Dear colleagues,

I am delighted to welcome a new colleague to the Office of the Dean and announce another team member shifting to a new role after years of outstanding work. Christine Moreira will join us as my new executive assistant, filling a position previously held by our colleague Raquel Robertson. Raquel will be stepping into a position with our Academic Affairs team, reporting to Academic Dean Francesca Beaudoin.

Christine comes to us from Harvard Medical School, having held numerous roles there, the most recent being the special projects coordinator for the medical school’s Department of Global Health and Social Medicine. Prior to that position, she served as a staff assistant for the Center for Bioethics, executive assistant in the Office of the Dean for Medical Education, and administrative coordinator for the Department of Genetics, Church Lab. Her years of expertise in providing high-level administrative support made her an ideal fit for this role. We are thrilled to have Christine on board here at Brown as of this past Monday, November 18th.

With Christine joining our team, I am both excited for her arrival and mindful of the change, as I share that Raquel Robertson will be transitioning into the new role of associate director of academic special projects.

Raquel has served as my executive assistant since July 2021. Despite the many challenges presented by coming on board during the early days of the COVID pandemic, she has proven herself time and again to be an invaluable asset to our Dean’s Office team. From her first day, she has successfully managed an extremely high volume of requests internally, externally, and with the media; seamlessly transitioned from supporting me to former interim dean Ron Aubert and back again with admirable flexibility in weathering high-level changes; and she has always effortlessly maintained strong relationships with our entire SPH team often acting as mediator, negotiator, champion, confidante and friend to so many.

In her new capacity, Raquel will lead the direction and management of strategic projects and initiatives to advance and coordinate the exceptional work already being done by Francesca’s team in the Office of the Academic Dean. As an important member of the Academic Affairs team, Raquel will drive and implement organizational progress while collaborating across the school.

I know I am not alone in saying that Raquel is a person who can always be counted on, no matter the challenge. I am thrilled to see her move into this new role, and I know she will continue always going the extra mile to lift up her colleagues and ensure the highest level of professionalism in the execution of her many new responsibilities.

Please join me in congratulating Raquel on her new appointment and welcoming Christine to the SPH team.

Sincerely,

Ashish K. Jha, M.D., MPH
Dean, School of Public Health
Professor of Health Services, Policy and Practice