NASTAD Staff and HepTAC Consultants

Boatemaa Ntiri-Reid (Bwa-tee-mah In-tee-ree Reed) is the Senior Director of Syndemic Approaches at NASTAD. In this role, she leads integration of HIV, viral hepatitis, and drug user health into a united framework for improving outcomes across these intersecting issues. Prior to her current role, she served as NASTAD’s Director, Hepatitis and oversaw programmatic and technical assistance initiatives related to viral hepatitis. Prior to NASTAD, Boatemaa served as Chief of the Center for Viral Hepatitis at the Maryland Department of Health coordinating departmental and statewide efforts to prevent, control, and treat viral hepatitis. Boatemaa has also worked as a health law attorney, focused on HIV legal services, and a Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program project officer in Baltimore City. Boatemaa received her B.A. from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, M.P.H. from Columbia University, and J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law.

Dr. Rita Isabel Lechuga (Isabel) is an associate director on the Hepatitis team. As the associate director, her scope of work includes expanded oversight of team work plans, implementation of relevant strategic plan objectives, and fiscal management and oversight. Previously, she was part of NASTAD’s Global team, overseeing HIV case-based surveillance system strengthening interventions in five countries in Central America. Before NASTAD, Isabel worked as a consultant for the regional office of the World Health Organization, PAHO, leading research studies on HIV, viral hepatitis and child health and as a physician with the Mexican Secretariat of Health. Isabel holds a Doctor of Medicine (MD) from the National Autonomous University of Mexico and a Master of Public Health (MPH) from George Washington University.

Jasmine West is a manager on the Hepatitis team and is the lead on a CDC cooperative agreement, the Hepatitis Network for Education and Testing (HepNET). She oversees programmatic initiatives working with clinical providers, people with lived experience, syringe services programs (SSPs) and harm reduction programs to provide trainings and technical assistance to identify and address the unmet needs of people who inject drugs (PWID). Jasmine supports state health departments and community partners’ technical assistance requests to improve access to viral hepatitis education, prevention, testing, and linkage to care and treatment for priority populations. Previously, Jasmine worked in global health non-profit focused on sexual and reproductive health, primarily HIV prevention. She has an MPH in Community Health Education from the Colorado School of Public Health. Jasmine is based in Washington DC.

Zakiya Grubbs is a Manager on the Hepatitis team. She primarily supports prevention and surveillance capacity building through NASTAD’s online technical assistance center for hepatitis. Prior to NASTAD, Zakiya was the Viral Hepatitis Program Coordinator at the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, where she worked with community partners on HCV testing and referral and developed a comprehensive statewide VH strategic plan. She received her MPH in Global Health from George Washington University and a B.S. in Health Education from Howard University. She works remotely from Columbia, SC.