Choolwe N. Jacobs is a global health expert, epidemiologist and implementation scientist with over 12 years of experience in research, evaluation, teaching and health systems strengthening. She is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the School of Public Health at the University of Zambia, and Co-founder and Lead of Women in Global Health Zambia.
Her work focuses on women’s health, gender and health equity, sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition (SRMNCAHN), non-communicable diseases, HIV/AIDS, and health systems strengthening. She has extensive experience collaborating with governments, United Nations agencies and academic partners, applying implementation research and health equity approaches to generate evidence for policy and practice. She has led national and regional equity analyses to track progress towards the SDGs and has worked on multi-country initiatives across Southern, East and West Africa, including initiatives on women’s health and the triple elimination of mother-to-child transmission.
She has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and serves in academic editorial roles, including in the Global Public Health Journal. She holds a BScN from the University of Zambia, an MPH from the University of Otago, a PhD from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and completed postdoctoral training at Johns Hopkins University. She has also been a Washington University faculty fellow and is an alumna of research fellowship programmes at Harvard and Vanderbilt Universities.