Katherine Semrau
Katherine Semrau, PhD, MPH, is the Director of the BetterBirth Program at Ariadne Labs. As Program Director, Dr. Semrau oversees the research and execution of the BetterBirth Program which aims to improve the quality of care, minimize complications, and end the preventable deaths of women and newborns through effective implementation of evidence-based, scalable solutions at the frontline of care. Katherine is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an Associate Epidemiologist at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the Division of Global Health Equity.
Katherine also serves as the Deputy Director of Ariadne Labs overseeing the three platforms, and serving as the senior scientific leader of the Lab. In this role, she oversees the platforms, promotes the Ariadne matrix, and advances scientific methodology and rigor for the Lab. She will be an integral member of the Management Team, working with us to lead the day-to-day functions of the Lab.
Dr. Semrau has over 19 years of experience in the fields of maternal, newborn and child health and epidemiology. Her research has focused on prevention of maternal and child mortality, improvement of quality of care, and prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Currently, Dr. Semrau has a portfolio of research focused on designing, testing and implementing maternal and newborn health interventions in resource limited settings. The BetterBirth Program portfolio focuses on improving implementation and outcomes in maternal and neonatal health at time of childbirth with projects focused on the Safe Childbirth Checklist, Patient Education and Facility Readiness. Additionally, we have a project focused on identifying solutions for the most vulnerable newborns, especially low birthweight infants.
Most recently, Dr. Semrau led one of the world’s largest maternal/newborn health studies the BetterBirth trial. This large randomized controlled trial of a coaching-based intervention WHO Safe Childbirth Checklist in Uttar Pradesh, India tested the impact on provider adherence to practices, maternal/perinatal morbidity, and mortality. The Ariadne Labs team shared the results via a report available here. Previously, Dr. Semrau, the co-Principal Investigator of the Zambia Chlorhexidine Application Trial (ZamCAT), led the epidemiology and data analysis team for this cluster randomized control trial of >39,000 births in Southern Province, Zambia. As a team member of the Zambia Exclusive Breastfeeding Study, she lived in Zambia for over 3 years running the study laboratory and coordinating all enrollment, data collection and data management activities. She then returned to the U.S. and collaborated on multiple projects in sub-Saharan Africa, India and the Republic of Georgia.
Dr. Semrau’s dissertation research focused on breast problems, including mastitis and abscess, and HIV in HIV-infected women in Zambia. Dr. Semrau has a PhD in epidemiology from Boston University and an MPH in international health and epidemiology from the University of Alabama-Birmingham.
Boston, MA – Ariadne Labs is excited to announce the appointment of two new leaders to strengthen its mission of reducing suffering and saving lives. Selam Woldeselassie will join as Senior Director of Administration, overseeing finance, talent, and operations, and Katherine Semrau will assume the role of Deputy Director. Kit Nichols, the current Chief Administrative… Continue reading Ariadne Labs Announces Two New Roles to Expand Strategic Partnerships and Strengthen Administrative Leadership
The Checklist should be just one part of an overall strategy to achieve high-quality maternal and neonatal care Since launching in 2015, the WHO Safe Childbirth Checklist has been regarded as an important tool in closing safety gaps in maternal and neonatal care. But, as a recent commentary co-authored by Ariadne Labs’ BetterBirth Program, Jhpiego,… Continue reading New Commentary Highlights Unfinished Research Agenda for WHO Safe Childbirth Checklist
Maternal-newborn health leaders agree: after decades of significant global progress, it is possible to drive the changes that will be needed to finally end the preventable deaths of women and newborns in childbirth worldwide. A new Ariadne Labs report launched at betterbirth.ariadnelabs.org aims to support the global effort with unprecedented data and evidence about what… Continue reading New report: Creating a “systemness” in childbirth care can end preventable deaths of women, newborns
The Ariadne Labs BetterBirth team launched a landmark report with research findings, frontline insights, and global recommendations for improving maternal-newborn care at the 2019 Women Deliver Conference, the world’s largest conference on gender equality and the health, rights, and well-being of girls and women. The timing of the release of the 80-page BetterBirth Report at… Continue reading BetterBirth team brings maternal-newborn care recommendations to Women Deliver 2019
The Ariadne Labs childbirth teams will share latest innovations in childbirth care in Brazil this month at the world’s largest gathering of ob-gyns The Ariadne Labs childbirth teams will join a record 8,000 participants from 109 countries at XXII FIGO World Congress 2018, the largest gathering of obstetricians and gynecologists globally. The 22nd International Federation… Continue reading Childbirth teams bring Ariadne Labs tools, strategies and research to FIGO 2018
The BetterBirth team and their partners, Noora Health, publish the findings on the benefit to family-centered education in the early postnatal period to reduce neonatal mortality.
Katherine Semrau co-authors a commentary as part of The Lancet’s Small Vulnerable Newborn Series.
The BetterBirth program published 6-month longitudinal data results from the LIFE Study on feeding and growth patterns among moderately low birthweight infants in resource-limited settings.
Commentary from the BetterBirth team published in Lancet Global Health on how the Checklist is most effective when implemented as part of a larger quality improvement initiative and calls for more research.
Published in BMJ Open the BetterBirth team aimed to assess time use and the specific time requirements to incorporate the WHO Safe Childbirth Checklist into clinical practice
Published in the Journal of Global Health Reports, the BetterBirth team shares important insights about how to adapt, implement, evaluate, and sustain use of the Checklist.
