Staff Listing

Nabila El-Bassel

Executive Director of the Global Health Research Center of Central Asiane5@columbia.edu

Nabila El-Bassel is a Professor at the Columbia University School of Social Work and the Director of the Social Intervention Group, which was established in 1990 as a multidisciplinary research center on HIV and drug abuse. Read more.

Mahbat Bahromov

Project Director of the NIDA-funded HIV Prevention with Heroin Using Female Sex Workers project in Tajikistanmahbat@rambler.ru

Dr. Bahromov is involved in all aspects of the research, including managing and training local fieldworkers, research design, data analysis, and report writing. Dr. Bahromov is a trained anesthesiologist and a recipient of a Muskie Fellowship Program. Read more.

Peter Bearman

Co-director of the Global Health Research Center of Central Asiapsb17@columbia.edu

Peter Bearman is a Professor and holds the Jonathan Cole Chair of Sociology at Columbia University. He is Director of the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy at Columbia University and Co-director of the Global Health Research Center of Central Asia. Read more.

Anne Brisson

Director of Operations of the Global Health Research Center of Central Asiaab2677@columbia.edu

Anne Brisson is an Associate Research Scientist at the Columbia School of Social Work and the Director of Operations of the Global Health Research Center of Central Asia. Read more.

Louisa Gilbert

Co-director of the Global Health Research Center of Central Asialg123@columbia.edu

Louisa Gilbert is the Co-director of the Global Health Research Center of Central Asia and the Co-director of the Social Intervention Group. She has served as a Co-Investigator and Investigator on three NIMH R01 studies and three NIDA R01 studies. Read more.

Leyla Ismayilova

Post-Doc Research Scientistli61@columbia.edu

After receiving Bachelor and Master’s Degrees in psychology from Baku University in Azerbaijan, she became one of the first OSI fellows to earn a Master’s Degree from CUSSW. She then returned to Azerbaijan, and established the Center for Psychological Counseling, the first mental health clinic in the country.  Read more.

Anna Joyce

Research Staff Assistantakw2116@columbia.edu

Anna has worked, volunteered and studied all over the world. Thus far, she has spent time in countries like Hungary, Argentina, New Zealand, and Mexico. Before graduating from the University of Minnesota's Anthropology program. Read more.

Lyazat Kozhamkulova

Associate Professor of Sociology and Social Work at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University in Kazakhstanlyazko@mail.ru

Lyazat Kozhamkulova is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Social Work at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University in Kazakhstan. Since 2004 she has also served as the President of the Kazakhstani Association of Social Workers. Read more.

Frank Moretti

Founder and Executive Director of the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning at Columbia Universityfmoretti@columbia.edu

Frank Moretti is the founder and Executive Director of the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning at Columbia University; Professor of Communications at Teachers College, Columbia University; and Visiting Professor at the School of Journalism, Columbia University. Read more.

Danil Nikitin

Co-director at the Health Research Center of Central Asia in Kyrgyzstandn2134@columbia.edu

Danil Nikitin is the Co-director of the Global Health Research Center of Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan. In 2006, Mr. Nikitin received a Master of Social Work degree from Columbia University in social administration and planning with a specialization in international social welfare. Read more.

Yerbol Nurkatov

Director of the Medical Center of Mental Health Problems in Astana, Kazakhstann.erbol_888@rambler.ru

Yerbol Nurkatov is the Director of the Medical Center of Mental Health Problems in Astana, Kazakhstan. In addition, Dr. Nurkatov taught the courses Evidence-Based Practice in Mental Health Settings, and Social Policy and Mental Health at the Department of Sociology of Kazakh National University. Read more.

Ingrida Platais

Project Director at the Global Health Research Center of Central Asiaip2012@columbia.edu

Ingrida Platais is the Project Director for Project Renaissance. Together with colleagues at the Social Intervention Group (SIG), Ms. Platais's work focuses on HIV/STI prevention in Central Asia with populations at high risk for infection. Read more.

Sholpan Primbetova

Director of Special Projectssp2587@columbia.edu

Before starting at GHRCCA, Sholpan worked in community development for USAID in Kazakhstan, started Bereke, an NGO to promote the interests of marginalized Kazakhstani communities, and served as the International Student Representative of the CUSSW Student Union Executive Board. Read more.

Assel Terlikbayeva

Regional Director of the Global Health Research Center of Central Asia in Almaty, Kazakhstanat2024@columbia.edu

Dr. Terlkibayeva completed a degree in internal medicine from Almaty Medical University in 2000 and a master of social work degree from Columbia University in 2003. Read more.

Susan Witte

Associate Professor at the Columbia University School of Social Work, and Associate Director of the Columbia University Social Intervention Group (SIG)ssw12@columbia.edu

With SIG colleagues, Dr. Witte's research focuses on the development and testing of prevention and treatment interventions targeting the co-occurrence of HIV/AIDS risk behaviors, substance abuse, and interpersonal violence among vulnerable populations. Read more.

Elwin Wu

Assistant Professor at the Columbia University School of Social Work and an Associate Director of the Social Intervention Group (SIG)ew157@columbia.edu

In conjunction with his SIG colleagues, Dr. Wu's research focuses on offenders and individuals who place others at risk, with an emphasis on interpersonal and structural factors that impact pro-social change and well-being. Read more.