About Us
About Us 
The Sylvie Ratelle STD/HIV Prevention Training Center (PTC) is a project of the Division of STD Prevention, Massachusetts Department of Public Health. We are part of the National Network of STD Clinical Prevention Training Centers, which are funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In conjunction with regional medical schools and health departments, the PTC offers courses for health care providers in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of sexually transmitted diseases and the prevention of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
These offerings meet a need for effective training in STD clinical services in support of disease prevention and are the primary source of post-graduate STD continuing education for health care professionals in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
Clinical and on-line course offerings are designed for both new and experienced health care professionals (physicians, infectious disease fellows, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, certified nurse midwives, and nurses) in public and private practice who examine and treat individuals at risk for STDs/HIV.
The Ratelle PTC offers courses taught by skilled and experienced faculty from regional Schools of Medicine, Nursing and State Health Departments, including the following:
- Boston University
- Brown University
- Harvard University
- University of Massachusetts
- Yale University
- Massachusetts Department of Public Health
Meet Our Faculty
Kevin Ard, MD, MPH
Faculty Member, Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital
Assistant​ Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Director of the Sexual Health Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital
Medical Director of the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center, The Fenway Institute
Dr. Ard is an infectious disease physician whose clinical practice, teaching, and research focus on the prevention and treatment of HIV and STIs. He is also dedicated to improving care for LGBTQIA+ people.
Amit Achhra, MD, MPH, PhD
Division of Infectious Diseases
Yale New Haven Hospital
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Yale School of Medicine
Amit Achhra is an infectious disease specialist with interest in HIV and STIs. He is also a Clinical Educator and trains residents and fellows at Yale School of Medicine in HIV and infectious diseases. His research interests include HIV therapeutics and metabolic complications as well as implementation research in HIV and STIs.
Philip Chan, MD, MS
Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine and School of Public Health, Brown University
Chief Medical Officer, Open Door Health
Director of the Center for HIV and STI Prevention, The Miriam Hospital
Consultant Medical Director, Rhode Island Department of Health Division of Preparedness, Response, Infectious Disease and EMS (PRIDEMS)
Dr. Chan is an infectious diseases physician working with clinical, community and public health organizations on several statewide initiatives related to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STI).
Dana Dunne, MD, MHS
Associate Professor, Dept of Internal Medicine (Infectious Diseases)
Associate Chair for Education and Academic Affairs
Yale School of Medicine
Dr. Dunne is the core clerkship director for the internal medicine clerkship at Yale School of Medicine and GME Director for Educator Development. Dr. Dunne’s clinical interests include HIV and STI interactions with specific concentration in syphilis. She is core faculty for the Yale HIV Training Track and active in curriculum development and assessment for HIV Primary Care Training.
Donna Felsenstein, MD
Infectious Disease Associates
Physician in Medicine
Massachusetts General Hospital
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
As the former director of the Sexual Health Clinic (previously the GID Unit) at Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Felsenstein has evaluated and treated patients with STIs over the past 35 years. She has taught in the Sylvie Ratelle Prevention Training Center since its initiation in 1995.
Erica Hardy, MD, MMSc
Assistant Professor of Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynecology, in the Divisions of Obstetric Medicine and Infectious Disease at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Director of the Division of Infectious Disease, Care New England health system
Women & Infants Hospital in Providence RI
Dr. Hardy is the Director of the Division of Infectious Disease at Women & Infants Hospital and the Care New England Health System. Her clinical and research interests include infectious disease in pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, and trauma-informed medical care and follow up after sexual assault.
Katherine Hsu, MD, MPH
Massachusetts Department of Public Health
Medical Director, Division of STD Prevention & HIV/AIDS Surveillance
Director, Ratelle STD/HIV Prevention Training Center
Director, Medical Education Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences
Boston University Medical Center
Professor of Pediatrics
Attending Physician, Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Dr. Hsu’s research interests are sexually transmitted diseases and syndromes in adolescents and young adults, infectious diseases in adolescents and young adults, post-sexual assault care in adolescents and young adults, and vaccine preventable diseases in adolescents and young adults.
Arthur Y. Kim, MD
Division of Infectious Disease
Massachusetts General Hospital
Associate Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Dr. Kim is the Director of the Viral Hepatitis Clinic within the Division of Infectious Diseases at MGH and focuses his clinical and research interests on special populations with HCV, including those with HIV-1/HCV coinfection and in people who inject drugs.
Douglas Krakower, MD
Division of Infectious Diseases, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Research Scientist, The Fenway Institute
Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Krakower conducts research to improve sexual health care and HIV prevention in clinical and community settings, with a focus on training and supporting health care professionals in optimal care delivery.
Alison O. Marshall, PhD-C, FNP-C, RN
Boston College Connell School of Nursing
Family Nurse Practitioner, South Boston Community Health Center
Alison Marshall is a full-time faculty member at Boston College where she teaches advanced practice family nursing in the graduate program. For over 15 years, Alison's clinical practice has been at the South Boston Community Health Center. On faculty at the Ratelle Center since 2008, Alison's focus is the clinical management and prevention of vaginitis.
Michaela A. Maynard, MPH, MSN, NP-C, WHNP-BC
Research Associate in Medicine, Brown University
Clinical Manager/Nurse Practitioner, Open Door Health
Michaela Maynard is a dual certified Adult/Women’s Health nurse practitioner. She provides clinical care at Open Door Health, Rhode Island's only dedicated LGBTQ+ primary care and sexual health clinic. She is actively involved in research related projects focused on the prevention and treatment of HIV and STIs.
