MPH 1999

Anahit Demirchyan (AUA MPH 1999), Senior Research Specialist, Center for Health Services Research and Development (CHSR) AUA School of Public Health 

Dr. Demirchyan earned her MD in Pediatrics from Yerevan State Medical University (diploma with honor), and Master of Public Health from AUA School of Public Health. She has also completed a residency program in Pediatrics (Yerevan State Medical University, 1988), a fellowship programs in Human Lactation Management (Wellstart International, 1997), and a clinical fellowship in Child Development (Meyo Clinic, 1998). In 1998 she received Vartkess and Rita Balian Merit Award from AUA for achieving outstanding academic performance and for showing great promise towards a professional career. During 1992-2000, Dr. Demirchyan was the advisor to the deputy minister responsible for mother and child health issues in Armenia. She was the initiator and first coordinator of the National Breastfeeding Promotion Program in Armenia, managing this comprehensive and successful program for seven years. She has authored a manual on infant nutrition for medical doctors, a guide on feeding of low birth-weight and sick neonates for neonatologists, a curriculum on child development for primary health care providers. During her employment at the CHSR since 2000, she carried out numerous public health projects, including assessment of Hepatitis B burden in Armenia, health sector’s needs assessment in Nagorno Karabagh, technical assistance to UNICEF in preparing the follow-up report on the Decade Goals set by UNICEF World Summit for Children. During 2001-2005, she managed a multi-faceted quality assurance program at Nork Marash Medical Center – a tertiary-level cardiac hospital. During 2006-2010, she served as the Senior Research Director for the USAID-funded Primary Health Care Reform Project in Armenia, carrying the primary responsibility for the project monitoring, evaluation, and research activities. Currently, Dr. Demirchyan’s work mainly focuses on research covering a broad spectrum of interests such as child nutrition, health outcomes research, healthcare quality, psychometrics, and mental health. Dr. Demirchyan has authored a number of peer-reviewed publications and has made numerous presentations of her work at international scientific meetings and conferences.

Gayane Ghukasyan (AUA MPH 1999), Country Program Coordinator for Communicable Diseases, World Health Organization (WHO), Regional Office for Europe, Country Office in Armenia 

Gayane Ghukasyan works at the WHO Country Office in Armenia since 2005. She coordinates the WHO support to the country in the areas of tuberculosis control, HIV/AIDS and viral hepatitis, and antimicrobial resistance. Gayane also contributes to the work of the Country Coordination Mechanism on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Health System Strengthening within the WHO mandate. Gayane Ghukasyan earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology from the Yerevan State University in 1993. She obtained her MPH degree from the American University of Armenia School of Public Health in 1999. Gayane Ghukasyan continued her post-graduate education via the Fellowship and Research Program with the CDC Atlanta and Emory University in Atlanta, GA, USA (2001) and the International Policy Fellowships Program via Central European University in Budapest, Hungary (2001-2002). After graduating from AUA, Gayane also worked at the Center for Health Services Research and Development on a number of studies focusing on needs assessment, evaluation projects and development of public health educational materials. Gayane also coordinated the family health communication project in Armenia with the Johns Hopkins University, Population Communication Services. Gayane Ghukasyan has authored several publications and has presented her work at international scientific meetings and conferences.

Tsovinar Harutyunyan (AUA MPH 1999), Assistant Professor, Research Consultant, AUA School of Public Health Research Consultant, Center for Health Services and Research Development

Dr. Tsovinar Harutyunyan is an Assistant Professor at the Gerald and Patricia Turpanjian School of Public Health of the American University of Armenia (AUA). She is a Research Consultant at the CHSR. Dr. Harutyunyan earned her PhD in Health Services Research from the College of Health and Human Sciences of the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Charlotte in 2011.  She obtained her MPH degree from the American University of Armenia in 1999. After graduating from AUA, she worked for more than 7 years at the Zvart Avedisian Onanian Center for Health Services Research and Development on a number of studies focusing on needs assessment and evaluation of public health interventions. Currently Dr. Harutyunyan teaches graduate courses in problem solving in public health, social and behavioral aspects of public health, and survey research methods, and an undergraduate course on basics of healthy lifestyle. Dr. Harutyunyan has authored several peer-reviewed publications and has presented her work at international scientific meetings and conferences. Before joining AUA Dr. Harutyunyan worked as a Graduate Research Assistant/Teaching Associate in the UNC Charlotte, where she instructed courses in social determinants of health and issues of health and quality of life.

Zara Mkrtchyan (AUA MPH 1999), Project Management Specialist, USAID|Armenia

In January 2015, Zara Mkrtchyan joined USAID|Armenia as the Project Management Specialist. She is involved in overseeing the health projects funded by USAID in Armenia and implemented by international and local partner organizations. Zara joined USAID after completion of her six-month assignment with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Kenya as an international expert, where she provided consultancy to the Kenyan Ministry of Health in strengthening the surveillance of National Immunization Program. Prior to this Zara Mkrtchyan worked as Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist in several USAID-funded health programs in Armenia, including Health System Strengthening in Armenia (HS-STAR) project and maternal and health related projects NOVA and NOVA 2. At the beginning of her career Zara worked at the Center of Health Services Research and Development of the AUA School of Public Health. During her career Zara has also provided short-term technical consultancy for several UN agencies in Armenia, Central Asia and Africa in the areas of family planning, maternal and child health, TB control, and other important public health issues.

Gayane Yenokyan  (AUA MPH 1999), Visiting Assistant Professor, AUA School of Public Health; Assistant Scientist, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University

Dr. Gayane Yenokyan is an Assistant Scientist in the Department of Biostatistics and Associate Director of the Johns Hopkins Biostatistics Center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In this capacity, she provides essential study design and statistical analysis services to researchers at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions as well as other health research organizations, pharmaceutical companies, and governmental agencies. She is the lead statistician on a number of statistical projects and has mentored the junior faculty and graduate students at the center. Dr. Yenokyan is a 1999 MPH AUA alumna. Her training also includes Medical Doctor degree from the Yerevan State Medical University, PhD in Epidemiology and MHS in Biostatistics from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr.Yenokyan’s research interests include triggers for attacks in Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) and extending mind-body approach to studying the etiology of this endemic condition. In addition, she is involved in the design and statistical analysis of a clinical trial of hemorrhagic stroke (CLEAR III) in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Department of Neurology.  For this trial, she has worked on the implementation of covariate-adaptive randomization to ensure balanced allocation of potential risk factors between the two treatment arms. She has also worked on assessing the impact of hemorrhagic stroke on overall functioning, quality of life, and personal utility using innovative structured group discussion approach. Dr. Yenokyan reviews statistical aspects of scientific proposals submitted to the Clinical Research Units of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational Research funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Yenokyan has taught Epidemiology and co-taught Biostatistics courses at the AUA. She also teaches an eight-week course, “Quantitative Analysis of Clinical Data” for the Science of Clinical Investigation Program at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health. In 2011 she received Circulation journal’s “Best Paper Award” in the category of Population Science for a paper titled “Prospective Study of Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Incident Coronary Heart Disease and Heart Failure: The Sleep Heart Health Study”.