Team
Cover the Globe
Laura Cressman, CEO
Laura graduated from Dartmouth College in 2014 with a double major in Chemistry and Economics and now works as a software engineer in New York City. Originally from St. Petersburg, Florida, she loves visiting home and taking advantage of the sunny weather. In her spare time, Laura enjoys reading, learning, and spending time with friends.
Adam Kraus, Executive Director
Adam is currently pursuing a dual MD/MPH degree from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, focusing in global health. He spent a year working for a primary care clinic in rural Haiti and is excited to continue to apply this experience in working with Maipelo patients and their families. From Clearwater, Florida, he sometimes misses the warm weather and sunny dispositions of the Florida folk. He loves playing his guitar and traveling and looks forward to developing sustainable partnerships in order to empower local communities to take control of their health.
Nandita Sugandhi, M.D., Technical Advisor
Dr. Sugandhi is a pediatrician who has spent several years working in sub-Saharan Africa. From 2007 until 2009 she worked at Nyangabwe Referral Hospital in Francistown, Botswana. Close to the border of Zimbabwe, which was struggling with political and economic turmoil at the time, Dr. Sugandhi witnessed the plight of thousands of Zimbabweans fleeing their country to take refuge in Botswana. She soon became interested in ensuring that the health needs for these mothers and children would be met even though, by law, non-citizens are excluded from Botswana’s national antiretroviral program.
Dwight Yin, M.D., M.P.H., Technical Advisor
Dr. Yin is a pediatric infectious diseases physician specializing in pediatric . From 2006-2009, he worked in Botswana, providing medical care for children infected with and affected by HIV and training healthcare professionals in the field of pediatric . Distressed by witnessing many children dying without access to HIV treatment, he helped found the program that is now Maipelo Children’s Trust. Currently based in the United States, Dr. Yin is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine and the Director of HIV Services and Director of HIV and Transplant Infectious Diseases Research in the Divisions of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Pharmacology, Medical Toxicology, & Therapeutic Innovation at Children’s Mercy-Kansas City.
Tafireyi Marukutira, M.D., M.P.H., MPhil, Technical Advisor
Dr. Tafireyi Marukutira, MD, MPH, MPhil is a University of Zimbabwe Medical School graduate with more than 10 years of public health experience. Dr. Maru has been living and working in Botswana since 2002 and has worked with the government of Botswana, Botswana-Baylor Clinic, CDC Botswana, and the International Training and Education Centre for Health (ITECH). Since 2008, Dr. Maru has been volunteering his services to Maipelo Children’s Trust to help treat immigrant families living with HIV. He has a passion for seeing disadvantaged populations attain the basic human right access to health. In his home currently, Dr. Maru has managed to construct a health care center for his community with the help of family and friends. Dr. Maru is an alumni with the World Health Organization/Tropical Diseases Research (WHO/TDR) and currently doing his PhD on HIV and migration with Monash University in Australia.
Advisory Board
Elizabeth Wolf, M.D.
Dr. Wolf is a National Research Service Award fellow in General Academic Pediatrics at the University of Washington. She became involved with the Maipelo Trust during the two years that she worked at Princess Marina Hospital in the department of Pediatrics with the University of Botswana. She serves as a clinical advisor and fundraiser for Cover the Globe.
Jon Silverman, M.D.
Dr. Jon Silverman is currently a Fellow in Pediatric Emergency Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine and Seattle Children’s Hospital. He and his wife, Dr. Wolf, spent the last two years in Gaborone, Botswana as Lecturers in Pediatrics at the University of Botswana School of Medicine and Consultant Pediatricians at Princess Marina Hospital. While in Botswana, he and Dr. Wolf took lead roles in advancing the Maipelo Trust Children’s Fund and providing direct care for dozens of children and their families through Maipelo. Now back in the States, Dr. Silverman misses his patients greatly, but remains an active supporter, fundraiser, and advisor to Maipelo.
