Jennifer Yourkavitch is a perinatal/pediatric epidemiologist and board-certified lactation consultant with more than 20 years of experience leading and guiding health programs in Africa and Asia and conducting research to improve maternal and child health and nutrition.
At Results for Development (R4D), Dr. Yourkavitch is the director of monitoring, evaluation and learning for USAID’s Advancing Nutrition, the agency’s flagship program in global nutrition. In this role, she leads a team of experts to monitor and evaluate nutrition programs, conduct implementation research and build technical capacity for these activities around the world.
Dr. Yourkavitch’s consequential research in numerous publications has implications for maternal and child health and nutrition policies and programs around the world. She has led teams on several global initiatives, including USAID’s MCHIP and WHO’s RAcE Programme, in addition to USAID’s Advancing Nutrition. Throughout her career, she has guided health programs toward sustainable practices.
Before joining R4D, Dr. Yourkavitch worked for ICF for 15 years, conducting research and advising clients including the EPA, USAID, WHO, and CDC. Prior to working with ICF, Jennifer directed a maternal and child health program in Zambia for Project Concern International and provided technical support at the headquarters office.
Dr. Yourkavitch is an academic editor for child health at PLoS One, a Research Scientist at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, and an adjunct faculty in the maternal and child health department at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Dr. Yourkavitch holds a PhD in epidemiology from the University of North Carolina, a master’s degree in epidemiology from San Diego State University, and a BA in international affairs from George Washington University. She is a native speaker of English, is proficient in Spanish, and is learning French. She is also skilled in quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis.
Publications
A rapid landscape review of postpartum anaemia measurement: challenges and opportunities. BMC Public Health (July 2023)
Systematic review of metrics used to characterise dietary nutrient supply from household consumption and expenditure surveys. Public Health Nutrition (January 2022)
Modeling food fortification contributions to micronutrient requirements in Malawi using Household Consumption and Expenditure Surveys. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (September 2021)
