Katharine Olson

About Katharine Olson

Katharine Olson, MPH & TM, is a public health specialist with 5 years of experience (2+ years internationally) in research, health education, and program implementation, in HIV/AIDS and COVID-19. She is a research analyst with the Duke Global Health Innovation Center, where she has tracked global progress towards COVID-19 goals through synthesizing multiple data sources into 20 bi-weekly reports. Ms. Olson has collaborated with the WHO and other partners to conduct literature reviews and qualitative research studies on COVID-19 vaccination efforts and global health market shaping. Katharine was a Clinic and Health Team Volunteer with the Peace Corps in Botswana, improving ARV adherence among a group of 20 adolescents living with HIV through starting a peer support group, and training over 70 Peace Corps Volunteers and local health workers in health commodity supply chain management. She was inducted into the Delta Omega public health honor society in 2022. She is native in English, and speaks intermediate French and Setswana.

Experience

1. Research Analyst i

   Duke Global Health Innovation Center

   Jun 2022 — Present

   Led data collection and data quality management for 2 projects (the Launch and Scale Speedometer and the COVID Global Accountability Platform)- Collected and synthesized data on COVID vaccine purchases, donations, and therapeutic purchases, across multiple databases and public news sources- Wrote 20 COVID Accountability Reports which analyzed multiple data sources over time to track progress, successes, and opportunities for improvement of the COVID-19 response- Collaborated with WHO and Johns Hopkins University on a rapid systematic review of enablers, barriers, and lessons learned during the implementation of COVID-19 vaccines.Co-led data collection, extraction, analysis, and assisted with key informant interviews for an evaluation of global health market shaping efforts over the last 10 years to synthesize learnings into actionable recommendations for the field moving forward.

Education

• Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine

  Master of Public Health - MPH

  2020 — 2022

• Furman University

  Bachelor of Science (B.S.)

  2014 — 2018