Country: United States
Biography
Dr. Janie Benson is an experienced research and evaluation specialist in global reproductive health in Africa, Asia and Latin America. She served as the Vice-President for Research and Evaluation for Ipas, a global, non-profit organization focused on expanding access to safe abortion and contraception and advancing women’s reproductive rights. Dr. Benson provided strategic and technical leadership in the conceptualization of evaluation frameworks; designed and implemented program monitoring plans; led indicator development and results reporting; oversaw evaluation of the organization’s strategic plan; and supported capacity building in the collection, analysis and use of data for programmatic improvements. She also led/co-led the analysis and publication of outcome assessments of large-scale, multi-country interventions to improve safe abortion access, postabortion contraceptive uptake and health worker performance.
Dr. Benson has published in peer-reviewed journals including The Lancet, Studies in Family Planning, Global Health: Science and Practice, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, and Social Science and Medicine, and has served as an invited expert on technical working groups for the World Health Organization and other agencies. She is currently an Adjunct Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Gillings School of Global Public Health, Department of Maternal and Child Health, and an Adjunct Faculty Member at Indiana University, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management. She was a member of the Institutional Review Board of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Schools of Public Health and Nursing. Dr. Benson is also an independent consultant in global reproductive health, with recent work for Plan International UK, Pathfinder International and EngenderHealth.
Dr. Benson received her master’s of public health degree at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, and her doctorate of public health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Gillings School of Global Public Health.