Bobbie Person

GSA Behaviour Change Working Group Co-Chair

Bobbie Person is a Social and Behavioral Science consultant. She was a Senior Behavioral Scientist, Qualitative Researcher, Health Communication Specialist, and Community Intervention Specialist for more than 20+ years for domestic and international studies and programmatic community interventions at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She also has 10 years of hospital and private patient care experience. Bobbie has extensive experience working with local partners, communities, NGOs, and Ministries of Health. She has worked on such health issues as schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis among women, disaster response, SARS, cholera and WASH, malaria, refugee health, and HIV/AIDS. She has authored research protocols, project planning tools, monitoring and evaluation tools, training curriculums as well as peer-reviewed publications.

Dr Person has a vast experience in social and behavioral work for international health and has provided technical assistance for such organizations as Population Services International in Kenya and Zimbabwe, International Red Cross Sierra Leone, Society for Family Health Zambia, CARE, the Clinton Foundation Zambia, Safe Water and AIDS Project Kenya, and others. She has an MPH from Emory University where she has been adjunct faculty for more than 12 years lecturing on behavioral science interventions, health education, promotion, and communication, participatory research, and qualitative research methods.

Dr Person received her PhD from the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands conducting research on women with lymphatic filariasis in Ghana and the Dominican Republic where she published on psychological stress, suffering and coping, health-related stigma, social connectedness, and health seeking behaviors of women with LF. She is currently finishing up ZEST research in Zanzibar by testing a schistosomiasis behaviour change toolkit derived from the study.