Student Profiles
Mary Louise Cohen
is a graduate of the University of North Carolina and Harvard Law School. After spending her early legal career working for the United States Senate Judiciary Committee, in 1988, she moved back into the private sector and became one of the first lawyers in the country to represent whistleblowers under the False Claims Act Amendments of 1986. The False Claims Act encourages individuals who know of fraud against the Government to file suit to recover money for the United States. A successful plaintiff is guaranteed a share of the recovery. Mary's firm's False Claims Act practice has been very successful, and so far has returned more than $3 billion to the government. Their cases stopped clinical laboratories from misleading doctors into ordering billions of dollars of unnecessary medical tests, and have forced the recall of faulty diagnostic tests and products. Mary has had the privilege of representing doctors who saw the False Claims Act as a means to ensure that patients were treated properly, and that residents received appropriate and adequate training. Mary says "My interest in global health stems from work I have been doing as president of a small charitable fund that focuses on health and education programs in Africa. This has included providing support for pediatric cancer and surgical patients, and funding group homes and grassroots programs caring for AIDs orphans. We have just launched a new foundation in partnership with Benin singer Angelique Kidjo to expand secondary education for girls in Africa. Our fund is also collaborating with emergency doctors at George Washington University Medical Center to as they develop a long-term project to establish an emergency medical program in Ethiopia." Mary will be commuting between New York and Washington, where my husband Bruce Cohen is Chief Counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Lalitha Ramanathapuram
received her B.S. in Physiology from the University of Calcutta, India, and also completed an M.S. in Physiology there. She earned her Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Arizona, Tucson. Her work focused on using a non-toxic Vitamin E analogue, Vitamin E succinate in combination with dendritic cells as a chemo-immunotherapeutic treatment modality for cancer. Lalitha says "I am interested in the prevention and control of infectious diseases from an immunological perspective. A study of disease prevention and human migration will enable me to reach out professionally to address and see an impact among communities at large. The MPH degree program in Global Health at New York University will equip me with skills to combine my research background with understanding factors that are involved in the spread of disease and what strategies are needed to prevent or contain it. Ultimately I want to work with organizations involved in disease intervention projects at a global level."
Ricardo Restrepo Guzman
received his medical degree from the Instituto de Ciencias de la Salud, Colombia. He is Board certified in General Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry. Dr Restrepo completed his residency training and fellowship at Boston University Medical Center. At Boston, he was the recipient of the Murray Research Award (2002) and the Community Psychiatry Award (2001). Dr. Restrepo-Guzman's areas of interest include mental health, most recently involved with the development of Latino mental health services and immigrant populations in Providence, RI. He also has been actively involved with PHR (Physicians For Human Rights) working with refugees, survivors of torture, and forced migration.