Our Team

Dr. David Parajón, a physician, public health practitioner, social entrepreneur, and medical missionary, co-founded AMOS Health and Hope with his wife, Laura, building on the vision and pioneering community health work of his father, Dr. Gustavo Parajón. Dr. David earned his M.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, OH. He trained in internal medicine at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center in Albuquerque and in preventative medicine at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, MD, earning his M.P.H. He earned his M.B.A. from INCAE School of Business in Managua, Nicaragua. Dr. Parajón currently serves as faculty with the General Internal Medicine Division at the University of New Mexico and as an Associate Missionary through International Ministries. 

Dr. Laura Chanchien Parajón, a family physician, medical missionary (International Ministries), and public health professional, co-founded AMOS Health and Hope with her husband, David, and worked in the health equity “trenches” of rural Nicaragua for nearly 20 years. Dr. Parajón currently serves as Deputy Cabinet Secretary for the New Mexico Department of Health, Executive Director for the UNM Office for Community Health, and Assistant Professor in the UNM Department of Family and Community Medicine. She has a strong call to work towards a world where every child has the opportunity to thrive and live an abundant life. Dr. Parajón received her B.A. from Brown University, M.D. from University of New Mexico (UNM) School of Medicine, and M.P.H. from UNM School of Public Health. She completed her residency in family medicine at UNM School of Medicine.

Dr. Gabriella Alexia Woo Moreno is a General Medical Physician, additionally certified in Health Services Management. She was selected as a 2021 leadership development and social entrepreneurship fellow of The Gratitude Network, and she is a recent distinguished graduate from the CAHI-INCAE Innovative Leaders in Health Fellowship Program. Dr. Woo has more than 8 years of experience working in Public Health programs at AMOS Health and Hope in Nicaragua. Before becoming AMOS Executive Director, she served for three years as the Programs Director, where she managed 12 health initiatives in 6 different regions of Nicaragua, overseeing 21 people in her charge, and prior to that, she served for 4 years as AMOS’s Medical Teams Coordinator and the “El Samaritano” Clinic Director.

Christine (Christy) Lafferty is from Cleveland, Ohio. As a young adult, she developed a deep sense of commitment and passion for serving others, motivated by her Christian faith. After studying Sociology and Spanish in college, she followed a call to serve as a young adult missionary for 3 years, working alongside communities in Nicaragua and farm workers in California. Christy has had the honor of working with AMOS for the past 8 years, and has fallen in love with its model and community-based approaches. She also has a special interest in women’s health and in her free time has worked with couples as a birth doula and childbirth educator. 

Marissa Alaniz has been working with AMOS for more than 2 years and is currently based in Ann Arbor, Michigan as AMOS’s Donor Relations Officer. Born and raised in Ann Arbor, she graduated from the University of Michigan, then worked for 3 years in Development and Communications at a local food bank. Before she was hired as a staff member, Marissa served on several mission teams with AMOS and the First Baptist Church of Ann Arbor, and in 2018, moved to Nicaragua to volunteer on the AMOS Development team for one year. Marissa has a passion for cultivating philanthropy from diverse audiences and is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree from IUPUI’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

Jilmer Sánchez is from the town of Siuna, located near Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast. He learned English years ago while volunteering alongside a medical mission organization in his hometown. Jilmer has served as Delegations Coordinator for nearly 5 years, coordinating mission teams that come down to work alongside AMOS and leading community health projects in rural areas.