Rachel Bessire

Rachel Bessire is a 2017 graduate of the University of Michigan School of Public Health and received her master's degree in Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics. During graduate school she was a graduate student instructor for an undergraduate biology research class. She completed a 10-month dietetic internship at Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor and received her registered dietitian license last year in August. She is originally from Washington State and received a bachelor’s degree in Microbiology at the University of Washington in Seattle. Rachel is a member of the Michigan Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and presented posters at the annual conference in 2018 and 2019. She is currently the EMU CDC-REACH Food and Nutrition Coordinator.

Nazia Chowdhury

Nazia Chowhury is studying at Wayne State University majoring in Electrical Engineering Electronics Technology. She is working on Women, Education, Health and Entrepreneur with the nonprofit  Bangladeshi American Public Affairs Commission (BAPAC). Nazia is currently a MI-certified Community Health Worker (CHW)/Navigator.  Her effort has been focusing on prevention of chronic diseases to the community and helping the community by giving them resources to control their chronic diseases. She is teaching Basic ESL and Computer Literacy to the local Bangladeshi women.

Nazia is the EMU CDC-REACH Community Clinical Linkage (CCL) Coordinator.

Maechi Chue

Dr. Maechi Chue worked as an IT professional from 1984–2004 after she received M.S. in Computer Science from University of Minnesota. She then changed her career path to Counseling in 2004, received her M.A. in Counseling from Wayne State University in 1996 and her Ph.D. in Counseling from Oakland University in 2011. Dr. Chue has been practicing as a MI Licensed Professional Counselor at clinic, non-profit organizations, and in private practice since 2004. Her specializations include individual emotional disorders (depression, stress, anxiety, bipolar, anger issues, etc.), marriage (domestic violence, inter-racial couples, boundary and relationship issues, affairs, etc.), family (parenting adolescents or special need children, infertility, adoption, life transitions, grief and loss, etc.), and behavioral addictions (video games, gambling, pornography, etc. ). Dr. Chue taught in graduate schools as an adjunct professor from 2009 to 2014.

Dr. Chue is the EMU CDC-REACH Community Clinical Linkage (CCL) Coordinator.

Jessica Donnelly

Jessica Donnelly is a 2019 graduate of Eastern Michigan University, where she received her undergraduate degree in Urban and Regional Planning with a minor in Public Administration. While attending EMU she was a part of the SMAP committee, which organized a conference for planning students in the State of Michigan. She also received the Urban and Regional Planning Major of the year award from EMU in 2019. She is an active member in her community and was appointed to the City of Ypsilanti Planning Commission for a three-year term in 2018. Jessica's interests as they pertain to planning are community development, outreach, and economic development. 

Meng Hu, MS

Meng Hu graduated from the University of Michigan with an MS in natural resources and environment. Her specialty includes GIS, environmental analysis, urban planning and community based project engagement. She worked as an environmental analyst in a utility company before joining the EMU research team.

She served as the GIS Technique Support for the EMU NSF-GRACE project from 2017-2018. She is currently the EMU GIS Consultant for PA.

Tameka Jackson-Dyer, BASc, IBCLC, CHW, CLE, CLS, CLC

Tameka Jackson-Dyer, BASc, IBCLC, CHW, CLE, CLS, CLC is an international board-certified lactation consultant and community health worker with a passion for community outreach. She became certified as an IBCLC in 2017 but has been in the lactation field since 2010, honing her counseling and clinical skills as a breastfeeding peer counselor in WIC agencies, OB/Gyn offices and baby-friendly hospitals throughout the Metro Detroit Tri-County area and earning certifications as a Lactation Educator and Lactation Specialist along the way.

Tameka is the owner of CrazyMilkLady Lactation Support Services, LLC, a founding member of Southeast Michigan IBCLC’s of Color, consultant for Coffective and Chair of the Metro Detroit/ Wayne County Breastfeeding Coalition. This work allows her to provide a voice for the populations who are historically underrepresented in conversations about breastfeeding support, who in turn suffer the most from the consequences associated with low breastfeeding rates. To ensure that she reaches as many as she can in her community, she also volunteers as a facilitator for BreakingThrough domestic violence survivor support group and as a Sisterfriend with The Detroit Birthing Project, whose aim is to cut the incredibly high infant and maternal mortality rates in the city of Detroit.

Tameka is currently contracted as the EMU CDC-REACH Breastfeeding Lactation Consultant

Sarah Lally, BSN, RN

Sarah Lally is a proud alumna of Eastern Michigan University’s School of Nursing and Honors College. Sarah graduated in 2017, Summa Cum Laude, and completed an Undergraduate Thesis about non-pharmacological nursing interventions to graduate with Departmental Honors. Sarah is a bedside Intensive Care Unit nurse at Michigan Medicine where she serves on multiple unit-based and institutional committees. She is a board-certified Holistic Nurse and appointed to the Anti-Racism and Education Approver Committees for the American Holistic Nursing Association. Her career goals include minimizing the gaps of health disparities, advocating for marginalized and undeserved populations, and learning how to help others care for themselves across their health continuum.

Sarah is the CHDIS Nurse Educator; she has worked with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services lead poisoning prevention program and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Influenza and COVID-19 vaccination programs.