- Affiliate Associate Professor, Global Health
- Team Lead, Maternal, Newborn, Child Health & Nutrition, PATH
PATH
2201 Westlake Avenue, Suite 200
Seattle, WA 98121
United States
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Kiersten Israel-Ballard, DrPH, is Affiliate Associate Professor in the Department of Global Health at the University of Washington and an Associate Director with PATH’s Maternal Newborn, Child Health and Nutrition program. She has over 15 years of experience in assessing and supporting methods for optimal infant and young child feeding. Her work has largely focused on conceptualizing appropriate infant feeding methods for vulnerable infants in developing countries. In her current role, Dr. Israel-Ballard leads the human milk bank initiative at PATH. This has included establishing global teams for working with local governments to ensure sustainable implementation, conducting advocacy for human milk banking as a cost-effective strategy for improving health of vulnerable infants, establishing a global technical advisory group, leading rigorous evaluations to determine impact, and developing innovative human milk banking technologies for resource-limited settings. She has also led programs to support implementation of nutrition programs for local governments and partners and focuses on innovative approaches to improve infant health through identifying and assessing the feasibility of novel technologies. She has considerable international experience, working at all health levels in Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and India. She has a DrPH degree from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health.
- BA (University of California (Santa Cruz))
- MPH (University of California (Berkeley))
- DrPH (University of California (Berkeley))
- Child and Adolescent Health (incl. Pediatrics)
- Health Technologies
- Implementation Science
- Maternal Child Health (incl. Reproductive Health)
- Nutrition
Mansen K, Nguyen TT, Nguyen NQ, et al. Strengthening Newborn Nutrition Through Establishment of the First Human Milk Bank in Vietnam [published online ahead of print, 2020 Aug 24]. J Hum Lact. 2020;890334420948448. doi:10.1177/0890334420948448
Israel-Ballard K, Cohen J, Mansen K, Parker M, Engmann C, Kelley M and Oxford-PATH Human Milk Working Group. Call to Action for Equitable Access to Human Milk for Vulnerable Infants. Lancet Global Health 2019 Nov; 7(11): PE1484-1486. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(19)30402-4
Kimani-Murage EW, Wanjohi MN, Kamande E, Macharia T, Mwaniki E, Zerfu T, Ziraba A, Muiruri J, Samburu B, Govoga A, Kiige L, Ngwiri T, Mirie W, Musoke R, Mansen K, Israel-Ballard K. Perceptions and Acceptability of Donating and Use of Donated Human Milk and Human Milk Banking in Nairobi, Kenya. Matern Child Nutr. 2019 May 16:e12842. doi: 10.1111/mcn.12842
Mondkar J, Chugh Sachdeva R, Shanbhag S, Khan A, Manuhar Sinha M, Dasgupta R, Israel-Ballard K, Sabharwal V. Understanding Barriers and Facilitators for Human Milk Banking Among Service Providers, Mothers, and Influencers of Preterm and Sick Neonates Admitted at Two Health Facilities in a Metropolitan City in India. Breastfeed Med. 2018 Dec;13(10):694-701. doi: 10.1089/bfm.2018.0103. Epub 2018 Oct 31. PMID: 30383389
Reimers P, Israel-Ballard K, Craig M, Spies L, Thior I, Tanser F, Coutsoudis A. A Cluster Randomised Trial to Determine the Efficacy of the "Feeding Buddies" Programme in Improving Exclusive Breastfeeding Rates Among HIV-Infected Women in Rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. AIDS Behavior. 2018 Jan;22(1):212-223. doi: 10.1007/s10461-017-1865-8. PMID: 28741134