
Kavita Singh Ongechi, PhD
About
Dr. Singh’s main areas of interests are the evaluation of maternal and child health and HIV prevention programs. She is interested in research focused on reaching the most vulnerable groups (including the poorest, displaced populations, orphans and stigmatized groups) with interventions.
Dr. Singh has been the lead PI for external evaluations of quality improvement projects in Ethiopia and Ghana, which focused on improving maternal and child health. These evaluations took a mixed methods approach and included impact analyses, qualitative assessments and cost-effectiveness analyses. She has also evaluated a Safe Motherhood Initiative in Malawi and is currently evaluating interventions intended to improve newborn survival including chlorohexidine use, skin-to-skin contact and postnatal care. Much of her work is also focused on improving the measurement of maternal mortality and improving data quality of maternal and child health indicators.
Kavita Ongechi in the Gillings News
- UNC awarded $90M global health PEARL project to support localized generation and use of evidence and data
- Fewer women with disabilities use modern contraception in India, study finds
- Singh Ongechi awarded Hettleman Prize for supporting mothers and children around the globe
- Maternity waiting homes bring help to vulnerable women in Malawi
- Commentary calls for better documentation of wartime attacks on health-care facilities and patients
Honors and Awards
Philip and Ruth Hettleman Prize for Artistic and Scholarly Acheivement by Young Faculty
2019, UNC-CH
Carolina Women's Center Faculty Scholar
2016-2017, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Carolina Population Center Summer in Residence
2013
Delta Omega Public Health Honor Society
2013
Humphrey Fellows Teaching Excellence Award
2005
Representative Courses
MHCH 722 Global Maternal and Child Health
MHCH 780 Cultural Humility
Research Activities
Principal Investigator: D4I (Data for Impact)
Principal Investigator, Evaluation of a Maternal and Newborn Quality Improvement Project in Pastoral Ethiopia
Co-Investigator, MEASURE (Core) Evaluation Phase IV
Principal Investigator, Evaluation of a Maternal and Newborn Quality Improvement Project in Ethiopia
Principal Investigator: TB DIAH
Co- Investigator GH Pearl
Service Activities
2022-present MCFH Concentration Lead2022-present MCFH Master’s Committee Lead
2022 Global Health Admissions Chair
2022-current MPH Steering Committee
2018-2021 MCFH Concentration co-lead
2016-2019 Carolina Population Center Training Committee
Practice Activities
Organization of and participation in workshops and technical consultations on maternal and child health issues which have brought together experts in the field.
Key Publications
National chlorhexidine coverage and factors associated with newborn umbilical cord care in Bangladesh and Nepal: a cross-sectional analysis using household data. Singh K, Simmons E, Garriga B, Hoover A, Ijdi, RE, KC A. (2024). Maternal health, Neonatology and Perinatology, 10.
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Maternal Health Care Use by Women with Disabilities in Rajasthan, India: An Analysis of the Annual Health Survey. Casebolt T, Singh K, Speizer I, Halpern C. (2023). Maternal Health, Neonatology and Perinatology, 9.
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Quality of maternal and newborn health care in Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study. Biadgo A, Legesse A, Seifu A, Singh K, Mulissa Z, Kiflie A, Magge H, Bitewulign B, Abate M, Alemu H. (2021). BMC Health Services Research, 21.
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Importance of Subnational-level Analyses: Gender Equality Measures and MCH and FP Outcomes in Plateau State, Nigeria. Singh K, Speizer I, Idji, RE, Calhoun L.
(2021). BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 21.
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Influences of health facility type for delivery and experience of cesarean section on maternal and newborn postnatal care between birth and facility discharge in Malawi. Kim ET, Singh K, Speizer IS, Lemani C. (2020). BMC Health Serv Res., 20(1), 139.
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Assessing coverage of essential maternal and child health interventions using health-facility data in Uganda. Simmons, E.M., Singh, K., Mpiima, J., Kumar, M, Weiss, W. (2020). Popul Health Metrics., 18(26).
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The impacts of quality improvement on maternal and newborn health: preliminary findings from a health system integrated intervention in four Ethiopian regions. Hagaman, A.K., Singh, K., Abate, M, Alemu H, Kefale AB, Bitewulign B, Seifu AE, Kiflie A, Mulissa Z, Tiyo H, Seman Y, Tadesse MZ, and Magge H. (2020). BMC Health Serv Res, 20(522).
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Evaluating the impact of a hospital scale-up phase of a quality improvement intervention in Ghana on mortality for children under five. Singh K, Speizer I, Barker PM, Afrakoma Agyeman-Duah JN, Agula J, Akpakli JK Akparibo S, Dasoberi IN, Kanyoke E, Steenwijk JH, Yabang E, Twum-Danso NAY,Sodzi-Tettey S.
(2019). International Journal for Quality in Health Care..
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Are Community Health Workers effective in retaining women in the maternity care continuum? Evidence from India. Agarwal A, Curtis S, Angeles G, Speizer I, Singh K, Thomas J. (2019). BMJ Global Health, Jul 4(4).
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Effect of a Family Planning Intervention on couple years of protection in Malawi. Lemani C, Kamtuwanje N, Phiri B, Speizer I, Singh K, Mtema O, Chisanu N, Tang J. (2018). IJGO, Apr 14(1), 37-44.
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Structural and functional network characteristics and facility delivery among women in rural Ghana. Cofie L, Barrington C, Singh K, Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey, Ennett S, Maman S. (2017). BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, Dec 17(425).
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The importance of skin-to-skin contact for early initiation of breastfeeding in Nigeria and Bangladesh. Singh K, Khan S, Carvajal-Velez L, Brodish P, Amouzou A, Moran A. (2017). Journal of Global Health, Dec 7(2).
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Postnatal care for newborns in Bangladesh: The importance of health–related factors and location. Singh K, Brodish P, Chowdhury E, Biswas T, Kim ET, Godwin C, Moran A. (2017). Journal of Global Health, Dec 7(2).
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Education
- PhD, Population Dynamics (minor in Epidemiology), The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Hygiene and Public Health, 2002
- MPH, Maternal and Child Health, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, 1997
- BA, Biology, Cornell University, 1996