Janet Maher 1902-360 Ridelle Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M6B 1K1 (416) 782-0698 [voice]; janet.maher@utoronto.ca [e-mail] www.janetemaher.ca January 19, 2014.
Ms Dorothy A. Biberman Manager of Global Health Programs Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health 1900 M Street NW, Suite 710 Washington, DC 20036 Re: Dr. Naira Matevosyan, applicant ASPH training fellowships Dear Ms. Biberman, I am writing as the past international program coordinator of the Centre for Research in Women’s Health from 1998 to 2004, during which time Dr. Matevosyan was a research fellow in reproductive health care law at the Centre, collaborating with us in the design of evaluation frameworks focussed on the sexual health of young women. It was my responsibility to introduce her to health, legal and policy specialists of interest in the area, and seek opportunities for scholarly exchange that would benefit her career and stimulate debate and discussion with our colleagues here in Canada. As I remember, she returned after her fellowship here to Armenia, but has continued her studies and research in health law alongside her clinical interests in reproductive health, and migrated to the US a few years later. We have been in touch periodically as she also continues scholarly exchanges related to violence against women and reproductive health law with some of us here at the University of Toronto. As you will likely have seen from her curriculum vitae, Dr. Matevosyan has a unique background in which she has built over the past decade or so on her original clinical and quantitative analysis strengths, and has published extensively in both clinical and policy areas. Matevosyan was particularly adept when she was at the Centre in offering alternate frameworks for the assessment of research designs in interdisciplinary settings—for example, non-traditional ways of integrating clinical and epidemiological approaches to the more traditional social scientific approaches which were dominant at that time at our Centre—in a way that encouraged collaboration. Our contact has continued in part because she has been a willing participant in conferences and other academic exchanges on some of the clinical and policy issues which continue to be of public health concern. She is a prodigious and very productive worker as also shown in her CV. As the single mother of a 10 year old, I know her domestic responsibilities are also considerable, but she has unfailingly been able to organize her family time to accommodate her work and academic demands. Similarly, although English is not her maternal language, it has been her main language of work for nearly 10 years now; and so she is exceptionally proficient in both written and oral presentations. I have no hesitation in commending Dr. Matevosyan for the ASPH training opportunities, as I believe she has the research skills and experience, motivation and ability both to benefit from the experience and to contribute to ASPH intellectual life and intellectual production. Please contact me at (416) 782 0698 or janet.maher@utoronto.ca should you require further information. Sincerely
Janet Maher PhD