Articles Women of Inspiration™ Podcast EP2 – Dr Suzanne Donovan – COVID19 EDITION

Women of Inspiration™ Podcast  | Ep2 – Dr. Suzanne Donovan | @DrSuzanneDonovan

Dr. Suzanne Donovan is a UCLA Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases Expert in Outbreak Management and Infection Prevention & Control.Dr. Suzann has travelled and worked around the world-leading Outbreaks for Epidemics and Pandemics travelling to West Africa for the Elboya, to Asia, Amazonia and closer to home in America.

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. In a rare interview, Dr Suzanne Donovan shares the facts and information from the front lines of the COVID-19 Pandemic, what we can do to isolate and contain the virus. Listen to our interview with Dr. Suzanne Donovan, and her inspiring story of a young girl raised in an orphanage with a big dream to travel to be an international veterinarian, work in Africa live a life of adventure serving others!

“I’m with the dirty mouth girls. The ones with the bare feet, brilliant minds, messy hair, wild hearts, and feisty spirits. The ones who aren’t afraid to speak up and who live for doing what they’ve been told is impossible.” Brooke Hampton

Spread the word, not the virus!

At 38:00 on what we can all do help and keep people safe. Trust me you won’t want to miss this and please share the valuable information with those in your network.

Every Woman Has a Story

At, 41:00, Dr. Donovan shares what inspired her career as a medical doctor. She shares her story growing up in a Catholic orphanage and knowing at the age of five (5) years-old she what she wanted to be when she grew up with included working in Africa an international veterinarian, and adventurer! Dr. Suzanne Donovan is a UCLA Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases specialist who is an internationally recognized expert in outbreak response, emerging infections, and prevention of hospital-based transmission of infections. As a medical student and African Studies Scholar in the US, she worked and conducted research in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic where she saw some of the first cases of AIDs in Africa. She received her clinical Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases training at Northwestern and UCLA universities, while also obtaining her Master of Public Health in Epidemiology at UCLA. She was the Medical Director of the Los Angeles County (LAC) Immunization and Sexually Transmitted Disease Programs, which are the largest public health programs in the US. At the Immunization program, she oversaw the implementation of vaccine programs and led all of the outbreak investigations of vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles, in a population of 13 million. She has been the Medical Director of Infection Prevention & Control (IPC) for over 25 years, with extensive experience in the prevention of hospital-acquired infections and outbreaks. She was appointed a WHO Technical Advisor in Infection Control and Medical Consultant to the World Health Organization and UN during the Ebola outbreak in 2014-15, where she was involved in the clinical care of hundreds of Ebola patients, health care worker evacuation, improvement in Ebola Unit IPC measures and hospital inspections in Sierra Leone. She assisted the UN in training African troops on Ebola Preparedness in 2015 in Nairobi and implemented education programs to reopen hospitals in Sierra Leone. Dr. Donovan has traveled internationally from areas including Amazonia, Central America, Asia and Africa in her outbreak work. Most recently, she has appointed the Special Pathogens to lead for a California biocontainment unit dedicated to novel corona virus-infected patients during the current COVID19 epidemic and is on the Los Angeles county COVID Response Team. She is passionate in her efforts to assist hospitals, non-governmental (NGO) and national organizations in outbreak management and prevention of hospital-based transmission of emerging infections all over the world.