Center for
Global Health

Scholar

Languages spoken - B2 French

BIO STATEMENT

Dr. Jennifer Cohn, MD, MPH is an infectious disease physician with a focus on improving access to and uptake of effective health products and models of care in low- and middle-income countries. She currently serves as the Global Access Leader for the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP), and is a clinical associate professor of Infectious Diseases and Scholar at the Center for Global Health at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Before joining GARDP, Jennifer served as Senior Vice President for cardiovascular health at Resolve to Save Lives, Senior Director of Innovation at the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and as the Medical Coordinator for the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) Access Campaign. Jennifer has served on international advisory groups for TB, HIV, non-communicable diseases and viral hepatitis. She has published over 80 papers in peer-reviewed medical journals. Jennifer received her MD from University of Pennsylvania, is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases and earned her Masters in Public Health at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.

RECENT GLOBAL HEALTH PROJECTS

Dr. Cohn performs research in two important and emerging areas of global health: health system strengthening and global health policy, focusing on implementation science and access to medications and the introduction of innovative health products and models of care. Dr. Cohn served as the principal investigator for several multi-national implementation projects with embedded operational research. These projects included a $63 million USD grant from UNITAID rolling out point-of-care early infant diagnostic technologies (POC EID) across 9 countries. She served as the PI on a concomitant randomized stepped-wedge trial documenting the impact of POC EID on EID results being received by caregivers and subsequent antiretroviral therapy initiation in HIV-infected infants. Dr. Cohn was also the co-investigator on a cost-effectiveness project examining POC EID use in sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Cohn was also the PI on a $38 million USD grant from Unitaid for a ten-country project focused on improving prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care for pediatric TB, including through the introduction of innovative diagnostics and treatment formulations. This project includes two randomized controlled trials, observational cohorts, cost-effectiveness research and qualitative assessments. Although the project and studies are on-going, this work has led to several abstracts and two peer reviewed manuscripts. I am also a co-investigator on several other studies including an CDC-funded observational study looking at the impact of implementation of a comprehensive care program for people living with advanced HIV, and Unitaid-funded study of the uptake and impact of new pediatric anti-retroviral formulations, a CDC-funded study of use of raltegravir granules for neonates in Zimbabwe, and a Bloomberg Philanthropies-funded quasi-experimental study of a public health approach to the provision of hypertension care.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Cohn J et al. Triple elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, hepatitis B and syphilis in Sub-Saharan Africa: The time is now. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 2021. first/blt.20.272559.pdf?sfvrsn=18176591_3

Abelman R, Alons C, Stockman J, Teri I, Grimsrud A, Ombija M, Makwindi C, Odionyi J, Tumbare E, Longwe B, Bonou M, Songoro J, Mugumya L, Cohn J. Implementation of differentiated service delivery for pediatric HIV care and treatment: opportunities, challenges and experience from seven sub-Saharan African countries. Fam Med Community Health. 2020 Sep;8(3):e000393. doi: 10.1136/fmch-2020-000393. PMID: 32873598; PMCID: PMC7467519

Sacks E, Khumalo P, Tsabedze B, Montgomery W, Mtheethwa N, Nhlabatsi B, Masuku T, Cohn J and Chouraya C.. "The right time is just after birth": acceptability of point-of-care birth testing in Eswatini: qualitative results from infant caregivers, health care workers, and policymakers. BMC Pediatr. 2020;20(1):347. Published 2020 Jul 15. doi:10.1186/s12887-020-02242-2

Cohn J, Ake J, Moorhouse M, Godfrey C. Sex Differences in the Treatment of HIV [published online ahead of print, 2020 Jun 11]. Curr HIV/AIDS Rep. 2020;10.1007/s11904-020-00499-x. doi:10.1007/s11904-020-00499-x

Mofenson LM, Cohn J, Sacks E. Challenges in the Early Infant HIV Diagnosis and Treatment Cascade. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2020;84 Suppl 1:S1-S4. doi:10.1097/QAI.0000000000002366

Clemens SL, Macneal KD, Alons CL, Cohn JE. Screening Algorithms to Reduce Burden of Pediatric HIV Testing: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis [published online ahead of print, 2020 May 21]. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2020;10.1097/INF.0000000000002715. doi:10.1097/INF.0000000000002715

Mafaune HW, Sacks E, Chadambuka A, Musarandega R, Tachiwenyika E, Simmonds FM, Nyamundaya T, Cohn J, Mahomva A, Mushavi A. Effectiveness of Maternal Transmission Risk Stratification in Identification of Infants for HIV Birth Testing: Lessons From Zimbabwe. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2020;84 Suppl 1:S28-S33. doi:10.1097/QAI.0000000000002373

Alemnji G, Peter T, Vojnov L, Alexandre H, Zeh C, Cohn J, Watts DH, de Lussigny S. Building and Sustaining Optimized Diagnostic Networks to Scale-up HIV Viral Load and Early Infant Diagnosis. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2020;84 Suppl 1:S56-S62. doi:10.1097/QAI.0000000000002367

Khumalo PN, Sacks E, Chouraya C, Tsabedze B, Masuku T, Nyoni G, Zikalala T, Nhlabatsi B, Mthethwa N, Cohn J. The Cascade of Care From Routine Point-of-Care HIV Testing at Birth: Results From an 18-Months Pilot Program in Eswatini. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2020;84 Suppl 1:S22-S27. doi:10.1097/QAI.0000000000002380

Last Updated: 03 March 2022