Dr. Benova didn’t start off as an infectious disease specialist - Infectious disease research came to her through her work on maternal health during the COVID-19 epidemic. She shares with us her insights into maternal and neonatal health, and shows us how key populations - expectant mothers - are forgotten in disease outbreaks. Dr. Benova explains how using mixed methods and qualitative evidence can help us with the early detection of health emergencies.

Dr. Benova conducts research reproductive and maternal health, and health seeking behaviors at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp. She has an eclectic background, with expertise as a quantitative population health scientist who draws upon management, economics, Middle East studies, demography, and epidemiology.  From 2014 to 2018, she served as a co-investigator on the Maternal healthcare markets Evaluation Team (MET) at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, where she led the SAGE (Secondary data Analysis for Generating new Evidence) team.

Jackie Thornhill is a communications, policy, and public relations expert currently serving as a Legislative Aide to San Francisco District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman. She has created and executed communications plans for multiple elected officials, candidates for elected office, and public agencies. She has coordinated digital engagement and social media campaigns in her roles with City government, including campaigns to educate the public about the City’s evolving public health guidelines throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Campaigns she created include “Show Your Pride, Get Vaccinated!”, “Dispatcher Week 2021”, “A Place for All”, and Supervisor Mandelman’s calls for an escalated public health response to the MPX outbreak in 2022. Jackie grew up in the San Fernando Valley before moving to San Francisco in 2016, and graduated from the University of San Francisco with a bachelor's degree in Political Science in 2019. She has worked for the City and County of San Francisco since January, 2020.

Links:
twitter: https://twitter.com/SF_emergency/status/1403414661337288705
show your pride campaign: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9N-fE6FmJXBwheBpzKjmmzy1T1i49KEP
SF monkeypox response: https://www.ebar.com/story.php?ch=news&sc=latest_news&id=317259