Luísa M. M. Fernandes

Senior Advisor 

She/Her/Hers

Luísa is a research analyst at HSG with ten years of experience in health policy implementation and evaluation within health systems. She supports the team with in-depth analytical products, such as market analyses, epidemiological insights, analyzing Medicaid and Medicare data, and best-practice research. Luísa has experience with qualitative and quantitative analysis using national databases to evaluate the effectiveness of health policies, cost savings, and expanded health care coverage. 

Luísa holds a doctorate in public health studies from the University at Albany, during which she evaluated interventions to improve maternal health care. While completing her degree program, she worked at the New York State Department of Health with the evaluation team of the Alzheimer's and caregivers program at the Department of Long-Term Care. During her master’s program, she evaluated Brazil's National health Policy for Workers, conducting five case studies in different regions of the country, while practicing as a speech therapist, lactation specialist, and doula.  

Previously, Luísa worked in different levels of Brazil's public health system, first as a Program Manager for the continuing education of primary health care workers in 16 family care units at the Belo Horizonte's Department of Health, a city with over 3 million residents. Later she was invited to serve as the Deputy Director for the People with Disabilities Bureau at the Ministry of Health, where she coordinated the implementations of 19 centers of excellence throughout the country and joined the Zika Epidemic national task force, among other responsibilities. Before moving to the U.S. with a Brazilian federal grant to complete her studies, she was at the Ministry of Health supporting the implementation of the National Continuing Education Policy. An essential feature of her position was coordinating the execution of contracts between universities and local health systems across the country to support the training of new doctors integrated with the public health system. It was part of the Mais Médicos program (More Doctors Program), which expanded access to health for 60 million Brazilians. 

Currently, Luísa is also a researcher in her home country of Brazil at FIOCRUZ, a prestigious national research institute, studying health policies and social protection policies. She supports the Ministry of Health and multiple states to incorporate WHO Sustainable Development Goals into the government's plan.

Areas of Expertise

• Evaluating health policies and interventions

• Maternal health care

• Comparative analysis of global health systems

• Population health

• Data analytics

Education

• DrPH; State University of New York at Albany

• MPH; Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil)

• MPA; João Pinheiro Foundation (Brazil)

• BA; Speech Therapist and Audiologist; Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil)

Publications

• How a Primary Health Care Clinic in Brazil Faces Coronavirus Treatment within a Vulnerable Community : The Experience of the Morro da Conceição area in Recife. NEJM Catal. 2020.

• Changes in perceived knowledge about childbirth among pregnant women participating in the Senses of Birth intervention in Brazil: a cross-sectional study. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2020 Dec 5;20(1):265

• Doulas as agents of reproductive justice who promote women international health: an evidence-based review and comparative and comparative study between Brazil and the United States. Reprod Ethics II. 2018;161–75.