MPH 1997

Tatul Hakobyan (AUA MPH 1997), Head of Office, World Health Organization (WHO) Country Office in Armenia

On April 2nd 2013 Dr. Tatul Hakobyan has been appointed as Head of the WHO Country Office in Armenia. Before this appointment for the last three years he contributed directly to WHO operations in the region in the capacity of chair of working group for assessment of country offices in European Region and as a staff member and experienced public health technical officer made his input in development of public health capacities and services in the region. Dr. Hakobyan has a long experience in the health system of Armenia in wide range of public, private, governmental, non-governmental and international organizations. For the period of 1998-2010 his outstanding career path paved from chief specialist to the position of Deputy Minister of Health (2002-2010) of the Republic of Armenia. As a public health expert he collaborated with a number of international organizations: in 2007-2010 he was the member of GAVI Alliance Board representing constituency of developing countries. Graduated from Yerevan State Medical University in 1985, Dr. Hakobyan holds MBA and MPH degrees from American University of Armenia and qualifications with more focus on health policy and administration.

Liana Hovakimyan (AUA MPH 1997), Health and Nutrition Officer, UNICEF Armenia

Liana Hovakimyan is Health and Nutrition Officer in UNICEF Armenia, transferring effectively her expert knowledge and over 17 years of experience in public health and health management into health benefits for children of Armenia. Working in UNICEF, Dr. Hovakimyan guides development of national policies and strategies in the area of mother and child health and nutrition and manages public health projects and initiatives, playing a leading role in adapting child health global initiatives and international standards to the context of Armenian health system, for which she received an official recognition certificate from the Ministry of Health. Before joining UNICEF, Dr. Hovakimyan had intensive career development in the Ministry of Health, from Leading Specialist of epidemiology to the Manager of Primary Health Care Program in the World Bank Project Implementation Unit. In these positions, she supervised the efforts of the National AIDS Prevention Center in addressing HIV/AIDS epidemics, led the work towards establishment of Public Health Unit in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and managed the initiatives aimed at strengthening primary health care system in the country. Dr. Hovakimyan is author of more than ten publications, and was invited lecturer in National Institute of Health on public health and health management.

Nune Mangasaryan (AUA MPH 1997), UNICEF Representative, Republic of Moldova

Nune Mangasaryan, MD, MPH, became the Representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund in Moldova in July 2013, bringing more than 30 years of experience in public service and international development to the position. During her career, Dr. Mangasaryan has worked across the globe assisting Governments in addressing the needs of children for full realization of their rights. She started her career as a medical doctor in Yerevan, Armenia. After graduating from AUA Master of Public Health Program, she served in the Ministry of Health playing a key role in shaping national health care reforms, and later in the National Institute of Health (NIH) as the Deputy Director in charge of postgraduate education.  Her career at UNICEF started in the late 90-s when she became a Program Officer in the Armenia Country Office. In the same period she was temporarily released by UNICEF to serve as the Vice Minister of Health following the Government’s request to lead Ministry’s work in a number of key areas. Dr. Mangasaryan guided the development of national health reforms and policies and coordinated the work with international donors and organizations. Dr. Mangasaryan returned to UNICEF and continued her mission to children’s issues worldwide. During 2000-2004 she worked in Armenia, Kosovo and Central Asia leading Child Survival and Development programs. She moved to UNICEF Headquarters in New York in 2004 assuming a leading role in shaping UNICEF’s global policies, and served as Senior Advisor in the Division of Programs of UNICEF/HQ until joining UNICEF/Moldova in July 2013. She authored more than 30 publications, was a lead presenter at numerous workshops, conferences, and forums, and invited lecturer in universities, including a lecturer of currently available UNICEF/Cornell University on-line course on child nutrition. Her contribution is acknowledged in many UNICEF publications with global impact including the UNICEF annual “State of the World Children Report” flagship publication.

Narine Movsisyan (AUA MPH 1997), Senior Researcher, Center for Health Services Research and Development, AUA School of Public Health

Dr. Movsisyan is a Senior Researcher at the CHSR. A physician with ten years of clinical experience in primary healthcare, she earned a Master of Public Health degree from the American University of Armenia in 1997.  Her interest in prevention of cardiovascular disease led to CHSR’s involvement in tobacco control projects that contributed to building an anti-tobacco public movement in Armenia and the country’s accession to the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Her work was supported by major anti-cancer international organizations, such as International Union Against Cancer (UICC), Cancer Research UK, Canadian Research for International Tobacco Control (RITC) and others. Dr. Movsisyan authored a number of peer-reviewed publications and presented her work at international meetings including the World Conferences on Tobacco and Health and European Conferences on Public Health. She was granted several prestigious fellowships, including the International Research & Exchange Board (IREX) Contemporary Issues Fellowship (2002), Tobacco-Related Health Disparities Scholarship from the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (2009) and J. William Fulbright Scholarship from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (2009). Dr. Movsisyan is an alumna of the Graduate Summer Institute of Epidemiology and Biostatistics (2006), Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Maryland, USA. As a Fulbright Fellow, she pursued postdoctoral studies at the Harvard School of Public Health to explore the organization of smoking cessation services in Massachusetts, USA (2009-2010). Her research focus is on strategic planning and evaluation in tobacco control as well as prevention of non-communicable diseases. She has been a guest lecturer at the AUA MPH and PSIA programs since 2004.

Gohar Panajyan (AUA MPH 1997), Deputy Director, State Health Inspectorate, Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia

Gohar Panajyan, MD, MPH was appointed as the Deputy Director of the newly restructured State Health Inspectorate (SHI) of the Ministry of Health, Republic of Armenia. Dr. Panajyan is responsible for overseeing the areas pertinent to Quality of Health Care Services, Medication/Drug Control, Medical Advertisement and Medical Licensure. Gohar Panajyan is one of the alumni from the first graduating cohort of AUA’s Master of Public Health (MPH) program in 1997. As a resident-clincian and an Ob/Gyn practitioner, Gohar had worked at the Armenian Research Center of Maternal/Child Health protection and had been responsible for clinical MCH service delivery during 1995-2000. An accomplished public health practitioner and clinician (obstetrician-gynecologist), Gohar has more than 16 years of experience in managing and coordinating international health programs and initiatives with a particular focus on Reproductive/Maternal and Child Health (RH/MCH). She served as a technical expert/consultant with UNDP, UNICEF, TACIS, AUA Center for Health Services Research and Development (CHSR). She was the Deputy Director for the USAID’s Global Networks for Health project in Armenia (2000) and worked at USAID-funded NOVA/NOVA2 projects as the Performance Improvement Team Leader and the Quality HealthCare Services Senior Expert during the period of 2004-2011. She had been serving as the Armenia Country Coordinator for the USAID-funded Maternal/Newborn health/Non-communicable diseases practices’ assessment in Armenia, implemented by USAID/Health Care Improvement Project through University Research Company (URC), LLC (2011). During 2011-2013, Gohar was the MCH/RH advisor in the USAID-supported Health Systems Strengthening in Armenia (HS-STAR) project and later served as the Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist of the USAID’s Direct grant program to the Ministry of Health to support the Emergency medical services (EMS) to the population of Armenia (April-November, 2013). Dr. Panajyan is an author of more than 30 articles, research papers and analytical reports related to clinical and organizational aspects of RH/MCH and EMS services’ delivery published in different peer-reviewed journals in Armenia, Europe and the United States. Gohar Panajyan is a member of the Armenian Association of Obstetrician-Gynecologists, Armenian Public Health Alliance, the International Union of Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) and the European Society of Contraception and Reproductive Health (ESC).