The GAIA Vaccine Foundation Team

GAIA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Anne De Groot, md: Founder

Anne De Groot a physician, immunologist and entrepreneur. She is the co-founder and CEO/CSO of the immunoinformatics company EpiVax as well as the founder of two nonprofits, GAIA Vaccine Foundation and Clinica Esperanza, a volunteer-run, free medical clinic serving Rhode Island. She graduated from Smith College in 1978 and earned her medical degree at University of Chicago in 1983 and is board certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Disease. She currently serves on GAIA Vaccine Foundation’s finance committee while also assisting with grant application and research projects.

Bintou Chatterton: co-chair

Bintou Chatterton works at Chatterton Insurance, Inc. and joined GAIA’s Board of Directors in 2013 after learning about GAIA’s mission from Dr. Annie De Groot and a mutual friend. Bintou was born in Mali and contributes greatly to GAIA Vaccine Foundation by both serving on the finance committee and any assisting with any other task requested of her. Bintou lives in Providence with her husband and children.

Sophie Sprecht, LPn: co-chair

Sophie Sprecht has been on the Board of Directors at GAIA Vaccine Foundation since its founding and has made many trips to Mali as a representative of GAIA, most recently in October of 2021.

Mary-Rose w. Pellegrino, Esq: secretary

Mary-Rose joined the board of GAIA VF in 2019. After learning about GAIA VF and its mission from a colleague, Mary-Rose was eager to become a board member and contribute to that mission. Mary-Rose lends her expertise in the law to GAIA VF and also serves as the Board Secretary. Mary-Rose lives in Providence, Rhode Island with her spouse and 2 sons.

Julia Wagner: treasurer

Julia is a Private Wealth Advisor at Goldman Sachs. She joined Goldman Sachs after receiving her MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business, where she received the Advancing Women in Business scholarship and specialized in Finance and Entertainment, Media & Technology. Prior to pursuing her MBA, Julia worked as a literary agent at Susanna Lea Associates in New York. Julia graduated Magna Cum Laude from Barnard College, Columbia University, where she majored in Anthropology and focused her studies in West Africa, ultimately writing her undergraduate thesis on tourism as a vehicle for economic development in Mali. She was also a member of the Women’s Varsity Crew Team. Julia joined the board in 2020 and is a member of the finance committee.

matthew murphy, md MPH: Scientific Director

Dr. Murphy is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Public Health at Brown University where he has held several leadership positions in research and public health. Dr. Murphy’s work has focused on developing interventions to improve health outcomes for highly vulnerable populations in the US and globally. His work has been supported by the World Health Organization, the Pan American Health Organization, the European Commission and the Fulbright Program.

Jeffrey T. Safrit, Phd

Jeffrey T. Safrit, Ph.D., is the Senior Director of Infectious Diseases for NantKwest/ImmunityBio and currently the Chair of the Board of Directors for GAIA.  Dr. Safrit has been involved in HIV/AIDS research since 1991, establishing his immunology of HIV research career at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, Bristol Meyers Squibb and Emory University. Jeff has known and collaborated with Dr. Annie De Groot since the early 1990s and has been involved with GAIA since the very early days.

Fran Ingersoll

Fran joined the board of GAIA VF in January of 2020 and is a member of the Grant Committee. She is a Microbiologist and Clinical Laboratory Scientist and sits on the Dean’s Advisory Board for the College of Environmental and Life Sciences at the University of Rhode Island. After spending a decade as Director of Global Health Partnerships for the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (working in Africa, Asia and Central Asia), she currently does global health consulting. Fran was introduced to Dr. De Groot by a mutual friend at URI.

Sarah Beseme, PhD

Sarah, Ph.D., is an associate professor of biology at Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) and a scientific consultant for the biotechnology industry. She grew up and studied in France before coming to Rhode Island to continue her research at Brown University. She recently joined CCRI after 10 years in the biotech sector. She joined the board of GAIA VF in 2014 and currently serves on the internal affairs committee.