Background

Dr Sarah Bar-Zeev is a midwife, educator, a maternal and newborn health researcher and international development specialist with over 20 years of experience improving midwifery and maternal and newborn health care.

Sarah recently joined Burnet Institute as a Senior Research Fellow after working as a Technical Specialist in Midwifery at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), New York, where she co-led the coordination and technical strengthening of the UNFPA Global Midwifery Programme.

Sarah has established effective collaborations with international organisations including WHO, UNICEF, the International Confederation of Midwives, academic institutions, non-government and civil society organisations and has contributed to global reports, publications, recommendations, technical guidance and high-level advocacy for midwifery and maternal and newborn health.

Sarah has a proven track record of resource mobilisation, initiating and obtaining competitive grants from global funders including the Bill and Malinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), USAID, NH&MRC, industry and development partners. She has strong expertise in leading multi-country, multi-partner, large-scale midwifery and maternal and newborn health research and capacity building interventions in resource limited settings. Her PhD from the University of Sydney led to policy change and redesign of service delivery for remote dwelling Australian Aboriginal women and their infants, and her other research has also been translated into practice.

Prior to UNFPA, Sarah was faculty at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, being based in Malawi for 6 years, and worked regionally in Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Sarah has worked clinically in the Philippines, Malawi and in remote, rural and urban health facilities in Australia.