Anne Merewood, PhD, MPH, IBCLC
Director, Center for Health Equity, Education, and Research in Greece (CHEERing)
Background: As the director of CHEER in Greece, Dr. Merewood oversees CHEERing’s work in infant nutrition and maternal-child health services to mothers, infants, and families in the Skaramagas, Oinofyta, and Eleonas refugee camps, and the Elna Maternity Center. Dr Merewood also directs CHEER, the Center for Health Equity, Education, and Research, at the Boston University School of Medicine, and the Communities and Hospitals Advancing Maternity Practices (CHAMPS) project, an initiative that promotes best practices in maternity care, increases breastfeeding rates, decreases racial and ethnic disparities, and supports hospitals to adopt the World Health Organization’s Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding and gain Baby-Friendly designation.
Experience: Dr. Merewood is an Associate Professor Pediatrics at the Boston University School of Medicine and an Associate Professor of Community Health Sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health. She has served as the Director of the Breastfeeding Center at Boston Medical Center and as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Human Lactation, as well as Consultant to the US Department of Health and Human Service’s Indian Health Service.
Airinie H. Azhar, BSC
National Director, CHEERing
Background: An infant nutrition and education specialist, Airinie directs the CHEERing program onsite in Greece, and visits mothers of young infants in refugee camps, shelters and community centres, weighing, measuring and tracking infants’ growth on a weekly basis. She also leads educational sessions and trainings for refugee women about breastfeeding, sexual health, nutrition, and infant development, and supervises CHEERing’s volunteers in Greece.
Experience: Airinie is currently studying for her MPH (Master in Public Health) and has worked as a Finance & IT Manager and as a Guardian for Unaccompanied Minors in Greece. She is an active food and lifestyle blogger and an amateur photographer. She has been involved with working with refugee populations in Greece since 2015.
MARIAM TUMA, MSC, BA
Program Manager, CHEERing
Background: Mariam is currently completing a Masters of Science in Socio-Ecological Economics and Policy at the University of Vienna. Originally from Iraq, she is fluent in Arabic and English. She also speaks German. She has spent the past five years working in the field of refugee aid and support.
Experience: Mariam has over five years of experience working with refugees and migrants in Athens, London, and Vienna. With a focus on the empowerment of vulnerable groups, she has taken part in inclusive initiatives and projects which aim to promote the voices, needs and desires of these groups. She has worked as a site manager in Athens at a shelter for vulnerable women and children, which also functions as a day-centre open to all refugees and migrants. Further to this, she operated as a case worker for ATLAS, a platform dedicated to the aiding of LGBT+ migrants and refugees in Athens. She has designed numerous volunteer handbooks and trainings attempting to minimise malpractice and exploitation, whilst attempting to promote cultural understanding.
LENA PLOUMI, MSC, BSC
Health Manager & Data Protection Officer, CHEERing
Background: Lena is currently a student in the “Global Health – Disaster Medicine” Master’s program at the Kapodistrian University of Athens. She is also taking a continuing education course on “Mental Health and Wellbeing of Children and Adolescents”. She recently graduated from the School of Public Health of West Attica University, with a degree in Public and Community Health. She was a participant in EDUVAC, an intensive Erasmus+ course on vaccinations in Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, Finland. She speaks Greek, English and German.
Experience: Lena has experience in clinical practice on Maternity and Child Healthcare Stations in Athens, Greece. As a result of her studies she has experience in health promotion in the community, both in the field of vaccination and breastfeeding. She has also been working voluntarily with refugee populations in Greece since 2016.
PIERRETTE IMPOSE LYALA
Breastfeeding Peer Counselor and Interpreter, CHEERing
Background: Pierrette works with CHEERing as a breastfeeding peer counselor, as well as a French and Lingala interpreter. Pierrette came from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to Greece as a refugee and has settled in Athens with her child and husband. Pierrette works at all of CHEERing’s clinic locations, and has provided intensive support at Elna Maternity Center in Athens, where exclusive breastfeeding rates have risen as a result of her work.
Experience: Pierrette studied Nursing for three years in the DRC and had internships at various health institutions, including the Red Cross Hospital, Kinshasa General Hospital, and Mother & Child Center of Kinshasa.
LEILA MAHBUBI
Refugee Peer Counselor Trainee, CHEERing
Background: Leila assists with height and weight measurements in Elna’s shelter and serves as a translator for Persian languages.
Experience: Leila is from Iran, where she studied pharmacy and architecture at the university and worked as a pharmacist’s assistant and technician in a hospital pharmacy. In this role, she assisted the pharmacists with medication dispensation and preparation of prescriptions.
YILDIZ GUMUSTEKIN
Volunteer, CHEERing
Background: Yildiz is a social worker and volunteer for CHEERing.
Experience: Yildiz has served as a social worker for the UN IOM Turkey MHPSS Team, as an intern for the Portugal Refugee Council and for the Probation Office, Turkey-Yalova, and as a volunteer for the Team for Youth Association, Romania-Baia Mare.
ALEXANDRA BEEDLE , MSc, ANutr
Volunteer, CHEERing
Background: Alexandra is a nutritionist with a Masters in Nutrition for Global
Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). She has a
Bachelors degree in Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies. She is first aid trained
with St John’s Ambulance.
Experience: Most recently she was working in South Sudan with the World Food Programme
in the Nutrition team, where she was key liaison between WFP and external NGO partners
who were key actors in nutrition programming across the country. Prior to this, Alexandra
worked at LSHTM on various systematic reviews on malnutrition. She has experience
working on the post-natal ward of a London hospital, assisting mothers and their families
and providing support to the medical staff. As well as speaking fluent Spanish and
Portuguese, Alexandra speaks intermediate level French.
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