NDI Staff
Dr. Tabatha Parker – Executive Director, Medical Director NDI Nicaragua - NDI co-founder and Executive Director, Dr. Parker recieved her naturopathic medicine degree from National College of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon. Tabatha lives on the island of Ometepe in Nicaragua with her husband, a Nicaraguan farmer, and their son, Maximo. As medical director, Dr. Parker oversees all staff, interns and volunteers at NDI's site in Nicaragua. A speaker, teacher and naturopathic physician, Dr. Parker has dedicated her life to finding solutions to global health problems through natural medicine and community development. Her passion inspires people to become active in social justice issues. She very much believes in empowering youth through art and laughter and hopes to bring youth inspiration through dance, theather and artistic expression. She is an active member of the American Herbalist Guild, Global Health Council and the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians. Dr. Parker can be contacted at drparker@ndimed.org
Dr. Kyley Hunt– Volunteer Medical Physician - Dr. Kyley Hunt graduated with a Bachelor of Kinesiology from the University of Calgary prior to completing her studies in naturopathic medicine at the Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine in New Westminster, BC. She is passionate about sharing naturopathic medicine with others and helping to educate patients to be active in their own wellbeing. Dr. Hunt first visited Ometepe in 2008 on an NDI brigade with her classmates and has returned to spend a year as the volunteer naturopathic physician with NDI. During her time with NDI she will be attending patients in various clinics in the district of Moyogalpa as well as assisting NDI with global health courses and other local programs. Her experiences during this year are being shared through her blog http://drkyleynd.wordpress.com/. Dr. Hunt is a member of the Canadian Association for Naturopathic Doctors (CAND) and licensed by the College of Naturopathic Physicians of British Columbia (CNPBC). Dr. Hunt can be contacted at drhunt@ndimed.org
Tony Trujillo - Operations Manager - Tony Trujillo was born in
Angela Guillen Dinarte - NDI Technical Assistant - Angela was born and raised on the island and two years ago started working with NDI as a technical and financial assistant. She has worked on various NDI projects most importantly the Calzado Ometepe and the DIOSA programs. For Calzado Ometepe Angela helped coordinate a kids run that focused on health and well being. Durng this run shoes were donated to hundreds of local kids. For the DIOSA program she has coordinated various activities, as well as transporting PAP exams off the island to be tested. Working on NDI Global Health Courses as an assistant has also been a focus for Angela. Ultimately she is very passionate about helping her poeple on Ometepe.
Nestor Guzman Dinarte - NDI Nicaragua Project Coordinator - Born and raised on the island, Nestor Guzman Dinarte has been a working as a farmer in Nicaragua since he was 5 years old, farming everything from watermelon and squash, to rice, beans, manioc and other crops. Nestor has helped in both the development and implementation of community outreach projects, including Farmers Outreach and Sponsor a Team. He also assists with various administrative jobs as needed and is the NDI chauffeur during global health courses. Nestor works with volunteers who come to the island, teaching them about planting and harvesting. He is honored to be able to serve the people of Ometepe in the capacity that he does working with NDI and he hopes to motivate young people to take care of the environment of his precious island, Ometepe. His wealth of Nicaraguan knowledge, island culture and farming makes him an asset to Team NDI.
Dr. Jacqueline McGrath – Medical Director NDI Mexico - Dr. Jacqueline McGrath attended National College of Naturopathic Medicine (NCNM) in Portland, Oregon in 1999. As a student, she volunteered as a medical interpreter and later sought out shifts at community clinics serving Portland's Spanish speaking population. Dr. McGrath participated in the Oregon Mexico Health Professionals Exchange as an NCNM host in 2004 and an ambassador to the Mexican state of Jalisco in 2005. Always a proponent of global public healthcare, she applauded NDI's work in Nicaragua and decided to follow suit in Mexico. In May of 2005 Dr. McGrath emigrated with her family to Bacalar, a small town in Mexico's southernmost state of Quintana Roo. While maintaining her medical license in the United States, she volunteered for a year of social service through Mexico's Secretary of Health system and was granted a license as a primary care physician. After participating on a medical brigade in Nicaragua in December of 2007, Dr. McGrath has had the great privilege to create an NDI site in the Yucatan peninsula. Dr. McGrath can be contacted at drmcgrath@ndimed.org
Christi Lane-Barlow, BSc(Hon) Collective Wisdom LLC, Hanoi, Vietnam, Volunteer Database Manager - Christi spent over 20 years working with medical data as a clinical researcher and epidemiologist in Canada, the US and South Africa where she met and married her game ranger husband Crispian. She published her South African research work on the cultural epidemiology of HIV in 2007 and is currently completing a Masters of Science in Epidemiology with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. While travelling in Central America in 2008 in search of conservation work for Crispian, she fell in love with Ometepe and was overjoyed to find it not only was a magical place of tremendous physical beauty, but also home to an impressive medical team with a large database diligently collected by the physicians at NDI. Now living in Hanoi, Vietnam, Christi continues to work with NDI, mining data to study public health problems and solutions. She hopes that someday this database will be used to improve health in Ometepe’s residents and be extended to other rural communities.
