Ilana Dzuba, MHS
Ilana Dzuba is the Assistant Director of the Vulnerable Infant Portfolio on the BetterBirth team at Ariadne Labs, which aims to strengthen growth and health outcomes for low birthweight and preterm infants in resource-limited settings. An experienced researcher and program leader, she co-leads the Low Birthweight and Preterm Infant Feeding Trial and Supportive Care Package (LIFT-UP) study, which evaluates a series of interventions to improve maternal lactation and infant feeding in India, Malawi, and Tanzania, leveraging implementation science and randomized controlled trial methodologies. In this role, she provides guidance on study design and implementation and shapes partnership strategy within a large international consortium to develop scalable, evidence-based solutions for vulnerable newborns and their families.
Ilana is committed to supporting patient-centered innovations that dismantle inequities and improve service delivery options, clinical outcomes, and access to high-quality reproductive, maternal, and newborn health care in the US and globally. Her work centers on de-medicalizing and simplifying care models, strengthening efficiency, and empowering individuals to take ownership of their health and wellbeing. Ilana collaborates with diverse groups of stakeholders, including people accessing care, healthcare providers, health system leaders, policymakers, and regional and global health authorities, to generate evidence and drive changes in clinical practice and policy.
Prior to joining Ariadne Labs, Ilana advanced global initiatives and partnerships to drive innovation in reproductive and maternal health at Gynuity Health Projects, leading clinical research studies and the introduction and expansion of user-centered treatments and service delivery models in the United States, Turkey, Indonesia, Vietnam, and numerous countries in Latin America. Earlier in her career at EngenderHealth, she focused on research and implementation of cervical cancer prevention strategies, including HPV DNA testing and visual inspection with acetic acid, in Bolivia, India, and South Africa.
Ilana holds a Master of Health Science from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and a dual Bachelor of Arts from Brown University. She is also a full-spectrum doula and lived for several years in Costa Rica and Mexico.
Ilana’s bibliography of published papers can be accessed here.