Meet Our Team

Jeannette Cachan, M.A., M.Ed
Technical Advisor for the Passages FAM initiative
Ms. Jeannette Cachan has 25 years of experience working in family planning programs. At IRH she has developed and implemented training strategies for youth, family planning, and HIV/AIDS projects. She is responsible for designing, developing and evaluating appropriate solutions to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of learning, performance and instruction for different reproductive health initiatives.

Franccesca Cesti-Browne, MPA
Director of Finance and Operations
Franccesca Cesti-Browne has over 10 years of experience in finance, operations and contract management. She also has over 8 years of experience in program management, grant writing and business development. Franccesca holds a master’s in Public Administration from Florida International University. As the Director of Finance and Operations, she leads the team that supports the Institute’s operating functions: HR, Contracts, IT, Field Operations, Administration and Finance. Franccesca manages the Institute’s annual budget, provides leadership and strategic management to all administrative, financial, and operational functions.

Jamie Greenberg, MPH
Program Officer
Jamie Greenberg has seven years’ experience in program management, research, and technical writing for both international and domestic health projects. Prior to joining IRH, she worked on international health systems strengthening projects and conducted qualitative research on reproductive health service implementation. She has an MPH from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, and a BA in Biology and Community Health from Tufts University.

Susan Igras, MPH
Senior Technical Advisor
Susan Igras leads the Practice and Scale-up Work Stream of Passages. With over 25 years of global health experience in Africa, the Caribbean, South Asia and the U.S., she brings a unique mix of evaluation and implementation science, technical sexual and reproductive health and gender, including adolescents, and management to IRH’s work, with a keen ability to translate research and high-level concepts into practice. Committed to gender and social equity, and participatory processes leading to use of results, Susan is particularly interested in community-based programs, social change, and their relation to health systems and systems-oriented scale-up.

Anjalee Kohli, MPH, PhD
Senior Research Officer
Dr. Anjalee Kohli has over a decade of international health and development experience focusing on research and practice for prevention of gender based violence, violence against children, HIV/AIDS and promoting improved mental health and resilience. Anjalee works as a Senior Research Officer, providing strategic leadership, research expertise and technical vision under the Passages Project. Anjalee received her PhD from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and holds an MPH. Anjalee previously worked with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing.

Phyllis R. Magrab, Ph.D.
Director, Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development
Dr. Phyllis Magrab, Professor of Pediatrics, is a well-known pediatric psychologist and director of the Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development (GUCCHD) that brings together policy, research, and clinical practice for the betterment of children, youth and their families, especially those with special needs. She is the PI of the Passages Project at the Institute for Reproductive Health. For over forty years, Dr. Magrab has provided service, conducted research, shaped policy, and trained future professionals on behalf of vulnerable children and their families. Currently she also co-leads the University Wide Initiative on Health Disparities to bring together the capacities of the broader university to address the compelling equity issues of our time. Dr. Magrab has extensive international experience related to developing services and policies for children, especially children with special needs. Currently, among her many international activities, Dr. Magrab is a UNESCO Commissioner and holds a UNESCO Chair; serves as the Vice-Chair of the US-Afghan Women’s Council, a public-private partnership to advance the status of women and children in Afghanistan; and champions early intervention programs in the global arena. Dr. Magrab has published 14 books and numerous articles related to her work. There is an Endowed Chair, the Phyllis R. Magrab Chair, named for her and dedicated to the continuation of her work on behalf of vulnerable children.

Courtney J. McLarnon-Silk, MSc
Senior Program Officer
Courtney brings has over six years of experience in international development, coordinating and managing initiatives related to gender equality and mainstreaming, women’s rights, and women’s empowerment. At the Institute, Courtney works on the Passages project, focusing her time on project management, management of the Transforming Masculinities/Masculinite, Famille et Foi intervention, and on establishing regional Communities of to strengthen regional work on normative change for AYSRH. Courtney also manages the Institute’s ongoing work on bringing CycleTel to market. She received an MSc from the University of Edinburgh, and a BA from McGill University. Originally from Montreal, Canada, she speaks fluent French.

Catherine Tier, MAT, MAA
Research Associate
Catherine works on the Passages Project, supporting the development and promotion of Passages legacy products, other communication activities, and the Transforming Masculinities/Masculinité, Famille, et Foi intervention. She also supports the Learning Collaborative. Catherine has an MAA from the University of Maryland, where she studied the anthropology of health, with a focus on women’s reproductive health and decision-making. Catherine previously worked as an English teacher, and has an MAT from Trinity Washington University and a BA from Fordham University.

Frances Walker, MSc
Program Associate
Frances is an early career professional with research, policy analysis and project management experience. At IRH, she works on the FAM Initiative, where she provides project management support and assists in the development of products and communication activities.