Author: Phyllis Gestrin

"Phyllis Gestrin, PhD, a specialist in international public health, worked for some 20 years on African programs for UNICEF, the U.S. Peace Corps and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Dr. Gestrin has worked in and visited 29 countries in Africa. During her five years as a project officer for UNICEF in Somalia, she helped develop a primary health care program for a large area in the northwest, as well as oversee community health worker training in 35 refugee camps. Subsequently, she served as a project officer for UNICEF in Zaire where she provided technical assistance in the design, monitoring and evaluation of nutrition, agriculture and income generation programs for women. Prior to her assignments in Africa, Dr. Gestrin served 10 months as a UNICEF project officer on the Thai-Cambodian border, monitoring the condition of Cambodian and Vietnamese refugees. Dr. Gestrin is a graduate of the University of Chicago, from which she received bachelor of science and master of science degrees in mathematics in 1960; the University of Washington–Seattle, from which she earned a PhD in physiology and psychology in 1970 and Harvard University, from which she received her MPH in 1979. Dr. Gestrin also taught for four years at the University of Texas–Austin in the department of psychology. In her spare time, Dr. Gestrin plays the cello."