Board & Staff

Organization for Medical and Psychological Assistance for Children Overseas

Board & Staff

Martha Collins, MD, MPH, President , Director

Tanzania was the country of first appointment for Martha. She has worked in a general hospital in Tanzania from 1967-1977. In 1977 she started Hanang Village Health program and trained village health workers for 110 villages in Hanang District. This was before the 1977 Alma Ata declaration of Health for All by the year 2000. This project was funded by CODEL(USA) with funds from USAID.

From 1981-1984 Martha was the Executive Secretary of Tanzania Leprosy Association a National Tanzania Government program funded by European donor agencies for the eradication and control of Leprosy and Tuberculosis

During her stay in Tanzania she also noted many pediatric psychiatric problems which led her to a Child Psychiatry Fellowship in The Children's Hospital and The Judge Baker Children's Center in Boston, MA.

From 1990-1993 Martha was a member of the Medical Faculty of Muhimbili Medical Center Dar es Salaam, Tanzania as a child psychiatrist in the Department of Psychiatry. During her stay there, she found herself treating many children with epilepsy and autism among other childhood psychiatric illnesses . It was here she realised that for effective control of these chronic conditions, consistent treatment with medications was essential and that the expense of purchasing these medications was beyond the ability of many parents. Then, together with Parents of these children, an organization called POCET (Parents Organization for Children with Epilepsy Tanzania) was instituted as a non-governmental organization and medications were purchased for use by its members.

After completing an Adult Residency Training at Tufts-New England Medical Center (NEMC) from 1994-1996, Martha joined the Department of Psychiatry at Tufts-NEMC until her retirement in 2005. She now works part time in South Boston Behavioral Health Program (NEMC) and intends to have her own practice.

Marilyn Ritholz, Ph.D.,Vice President, Director

Marilyn Ritholz, Ph.D. is a child and adult psychologist who works with chronic illness, specifically diabetes. She has been a staff and supervising psychologist at The Children's Hospital Boston since 1987 and also is a Senior staff psychologist at the Joslin Diabetes Center Boston, MA. She has a Harvard Medical School appointment in Psychiatry and has published several qualitative research articles on diabetes care and most recently on child palliative care. She has served as Board Director and Vice-president of OMPACO since the organization began.

Andrew D. Racine, M.D., PhD, Director

Andrew Racine is currently Professor of Clinical Pediatrics and Director of the Division of General Pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Children's Hospital at Montefiore in the Bronx, N.Y. He is a native New Yorker who completed his pediatric training at Boston Children's Hospital after receiving a combined MD and PhD in economics at New York University. His appointment as a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research allows him to augment his clinical activities with research in health economics. Dr. Racine was fortunate to spend a year in Tanzania working at Dareda Hospital under the tutelage of Dr. Martha Collins in the mid-1970s and has been angling for an opportunity to return ever since.

Pamela Cochrane, Ed.D., Director

Pam is a licensed psychologist who has worked with special needs students and their families in Boston. She has supervised students in training and has taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She currently has a private practice in Lexington, MA. She specializes in neuropsychological evaluation of children, adolescents, and young adults and provides consultations to parents regarding their children's academic, social, and emotional needs.

Katherine E. Walden, PhD, Director
Katherine Walden, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist. She began her career at Tufts New England Medical Center in 1995. There, she developed a practice including: consultation/liaison work with many hospital departments; assessment and treatment of children and adults; teaching of medical students, residents, and interns; and leading seminars for the Boston Teachers Union. In 2002, she relocated to the San Francisco area where she is a behavioral consultant for an international financial company. She is among the founding members of OMPACO.

Deborah Arin, MS. CCC-SLP

Speech and Language Pathologist

Deborah Arin is living on Pal Jumeirah, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. She is currently working privately as a Speech and Language Pathologist and Specialist in Autism Spectrum Disorders.

For several years, she worked as Nevada Regional Director for EBA Healthcare, acting as liaison, mental, and clinician for Clark County School District. Prior to her move to Nevada, she worked extensively with the Autism Genetics Research Team at the Tufts- New England Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. She has several publications related to the etiology and presentation of Autism and lectures nationally and internationally on topics related to the disorder.

Anne Hurley, Ph.D. Director

Anne Hurley, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist who has specialized in developmental disabilities for over 30 years. She has been on the faculty of the Tufts University School of Medicine since 1993 and has written over 100 articles on psychiatric and neuropsychological aspects of developmental disabilities. She is presently practicing at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates in Boston, and is also working in other States and Canada for training and consultation on treatment approaches for people with developmental disabilities. (DD)

Bernadette C. Chiasson, BA, Director

Bernadette Chiasson graduated from Boston College with a B.A. in Natural Sciences. She worked as an Assistant Engineer at Avco/Textron Corporation for several years before retiring in 1992. Her long experience with children comes naturally from her many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and nephews who are scattered across the Country. Bernadette observed several days of a Nutrition Survey in a village in Tanzania and still maintains her interest in these children. Bernadette volunteers at Health Care Dimensions Hospice in Waltham, MA and at The Children's Room for Grieving Children and Teenagers in Arlington, MA.