Meet Our Team

Vanessa Da Costa, MPH

Founder/CEO & Lead Quantitative Consultant

Vanessa is a Data Analysis Advisor at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Global Health with over 9 years of experience in data collection, management, analytics, and visualization. She is the Founder and CEO of Chilombo Global Career Services LLC, the parent company of Chilombo Consulting. She holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) Degree in Global Epidemiology from Emory University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Vanessa loves streamlining data processes and connecting the dots between data, project management, and programmatic communications.

Asya Spears, MS, Doctoral Candidate

Advisory Data Consultant

Asya is a Biostatistician and STEM Education Advocate with over 9 years of experience in health services research, population health analytics, and data storytelling. She holds a Master of Science Degree in Biostatistics from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics from Spelman College. Known as the Chief Encouraging Officer of data, Asya's love for numbers is derived from a childhood passion for math turned into a desire to democratize data access and analysis.

Brittney Mengistu, PhD, CHES

Lead Qualitative Research Consultant

Brittney is a Global Health researcher and lecturer with 7 years of experience in qualitative research, monitoring, and evaluation. She received her PhD from the Global Health and Social Medicine Department at King's College London and holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree in Behavioral Health and Health Education from Emory University. Brittney enjoys engaging stakeholders in participatory research and evaluation practices to uncover new and innovative approaches to achieving health equity.

Chioma Nnaji, MPH, MEd

Qualitative Research Consultant

Chioma is a Qualitative researcher, a community health worker, trainer, and organizer with more than 20 years in the fields of HIV/AIDS, sexual health, equity, racial justice, and immigrant health. She is well-versed in consulting on community health and needs assessments, anti-racism frameworks for organizations and coalition development. She's extremely passionate about working with BIPOC and LGBTQ communities to address health inequity, as well as racial and social injustice. Chioma holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from Boston University and a Master of Education (MEd) degree from Boston College.

Sarah Kuril, PhD

Data Consultant, Statistician

Sarah Kuril is an adjunct faculty member for the MPH@UNC program as well as a course facilitator for Cornell University’s external education unit. In her spare time, she also works as a data consultant for public health organizations and provides clinical consulting for outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation programs. Sarah earned her PhD in Public Health from the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, Master of Public Health (MPH) from the CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College, and a Bachelors of Science in Respiratory Care from Stony Brook University. Her primary research interests are on the combined effect of climate variability and health inequity on individuals diagnosed with chronic respiratory ailments. She works with sizeable hospital datasets and uses various statistical models (e.g., Bayesian, Finite Mixture Modelling) for analysis.

Yuwa Edomwande, MPH

Data Consultant, Statistician

Yuwa is a Data Analyst at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with over 4 years of experience in applied statistics, data management, and data visualization. She holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) Degree in Biostatistics from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Yuwa is interested in the applications of data science in public health and spatial epidemiology.

Chauna Gibson, MPH

Data Consultant, Business & Analytics

Chauna is a Data Analyst at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with over 5 years of experience in data analytics, management and visualization. She holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) Degree in Global Health and Program Management from Boston University and a Bachelor's Degree in International Studies from the University of Michigan. Chauna is interested in how data analysis can be used to improve programs, influence policy and address health disparities among the most vulnerable members of the community.

Meet our team