AUDREY HERSMAN

Audrey Hersman is an MPH student in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Washington. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology and International Studies from Boston College. Upon graduation, as a Fulbright-Nehru English Teaching Assistant in India, Audrey taught English and partnered with local health educators to facilitate health education sessions for her students. Most recently, Audrey worked as a Program Associate for the Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) program at PATH. At PATH, she provided project management and research support for a Gates Foundation-funded project tasked with developing a planning toolkit for integrated post-elimination surveillance of NTDs. In her role, she helped lead landscaping activities, including an extensive literature review and KIIs, to assess the current barriers and opportunities for integrated surveillance and response systems for onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis. Using those findings, she helped draft the toolkit and develop the research protocol and data collection tools for pilot implementation in Bangladesh, Senegal, and Nigeria. Joining the START Center, Audrey is excited to explore new research topic areas and get more involved in research design and data analysis. Her research interests include operational research and program evaluation, malaria and neglected tropical diseases, and sexual and reproductive health.