Jennifer Beard

Jennifer Beard, PhD, MA, MPH, is an Assistant Professor the Department of Global Health and the Center for Global Health & Development at the Boston University School of Public Health where she directs the writing program and teaches courses in professional and scientific writing, qualitative research, the social determinants of health, and global mental health. Her research interests include the health and well-being of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), and highly vulnerable adults such as sex workers, drug users, and other key populations at risk for HIV. She is also a founding member of the BU Program on Crisis Response and Reporting, which analyzes the similarities and tensions between global health research and journalism. She has co-authored academic articles in peer reviewed journals, on a wide variety of topics including the health and wellbeing of OVC, and the the vulnerabilities to HIV, violence, and discrimination faced by sex workers and drug users in Ghana. Dr. Beard was the principal investigator for a multi-study operations research project looking at the HIV prevention and other needs of key populations in Ghana. She has also worked in India, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Ukraine, and Zambia. Though her research is now focused on global health, she remains a devoted reader of Victorian novels and is convinced that her current research interests have their roots in her passion for Charles Dickens and the Brontë sisters.