About F.L.I.G.H.T

Discover Our Journey So Far

Since F.L.I.G.H.T.’s establishment in 2022, we’ve collaborated with global partners to bridge healthcare gaps, ensuring marginalized communities worldwide benefit from cutting-edge medical technologies. Through strategic positioning, charitable donations, and community engagement, we tailor our efforts to meet specific local health needs. Our commitment to capacity building and rigorous evaluation ensures sustainable, high-quality healthcare solutions. Join us as we continue to transform health access globally.

Our Founding Team

Meet the creative minds behind our success.

Mitra Nair, M.S.

Co-Founder, President

Mitra Nair is a translational research scientist for Mesoblast Ltd, where she is developing and commercializing cellular therapies to treat complex inflammatory diseases. Her role at Mesoblast Ltd also requires a deep understanding of international supply chains that are foundational to ensuring the safe and timely arrival of precursor, non-perishable consumables, and biologics to desired destinations. She was inspired to play a role in remedying international health disparities through her contributions to Global Medical Brigades in Nicaragua, participating in care delivery through rural mobile clinics. Mitra was born in the Netherlands and has since spent 26 years in the state of Texas. She graduated from Texas A&M with a BS in Biology, from the University of Texas – MD Anderson Cancer Center with an MS in Biomedical Science and was the lead research engineer for the Regenerative Medicine Program in their Department of Pediatric Surgery.

Anjan Saha, M.D., Ph.D

Co-Founder; Chairman of the Board

Anjan Saha is an Apgar Scholar in the Department of Anesthesiology at Columbia University. He has over a decade of experience in working internationally to advance human health with science and implementation. Anjan graduated from the NIH-funded Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Michigan with the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research. He has been recognized as a Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research Resident Scholar and a Kybele International Outreach awardee. He has partnered and/or received funding from federal agencies, NGOs, universities, and professional societies to uncover mechanistic drivers of human disease and improve access to care for underserved populations. Through collaborations with investigators from Germany, China, Sri Lanka, and Sierra Leone, his work in both basic science and global health has been published in well-recognized journals and presented in both national and international forums.

Charlie Emala

Co-Founder, Director of IT

Charlie Emala is an IT specialist in the Department of Anesthesiology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and now resides in New Jersey. He graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York with a BS in Computer Systems and Electrical Engineering. Outside of his work at Columbia University, Charlie leads an IT management service through a small firm that provides concierge technical solutions to various professional entities, including but not limited to, not-for-profit health-oriented foundations, hospitals, law firms, and accounting firms. He is devoted to supporting innovative ideas that originate from solving real world problems by enhancing individual, institutional, and systems level IT capabilities.

Rebekah Boyd, M.D., R.N.

Co-Founder, Director of Projects & Development

Rebekah Boyd is an integrated cardiothoracic surgery resident at Duke University. Her interests lie in health justice and the care of underserved populations, specifically in the context of global health and access to cardiothoracic surgical care. She grew up in the refugee camp of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, and her work with displaced populations has continued across many countries, including running the Columbia Human Rights Initiative Asylum Clinic while in medical school, and her current work building capacity for pediatric cardiac surgery in Guyana, Honduras, and Ghana. She is a member of the Gold Humanism Honor Society and the Akwari Society in addition to being the recipient of the Robert G Bertsch award for humanism in surgery. She is the director of research for the Global Thoracic Surgery Residents’ Association and serves on the Women in Thoracic Surgery research committee. 

Our Partners

Help us Soar to New Heights

Donate today and support our mission of building sustainable health care capacity

Donate now
Scroll to Top