Bio: Robyn Whittaker, M.B.Ch.B., a 2010-11 Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice, is a public health physician and program leader of health technology research at the Clinical Trials Research Unit, University of Auckland. Whittaker's research focuses on using information technology to deliver population health interventions, with particular interest in mobile health. She is author of 25 articles in peer-reviewed journals, and is recipient of the Community Health Prize and the John Macleod Prize in Public Health, both from the University of Auckland. Whittaker is a fellow of the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine and of the New Zealand College of Public Health Medicine, and holds an M.P.H. and M.B.Ch.B. from the University of Auckland.
Placement: Human Resources and Services Administration
Mentors: Kyu Rhee, M.D., M.P.P., Chief Public Health Officer, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Project: Changing the Course: The Future of Mobile Health Information Technology Initiatives
Description: Whittaker examined whether and how new mobile technological solutions can improve access to health care, make services more available and accessible to those most in need, and are likely to reduce health inequalities. She undertook an analysis of the current mHealth initiative text4baby, a national health information program provided free to pregnant women and new mothers for the first year of their baby's life. Key informant interviews were also undertaken with stakeholders in mHealth in the U.S.