Dr. Anjali Niyogi, a physician, and Dr. Ashley Wennerstrom, a public health researcher and practitioner, have been collaborating successfully since 2014 to improve access to health care services for formerly incarcerated persons. Their residency was used to produce a manuscript documenting the process of developing their Formerly Incarcerated Transition Clinic as well as identify future funding sources for the clinic.

Ashley Wennerstrom is the director of the Louisiana Community Health Worker Institute. She is a co-founder and past chair of the Louisiana Community Health Outreach Network, a local professional group for community health workers. Dr. Wennerstrom is also the Community Health Clerkship Director for Tulane School of Medicine, a required course which educates students about the social determinants of health, the non-medical aspects of patients’ lives such as education, housing, employment, language, environment, nutrition, and safety. From 2008-2010, Dr. Wennerstrom served as associate director of the REACH NOLA Mental Health Infrastructure and Training Project, a community-academic partnered mental health quality improvement initiative. She is a governing councilor for the Community Health Planning and Policy Development Section of the American Public Health Association (APHA). She also serves a co-chair of the policy committee for the Community Health Workers Section of APHA.

Dr. Wennerstrom received a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs and Spanish from the University of Colorado. She served as an AmeriCorps VISTA at New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity prior to earning an MPH from the University of Arizona. She received a PhD from the department of Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.