Elena Savoia, MPH, MD

Biography

Dr. Savoia is a medical doctor specialized in preventive medicine and in the use of quantitative methods in public health. During the past ten years her research interests have focused on the measurement of public health emergency preparedness. She has focused her work in developing evaluation methods to assess capacities and capabilities of public health systems preparing for and responding to emergencies. She has collaborated with public health officials in developing case studies, workshops and distance learning products, and conducted projects for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization and other local, state and international partners. She is specialized in the use of evaluation methods to assess the effectiveness of risk communications activities in times of crisis. She has also developed evaluation instruments to assess public health system performance for more than 70 exercises, and conducted interviews with public officials responding to natural disasters, chemical spills and large scale infectious disease outbreaks to identify lessons learned and areas for improvement.