Harnessing the Power of Global Health Innovation
As a researcher in Chiapas, Mexico, Katie Ryan traveled to a mountainous, rural community four hours from the nearest city to collect data on breastfeeding and maternal and child health outcomes. After driving through rivers, navigating up steep dirt roads, and walking the last half hour on foot, Ryan and her colleagues reached the survey participants.
Although it had long been a challenge for health care workers and equipment to reach this remote community, the research team was greeted by a refrigerated Coca-Cola truck. “The local store readily stocked processed foods,” Ryan says, “while residents had to travel hours to receive even the most basic health care services like vaccines.”
“I want to bridge the gap between the public and private sector to ensure community-led health care is accessible and sustainable in even the most remote areas.”
After graduating from Georgetown University, Ryan’s work with a mobile HIV screening initiative in Washington, D.C., Planned Parenthood, the Pan American Health Organization, and The ONE Campaign exposed her to a broad scope of public health issues. A joint MPH/MBA program will position her, she says, to incorporate business practices, such as delivery innovation and human-centered design, into the public health world.
“I want to bridge the gap between the public and private sector,” she says, “to ensure community-led health care is accessible and sustainable in even the most remote areas.”