Caroline M Mitchell, MD, MPH
Associate Professor, Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Biology
Director, Vulvovaginal Disorders Program
Massachusetts General Hospital
Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology
Dr. Mitchell is the Director of the Vulvovaginal Disorders Program in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at MGH, and focuses clinically on caring for people with complex vulvovaginal infections, dermatoses and symptoms. Her research focuses on the vaginal microbiota and developing novel therapeutic interventions to treat and prevent vulvovaginal disorders.
Ami Multani, MD
Medical Director of Infectious Disease and Anal Dysplasia Center
Fenway Health
Dr. Multani is the Medical Director of Infectious Disease and High Resolution Anoscopy at Fenway Health. Her clinical interests include the management of HIV, Anal Dysplasia, Hepatitis B and C and sexually transmitted infections.
Sanjay Ram, MBBS
Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology
UMass Chan Medical School
Dr. Ram is an Infectious Diseases physician-scientist at UMass Chan Medical School. His lab studies the immunology of gonococcal infections and seeks to develop novel immunotherapies and vaccines against gonorrhea. He attends on the adult Infectious Diseases service and enjoys learning along with his trainees.
Devika Singh, MD, MPH
Dr. Devika Singh, MD is the Project Director, Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program at the University of Vermont Medical Center.
She is trained in infectious diseases, carries an interest in the care of people living with HIV and engaging in clinical and research endeavors that focus on sexual health among minority populations, including immigrant women.
Zoon Wangu, MD, FAAP
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, UMass Chan Medical School
Attending Physician in Pediatric Infectious Diseases & Immunology, UMass Memorial Children’s Medical Center
Dr. Wangu is a Pediatric Infectious Diseases & Immunology physician at the University of Massachusetts. Her clinical interests include HIV post-exposure and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PEP/PrEP) and STI care in adolescents. Her research interests include development of innovative STI training modules for clinicians in the community; pharmacy collaboration to optimize expedited partner therapy (EPT) implementation; and long-term outcomes of congenital syphilis infection and exposure.
Meet Our Team
Katherine Hsu, MD, MPH
Massachusetts Department of Public Health
Medical Director, Division of STD Prevention & HIV/AIDS Surveillance
Director, Ratelle STD/HIV Prevention Training Center
Director, Medical Education Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences
Boston University Medical Center
Professor of Pediatrics
Attending Physician, Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Dr. Hsu’s research interests are sexually transmitted diseases and syndromes in adolescents and young adults, infectious diseases in adolescents and young adults, post-sexual assault care in adolescents and young adults, and vaccine preventable diseases in adolescents and young
Janine Dyer, MPH
Janine Dyer, MPH is the Deputy Director of the Ratelle PTC. She received a bachelor's degree from Boston College and a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with concentrations in community health education and health policy and management. Before joining the PTC in 2002, she worked for many years with Boston's immigrant Haitian community, coordinating community-level HIV prevention and education programs.
Veasna Ngoun (Vee)
Vee Ngoun works as the Special Projects Administrator for the Prevention Training Center. He joined us for the second time in June of 2023 and is looking forward to supporting the Sylvie Ratelle Prevention Training Center in his newest role!
Tanisha L. Tillery
Tanisha Tillery is the Administrative Coordinator for Ratelle PTC. She came to us from Raleigh, North Carolina. Tanisha’s previous professional experience includes 21 years working for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) in multiple roles. Her most recent role there was serving within the NCDHHS Division of Public Health as an STD Registrar/Administrative Specialist.
About Sylvie Ratelle
Sylvie Ratelle, MD, MPH was the founding director of the STD/HIV Prevention Training Center of New England (PTC). As the longtime Medical Director of the MDPH Division of STD Prevention and HIV/AIDS Surveillance, Dr. Ratelle established the training center in 1995 to provide New England clinicians with state-of-the-art training in STD diagnosis, management and prevention. Over the years she worked tirelessly to establish the PTC of New England as a regional and national leader in the field of clinician training. She spearheaded the PTC’s expansion to include clinical training sites in Boston, Hartford, and Providence, and worked collaboratively with numerous organizations to develop innovative teaching tools, workshops and training curricula for the busy clinician. Dr. Ratelle was a staunch advocate for STD/HIV prevention, an astute mentor, a giving and caring colleague, and a great friend.
In 2006, Dr. Ratelle passed away after a long and courageous battle with breast cancer at the age of 51. One of her enduring legacies is the Sylvie Ratelle STD/HIV Prevention Training Center, providing opportunities for countless clinicians to benefit from local and national experts in the field of STD/HIV prevention training.
Testimonials
“Very informative course. I would love to take it again in the future! You can always learn something new!”
-Public Health Nurse, New Hampshire
“A very useful and practical two days of intensive training on sexually transmitted infections, with application of pertinent clinical skills for diagnosing and treating STIs. I would highly recommend this course to providers who diagnose and treat STIs”
-Nurse Practitioner, College Health, Maine
“A much-needed review of STD topics from a public health perspective and a hands-on clinical perspective”
-Physician, Massachusetts
“This course is an invaluable and comprehensive exploration of STD evaluation and management. The speakers were exceptionally knowledgeable and passionate about this topic. I highly recommend it!”
-Nurse Practitioner, Community Health Center, Massachusetts
“I had so many ‘AH-HA’ moments during this Intensive course! All of the material covered has allowed me to not only interact better with my patients, but to elicit the information necessary to provide the best care! I highly recommend this program for anyone providing working in STD”
-Nurse Practitioner, Connecticut
“The STD Clinical Intensive Course was fantastic. I walked away with a new confidence in my approach to STDs. The presenters were extremely knowledgeable, friendly, engaging, and created such a wonderful learning environment. Thank you!”
-Nurse Practitioner, College Health, Massachusetts
