Our Team
The CEED@Chicago team is dedicated to the elimination of health disparities in Hispanic/Latino and African American communities. Our Vision is network of organizations throughout the Chicago metropolitan area, the Midwest region, and eventually the U.S. working together and leveraging resources in order to make a forceful impact on diabetes and CVD.
Aida L. Maisonet Giachello, Ph.D
CEED Principal Investigator
Director UIC Midwest Latino Health Research, Training & Policy Center
Aida Luz Maisonet Giachello received her Bachelors degree in social sciences from the University of Puerto Rico . She received her Masters degree in social services administration with a specialty in community organizing, planning and social policy; and a Ph.D. in medical sociology, specializing in Hispanic/Latino/minority health, both. from the University of Chicago .
In 1993, Dr. Giachello established the UIC-Jane Addams College of Social Work's Midwest Latino Health Research, Training and Policy Center (MLHRC), where she has been conducting research on health disparities, training Latino/minority investigators and engaging in policy work emerging from the research findings. Currently, she conducts research and trains professionals and community health workers (health promoters) across the United States , Puerto Rico, Central and South America , Mexico and along the U. S.-Mexico border.
In addition to serving as the Principal Investigator (PI) of CEED, she is Co-PI of the Chicago Field Center of the Hispanic Community Health Study (HCHS)/Study of Latinos (SOL). This is the largest health study ever done of the Hispanic/Latino population in the U. S. under the sponsorship of the National Institutes of Health-National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI).
Dr. Giachello is a co-founder and current president of the Board of the National Hispanic/Latino Diabetes Federation, a national nonprofit organization engaging in linguistic and culturally appropriate community outreach, education, community and system change, research and advocacy work in diabetes and associated conditions and risk factors.
Cynthia Barnes-Boyd, Ph.D, FAAN, RN
CEED Co-Principal Investigator
Director UIC Great Cities-Healthy Cities Collaborative
Dr. Cynthia (Cee) Barnes-Boyd is the Director of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Great Cities Neighborhoods Initiative/Director Community Health Initiatives and Director of the UIC Health City Collaborative for the University of Illinois at Chicago . Dr. Boyd is the Assistant Dean for Community Initiatives for the UIC College of Nursing.
Dr. Boyd currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Campus and Community Partnerships for Health, the UIC School of Public Health Environmental Justice Committee, the Advisory Committee for the Center for Population Health and Health Disparities, and the Naomi Morris Community Health Research Collaborative. She is also the founder of the 'Girls Read for Life' Reading Program. Dr. Boyd has received numerous honors and awards including the: Renacer West Side Community Network, "Outstanding Community Commitment Award" PNLE Illinois Nurse Leader Women Health Executives Network, "Annual Achievement in Health Care Management Award," National Hook-up of Black Women & Chicago Urban League "Women in History Award," American Academy of Pediatrics "Bronze Award" for Clinical Research, and the Metropolitan Health Care Council "Outstanding Woman Health Care Manager."
In 2006, Dr. Boyd was inducted into the Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellows Program and in 1992 she was inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing for outstanding contributions to her field.
CEED Co-Principal Investigator
Assistant Commissioner, Chicago
Department of Public Health
Mr. Harrington is Assistant Commissioner for the City of Chicago Department of Public Health's Division of Chronic Disease. Under the direction of the Commissioner of Public Health, he is responsible for the development and implementation of programs and projects to reduce morbidity and mortality due to chronic disease in the City of Chicago . Prior to this he was a Project Director in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Rush University Medical Center . In this capacity, he was responsible for oversight and management of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT) and the Women's Health Initiative.
Mr. Harrington was the Project Director for an international collaboration between the Walter Sisulu University ( South Africa ), the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health and the Section of Community and Social Medicine at Rush University Medical Center implementing a Community-Based Infrastructure Development Project. The project targeted the rural poor living in the Mthatha ( Eastern Cape ) region of South Africa . He also serves as the Executive Director of the Center for African American Health based at Roseland Community Hospital in Chicago . The Center is a non-profit organization engaged in the study and research of the factors that contribute to disparities in health between African Americans and other population groups.
Mr. Harrington is a Fellow of the class of 1998-2000 of the International Center for Health Leadership Development and is currently a candidate for a Master of Arts in Religion at Meadville Lombard Theological School . He serves on the Executive Committee of the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children, is a member of the Executive and Steering Committee of the Illinois Public Health Institute, and is a member of the Retention and Adherence Committee for Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial. He was appointed by the Governor of Illinois as a member of the Illinois Stroke Task Force and serves as the Chairman of the Advisory Panel on Minority Health for the Illinois Department of Public Health. He is a founding member and Vice-Chairman of the African American Health Care Council and serves on the Boards of the American Cancer Society, Africa International House and the Continental Africa Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Selective Service System Local Board 017 and founding member of the Thapelo Institute, Inc., a non-profit group focused on improving the health of African American men.
Sheila Castillo is UIC's program manager for the federally funded Center of Excellence for the Elimination of Disparities. She received her Bachelors degree in Political Science from Northern Illinois University and a Masters of Urban Planning and Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago .
Prior to coming to UIC, Sheila served as Communications Coordinator for the Chicago Teachers' Center of Northeastern Illinois University. In addition to managing internal and external communication tasks, she successfully organized a five-university coalition along with parents, teachers, and students in over 80 Chicago public schools to educate Congress on the need for a college-access program that had been eliminated from the federal budget. Ms. Castillo opened the Chicago office of a national environmental education organization and trained teachers to organize student-developed action research projects on environmental issues. As director of the Chicago Association of Local School Councils, she built an independent citywide association of 140 local school councils with 2,400 members. CALSC provided training to LSC members and advocated on their behalf at the city and state levels. Her expertise lies in program planning, organization, and implementation. This includes forging relationships among groups to build collaborations and coalitions to pursue common goals.
Amparo Castillo , MS , Master Trainer, Training & Technical Assistance Coordinator and Committee Convener
Angela Ellison, MSE, Coordinator of Community Engagement
Berenice Tow, MPH , Co-Principal Investigator of the CDPH Action Community
Charles Williams, MPH, Community Organizer, Community Engagement Committee
Erlinda Silva Parris, MPH, Health Literacy/Community Health Worker Committee Coordinator
Eve Pinsker, PhD, Evaluator/Data Manager
Hong Hu, MES, MLHRC Research Assistant
Jose Arrom, MA, Dissemination Specialist, Dissemination and Legacy Projects Committee Convener
Natalie Meza, Coordinator of Training and Community Events
Rosemary George, MA, MLHRC Center Administrator
Sabrina Nelson, Administrative Support
Yong Zhou , MS , Finance Manager