’s Division of Global Pediatrics as a Data Manager for malaria studies in collaboration with researchers at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) in Kisumu, and Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. As a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Fogarty Global Health Fellowship Scholar, she lived in Kisumu where she contributed to the clinical, laboratory, and field data collection operations and helped build capacity at the local level. Hamre also holds a Master of Public Health degree with a dual major in Biostatistics and Epidemiology from Boston University School of Public Health and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics with a Women’s Studies concentration from St. Olaf College.
Lindsay Rakers
Senior Associate Director, Programs and Administration
Lindsay Rakers leads the Program and Administration team for the Center's river blindness, lymphatic filariasis, and schistosomiasis and malaria programs. Her work includes strategic planning, budget creation and oversight, program implementation, grants management, country office technical assistance, advocacy, and tracking and analysis of program data. She is Chair of the Onchocerciasis NGOs for Elimination (ONE) and sits on the Executive Committee of the Program Coordinating Committee (PCC) of the Onchocerciasis Elimination Program for the Americas (OEPA). Rakers holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from Penn State. She has been with the Carter Center health programs since 2001, and in previous roles focused primarily on support to Carter Center’s OEPA and Nigeria programs.
Nishant Kishore, Ph.D.
Epidemiologist
Nishant Kishore is a computational epidemiologist and infectious disease modeler working in the Epidemiology, Research, and Innovation unit in the Carter Center’s River Blindness, Lymphatic Filariasis, Schistosomiasis, and Malaria programs, where he provides technical assistance to ministries of health in the Americas and Africa for programmatic activities and operational research to support disease elimination. His primary focus is as the program epidemiologist for the Hispaniola Initiative, which supports binational coordination between the Dominican Republic and Haiti to eliminate malaria and lymphatic filariasis from their shared island. Previously, Nishant worked at the Global Immunization Division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, helping to build global disease surveillance systems and modeling transmission dynamics of childhood vaccine preventable diseases, primarily polio and measles.
Nishant earned a doctorate in epidemiology and a master’s in biostatistics from Harvard University, where his research focused on incorporating mobility and remote sensing data into existing modeling frameworks. This included modeling SARS-CoV-2 transmission and building analytic pipelines to inform response efforts in acute natural disasters. Nishant is also a research fellow at CrisisReady, where he supports governmental agencies in their response to acute disasters, and is a board member of Comunidad Connect, a nonprofit focused on clean water and educational programs in the Americas.
Before pursuing his doctoral studies, Kishore worked as a data manager and mobile data collection systems developer at the CDC Foundation, after earning a Master of Public Health in global epidemiology from Emory University. Kishore began his career in public health as a health volunteer with the Peace Corps in Nicaragua, where he worked on reproductive health and maternal mortality.
Stephane Docteur, M.D., M.Sc., M.P.H.
Associate Director
Stephane Docteur joined Carterin 2024 as an associate director supporting the river blindness, lymphatic filariasis, schistosomiasis, and malaria programs, including the Hispaniola Initiative.
Docteur is a physician and public health specialist with a robust background in program management and grant administration. Throughout his career, he has led multidisciplinary teams and overseen large-scale health initiatives. He has worked as a clinician; an HIV quality assurance, contraception methods, and cervical cancer trainer; a health program manager; and a grant manager. Before joining ²Ø¾«¸ó, Docteur served as a health program manager for Population Services International and Caris Foundation International, and as a grant manager for Kaleidoscope Child Foundation.
He holds a medical degree from Universite Notre Dame d’Haiti, a Master of Science in health services management from the Universite de Montreal, and a Master of Public Health from Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University.
Victoria Krauss, M.P.H.
Associate Director
Victoria Krauss supports ²Ø¾«¸ó’s Hispaniola Initiative and Onchocerciasis Program for the Americas (OEPA) by coordinating program budgets and contracts, leading reports and program communication, and providing administrative and technical assistance for field activities.
In 2024, Krauss began her Doctor of Public Health program at Georgia State University to complement her work by equipping her to lead people-centered programs grounded in empathy and driven by impact. In 2019, Krauss earned her Master of Public Health degree from Emory University. Upon graduation, she became the program coordinator for the Ventanilla de Salud (Window to Health) Atlanta, a preventative community health program for individuals visiting the Consulate General of Mexico in Atlanta. She served in the Peace Corps in Guatemala as a maternal and child health facilitator, collaborating with the Guatemalan Ministry of Health. Prior to joining the Carter Center, she was a senior project coordinator at Emory University, where she coordinated the implementation and evaluation of a cancer survivorship research project with cancer clinics across the nation.
Aditya Mehta, M.P.H.
Program Associate
Aditya Mehta joined the Carter Center’s River Blindness, Lymphatic Filariasis, Schistosomiasis, and Malaria programs in 2025 as a program associate for the Epidemiology, Research, and Innovation unit. He manages the team’s operational research portfolio, supports stakeholder engagement, and provides logistical and technical guidance. Previously, he worked at Carteras a student assistant for the International Task Force for Disease Eradication meeting, which convenes global health partners to assess progress on neglected tropical disease elimination.
Mehta earned dual bachelor’s degrees in biology and Latin American and Latino studies from the University of Louisville in 2023 and received a Master of Public Health degree in global epidemiology with a social determinants of health certificate from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in 2025. His experience includes contributing to a Gates Foundation-funded scoping review at CARE International and leading enumerator trainings for a World Bank-funded WASH study in Mozambique.
Antonette Benford
Program Assistant
Antonette Benford joined Carterin 2024, providing administrative support to the program. With a strong project management, communication, and event planning background, Benford organizes meetings and travel logistics, coordinates program reviews, drafts reports, and completes special projects.
Benford has previously managed office operations, large-scale events, and executive support across various roles at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Federal Express Corp. In addition, she is the founder and CEO of Classy Couples in Christ, Inc., a nonprofit focused on fostering solid, faith-based marriages.
Asmerom Gettu, M.A.
Program Assistant
Asmerom Gettu joined the Carter Center in 2023. He provides administrative support, coordinating travel and various duties for the team and is the lead in planning the program’s Annual Review.
Prior to joining ²Ø¾«¸ó, Gettu worked as a U.N. coordination associate in the United Nations Development Program in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He was responsible for providing coordination and administrative support for the U.N. country team in Ethiopia as well as supporting the management of projects.
Gettu earned a Bachelor of Arts in English language and literature and a Master of Arts in sociology from Addis Ababa University.
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