The Importance of Healthcare System Strengthening During and Post-Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone
Prior to starting at Penn Nursing as a Hillman Scholar in Nursing Innovation, Elizabeth worked for Partners In Health (PIH) as a Tuberculosis Analyst for TB CARE II, a collaborative project between USAID and PIH. Her chief role was to work closely with Ministries of Health in high burden TB countries to implement novel infection control interventions to reduce nosocomial transmission among healthcare workers in various healthcare environments. Elizabeth worked very closely with the Ministries of Health in Bangladesh, Vietnam, Zambia, Haiti, and Peru to strengthen MRT-TB surveillance strategies. As a result of this work, she and her in-country colleagues were able to successfully change infection control policies in Bangladesh and Vietnam. Based on the work from these two countries, the World Health Organization altered their 2017 MDR-TB IPC guidelines to incorporate the research that resulted from her work in these two Southeast Asian settings. After completing this project, Elizabeth became the Director of Monitoring and Evaluation for PIH, in Sierra Leone, during the Ebola epidemic, where she was responsible for collecting clinical data on patient outcomes inside the Ebola Treatment Facilities. She was also responsible for the development of all of the infection control policies related to facility infrastructure and healthcare worker safety for PIH.