Dr. Kristy Hackett is a Global Health Researcher and Consultant with multidisciplinary training in public health and social sciences, and over a decade of experience working with colleagues in the Global South. Dr. Hackett was drawn to IEPI’s ESC Thinking approach to addressing complex global health questions because it aligns closely with her own research training and interdisciplinary approach to problem solving. As the Assistant Director of IEPI, Dr. Hackett leverages her research, consulting, and leadership experience to direct and contribute to the execution of IEPI’s mission and vision.

Dr. Hackett’s areas of expertise include reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health (RMNCAH); sexual and reproductive health (SRH); and the use of digital health technologies to strengthen health systems. She has led research projects based in Africa, South Asia, and North America on a range of topics including infant feeding and nutrition, mobile/digital health, human resources for health, and access to safe pregnancy, childbirth and family planning services. Dr. Hackett has extensive applied research experience in program evaluation and implementation science, with an emphasis on fostering partnerships between academic institutions, donors, nongovernmental organizations, and ministries of health to support evidence-informed programming and policy making. She has worked with numerous organizations to improve the delivery of health services and interventions, including the World Health Organization, FHI360, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), BRAC, World Vision, Canadian Red Cross, the Aga Khan Foundation, and the Early Child Development Action Network (ECDAN).

Prior to joining IEPI, Dr. Hackett worked as a Research Associate in the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where she collaborated with academic partners at Aga Khan University to evaluate a large community-based reproductive health program in Pakistan. Prior to this, Dr. Hackett was a Research Associate at the Centre for Global Child Health at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. In this role she collaborated with program implementers to develop evidence-based monitoring and evaluation strategies, and designed implementation research projects to improve the design and delivery of RMNCAH programs in Kenya, Mali, and Pakistan.

Dr. Hackett holds a Doctor of Philosophy from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, a Master of Science in Medical Anthropology from the University of Toronto, and an Honours Bachelor of Science from McMaster University. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at McMaster University, and holds a status-only faculty appointment in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Epidemiology Division) at the University of Toronto.

A complete list of Dr. Hackett’s publications can be found here.