- Affiliate Associate Professor, Global Health
- Team Lead, Maternal, Newborn, Child Health & Nutrition, PATH
PATH
2201 Westlake Avenue, Suite 200
Seattle, WA 98121
United States
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Kiersten Israel-Ballard, DrPH, recently served as Team Lead for PATH’s Maternal Newborn, Child Health and Nutrition program and Affiliate Associate Professor in the Department of Global Health at the University of Washington. She has over 20 years of experience in assessing and supporting methods for optimal infant and young child feeding. Her work has largely focused on conceptualizing appropriate infant feeding methods for vulnerable infants in developing countries, including HIV affected infants. In her current role, Dr. Israel-Ballard leads the human milk initiative at PATH. This has included developing an integrated newborn nutrition model, establishing global teams for working with local governments to ensure sustainable implementation, conducting advocacy for human milk banking as a cost-effective strategy for improving health of vulnerable infants, establishing a global technical advisory group, leading rigorous evaluations to determine impact, and developing innovative human milk banking technologies for resource-limited settings. She has also led programs to support implementation of nutrition programs for local governments and partners and focuses on innovative approaches to improve infant health through identifying and assessing the feasibility of novel technologies. She has considerable international experience, working at all health levels in Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Vietnam and India.
- BA (University of California (Santa Cruz))
- MPH (University of California (Berkeley))
- DrPH (University of California (Berkeley))
- Child and Adolescent Health (incl. Pediatrics)
- Health Technologies
- Implementation Science
- Maternal Child Health (incl. Reproductive Health)
- Nutrition
Davis A, Lee S, Hampel D, Shahab-Ferdows S, Allen LH, Bode L, Mansen K, Israel-Ballard K, Perrin MT. The Impact of Holder Pasteurization on Macronutrients, Vitamins, Minerals, and Bioactive Factors in Human Milk Processed in a Milk Bank Setting. Curr Dev Nutr. 2025 Aug;9(8):107490. doi: 10.1016/j.cdnut.2025.107490. eCollection 2025 Aug. PubMed PMID: 40746762; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC12312018.
North K, Semrau KEA, Bellad RM, Dhaded SM, Das L, Behera JN, Hoffman I, Mvalo T, Kisenge R, Sudfeld CR, Somji S, Mokhtar RR, Vesel L, Goudar S, Vernekar SS, Siddhartha ES, Singh B, Koujalagi MB, Panda S, Kafansiyanji E, Nyirenda N, Phiri M, Saidi F, Masoud NS, Moshiro R, Tuller DE, Israel-Ballard K, Duggan CP, Lee ACC, Mansen KL, Young MF, Manji K. The Association Between Breastfeeding and Growth Among Infants with Moderately Low Birth Weight: A Prospective Cohort Study. J Pediatr. 2024 Jun;269:114003. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2024.114003. Epub 2024 Mar 4. PubMed PMID: 38447758; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11155439.
Israel-Ballard K, LaRose E, Mansen K. The global status of human milk banking. Matern Child Nutr. 2024 Jun;20 Suppl 4(Suppl 4):e13592. doi: 10.1111/mcn.13592. Epub 2024 Feb 6. Review. PubMed PMID: 38318679; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11184569.
Wilunda C, Israel-Ballard K, Wanjohi M, Lang'at N, Mansen K, Waiyego M, Kibore M, Kamande E, Zerfu T, Kithua A, Muganda R, Muiruri J, Maina B, Njuguna E, Njeru F, Kiige LW, Codjia P, Samburu B, Mogusu E, Ngwiri T, Mirie W, Kimani-Murage EW. Potential effectiveness of integrating human milk banking and lactation support on neonatal outcomes at Pumwani Maternity Hospital, Kenya. Matern Child Nutr. 2024 Jan;20(1):e13594. doi: 10.1111/mcn.13594. Epub 2023 Dec 5. PMID: 38051296; PMCID: PMC10750015.
Vesel L, Benotti E, Somji S, Bellad RM, Charantimath U, Dhaded SM, Goudar SS, Karadiguddi C, Mungarwadi G, Vernekar SS, Kisenge R, Manji K, Salim N, Samma A, Sudfeld CR, Hoffman IF, Mvalo T, Phiri M, Saidi F, Tseka J, Tsidya M, Caruso BA, Duggan CP, Israel-Ballard K, Lee AC, Mansen KL, Martin SL, North K, Young MF, Fishman E, Fleming K, Semrau KE, Spigel L, Tuller DE, Henrich N. Facilitators, barriers, and key influencers of breastfeeding among low birthweight infants: a qualitative study in India, Malawi, and Tanzania. Int Breastfeed J. 2023 Nov 8;18(1):59. doi: 10.1186/s13006-023-00597-7. PMID: 37940987; PMCID: PMC10634072.
Coffey PS, Israel-Ballard K, Meyer L, Mansen K, Agonafir N, Bekere M, Dube Q, Kaberuka G, Kasar J, Kharade A, Maknikar S, Namgyal KC, Nyondo-Mipando AL, Rulisa S, Worku B, Engmann C. The Journey Toward Establishing Inpatient Care for Small and Sick Newborns in Ethiopia, India, Malawi, and Rwanda. Glob Health Sci Pract. 2023 Aug 28;11(4):e2200510. doi: 10.9745/GHSP-D-22-00510. PMID: 37640484; PMCID: PMC10461708.
Nommsen-Rivers L, Black MM, Christian P, Groh-Wargo S, Heinig MJ, Israel-Ballard K, Obbagy J, Palmquist AEL, Stuebe A, Barr SM, Proaño GV, Moloney L, Steiber A, Raiten DJ. An equitable, community-engaged translational framework for science in human lactation and infant feeding-a report from "Breastmilk Ecology: Genesis of Infant Nutrition (BEGIN)" Working Group 5. Am J Clin Nutr. 2023 Apr;117 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):S87-S105. doi: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.01.020. PMID: 37173062; PMCID: PMC10356563.