About Us
MMANGO was founded by Eric J. Nelson, MD, PhD, and Molly Klarman, MPH, in February, 2025, with the first board meeting held in July, 2025. The foundational experience that inspired MMANGO occurred in post-earthquake Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in November 2010, as cholera spread through the dense, poor communities of Cité Soleil. Eric and his wife, Danielle S. Nelson, MD, MPH, had recently co-written a book on large-scale management of cholera outbreaks. Materials from the book were used to train first responders at Médecins du Monde, courtesy of an invitation from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Although clinical care and epidemiologic surveillance improved during working hours, many patients developed shock at home and would even die during the nighttime hours when the clinic was closed. In the age of flip phones, Eric asked a simple question: could mobile technology be leveraged to improve access to care for families isolated by poverty, violence or … clinics closed for the night?
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In 2014, Eric was awarded an NIH Director’s Early Independence Award to pursue this question of how to improve access to care. After three years of design work, and a move from Stanford University to the University of Florida to be closer to Haiti, Eric and Molly joined forces to develop a prototype that would merge telemedicine and medication delivery. Over a fish sandwich in Haiti, the name “MotoMeds” was coined to serve as the public-facing brand. MotoMeds was launched on September 9, 2019, and continues to operate nightly despite security challenges, political and economic crises, and natural disasters. MotoMeds progressed over a series of engineering and clinical studies called the Improving Nighttime Access to Care and Treatment (INACT) studies. This academic venture prioritized the development, evaluation, and validation of the safety and feasibility of the clinical guidelines and logistical approach.
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In 2016, Eric was awarded an NIH R21 from the Fogarty International Center to develop a digital version of the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for the management of diarrheal diseases, which are the second leading cause of death among children between 1 month and 5 years of age. This software was originally called the “Rehydration Calculator” and was evaluated collaboratively in a series of clinical trials in Bangladesh. During this time, Eric met Adam C. Levine, MD, MPH, FACEP, from Brown University, who was developing an evidence-based scoring system for dehydration along with colleagues in Bangladesh. Their teams merged efforts, and the calculator was branded “FluidCalc.”
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As the software matured, it became a vehicle to receive advanced predictive models. These models include one developed at the University of Utah by Drs. Daniel Leung, MD, MSc and Ben Brintz, PhD, that predicts whether an illness is caused by a virus alone, which is helpful in determining whether an antibiotic should be used. Invaluable testing and evaluation in clinical practice have been made possible through academic collaborations with Drs. Khan, MBBS, MSc, PhD, and Alam, MBBS, MD, and their teams at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b).
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Both the technology for MotoMeds and FluidCalc were successfully developed and evaluated in academia. However, these tools have little economic value, whereas they have substantial clinical value to clinicians and patients in the resource-limited contexts they were intended for. During a decade of development, Eric and Molly realized that a mechanism was needed to “graduate” these and similar tools from academia to a platform that could receive, polish, and sustainably host them—long after academic grants ended and their creators had moved on. After evaluating possibilities both within and outside academia, it became clear that a mission-focused nonprofit entity like MMANGO was necessary to fill this unmet need.
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Supported by a diverse and talented board, MMANGO was launched and continues to evolve in response to the emerging needs and opportunities for global health technology. As AI increasingly shapes healthcare, MMANGO will work to harness the good of AI while leaving behind the bad, doing so in a manner that aligns to its mission, values, and principles for many years to come.
Meet the Board
Eric J. Nelson
Dr. Nelson is a pediatric hospitalist and sees patients at UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital. Board-certified in pediatrics and pediatric hospital medicine, Dr. Nelson earned his medical degree from Tufts University. He then completed a pediatric residency at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University followed by a pediatric global health fellowship at Stanford.
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Dr. Nelson is currently on faculty at the UF Emerging Pathogens Institute and is a tenured Associate Professor with the UF Department of Pediatrics. Prior to joining UF in 2016, Dr. Nelson served as Pediatric Global Health Physician Scientist and Instructor for the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Stanford University.
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Dr. Nelson enjoys spending time with his family, playing the cello, sailing and playing soccer.
Molly Klarman
I came to Dr. Nelson’s lab in 2018 after having worked for two community based NGOs in Haiti, designing, implementing and evaluating public health programming. Prior to that I was involved in research in both Latin America and the US spanning diverse fields from household water purification to development of diagnostic tests for parasitic diseases to best agricultural practices for watershed management.
My current work at UF involves coordinating all aspects of a series of research studies called INACT; Improving Nighttime Access to Care and Treatment that are being conducted in Haiti. Within these studies we are building, evaluating, and disseminating the MotoMeds telemedicine and medication delivery service healthcare delivery model. Ultimately, we are working towards the goal of improving access to quality healthcare for all families.
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I am especially drawn to the work being done at the Nelson lab because of its focus on bridging the gap between research and actionable public health improvements and I am excited to have the opportunity to contribute to this endeavor.
John Engels
John Engels is a founder, investor and operator focused on new technology development and commercialization. John is Founder and CEO of Corvivo, leader in cardiovascular regeneration, on track for the first FDA-approved surgical tricuspid valve replacement and first regenerative heart valve. He founded AxoGen (NASDAQ: AXGN, Russell 2000), pioneering regenerative medical technologies to treat peripheral nerve injuries in the US, Europe, South America, and Asia. John is Chairman and Founder of Andante Biologics, developing MAB therapies to overcome chronic stress-related disease. He was an early-stage investor or board member of several companies, including MMI, a disruptive robotic microsurgery company, and HCW Biologics (NASDAQ: HCWB), developing immunotherapies treating inflammation and age-related disorders. John received his MBA from the Wharton School of Business, and BA from the University of Chicago. He enjoys reading, running, and exploring national parks with his family. John is married to Christine Archer Engels, a biologist working to protect the endangered Golden Lion Tamarin in her native Brasil.
Bronwyn Harris
Bronwyn Harris has spent the last decade in digital health, starting from founding her own company, Tueo Health - improving pediatric asthma self-management, which was acquired by Apple in 2018. Currently she is VP of Product overseeing care solutions at Verily. Her experience includes leading the clinical product development of an industry-first COVID exposure notification framework at Apple in collaboration with Google, serving as VP of Clinical Product at Carbon Health, where she managed programs for hypertension, diabetes, and mental health, and pioneering a digital asthma self-management tool that reduced Emergency Room visits by 43% in a Medicaid population.
Bronwyn has a BS and MS in biomedical engineering and also an MD. As a physician, she still practices a half day a week at Stanford as a pediatric cardiologist. She has a builder's mindset and enjoys utilizing her medical background while working in product development, from identifying and understanding clinical needs and collaborating with clinical teams to seeing projects through to the finish line.
Rudy Rocourt
Rudy Rocourt is the Founder and CEO of Jetli Transfer, an e-commerce platform that enables the Haitian Diaspora to send goods and services to loved ones in Haiti. Raised in Port-au-Prince, he witnessed the vital role remittances play—accounting for nearly 20% of Haiti’s GDP and supporting essential needs. Before founding Jetli, he spent over a decade in international finance and fintech with Citibank, BNY Mellon, and Viamericas across the U.S., India, and the Caribbean. After the 2010 earthquake, he returned to Haiti to lead Citibank Haiti’s Treasury department, where he recognized the impact of remittances and the need for better solutions—sparking the creation of Jetli Transfer.
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Jetli’s mission is to connect the Diaspora with local businesses, farmers, and importers, ensuring funds directly support communities while promoting economic growth, reducing food insecurity, and expanding access to education. Rudy advises entrepreneurs in Haiti to be patient, think big but act small, and adapt to the country’s unique environment. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University at Albany, is fluent in French and Haitian Creole, and is a strong advocate for financial inclusion in Haiti and the U.S.
Adam C. Levine
Dr. Adam C. Levine is a Professor of Emergency Medicine and International and Public Affairs at Brown University. Dr. Levine currently serves as the Associate Dean of Global Health Equity within the Brown University Division of Biology and Medicine. Dr. Levine received his Medical Doctorate from the University of California, San Francisco and his Masters of Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley before completing specialty training in Emergency Medicine and Humanitarian Studies at Harvard University. He has previously led research and training initiatives in East and West Africa and South and South-East Asia. His federal and foundation-funded research focuses on improving emergency care in low resource settings and during public health emergencies, while his clinical work focuses on the care of unsheltered populations in Rhode Island.