Independent Health Systems Improvement Advisor, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI); USA

Dr. Michele Youngleson is an independent healthcare systems improvement advisor and faculty for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). Based in South Africa, she has worked in a number of African countries over the past twenty years including South Africa, Lesotho, Malawi, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Liberia, supporting large-scale improvement projects aimed at strengthening public healthcare programs, including HIV/AIDS/TB, PMTCT, Maternal Health, TB, hospital-based Patient Safety. Her areas of interest are quality improvement project design and execution (from local innovation to the large-scale spread of successful change ideas), and the use data for decision making. She has a medical degree (University of Cape Town) and post graduate honors degree in Epidemiology (University of Stellenbosch). She has published several peer reviewed articles, a book on best practices in HIV/AIDS care for the South African National Department of Health, and a chapter on Data for Improvement in Managing Quality, Tools, Skills and Capacities for Health Leaders, a book by Pearson’s publishers (2014). Her work in strengthening HIV/AIDs health systems won two platinum Impumelelo Social Innovations Centre Awards for excellence in service delivery (2010 and 2012). She helped develop and was the scientific advisor for Al Jazeera’s eight-part documentary series, Lifeline – the Quest for Global Health, on global efforts to rid the world of diseases that keep people in poverty (2013/14). She graduated as a Systemic Constellations facilitator with African Constellations in 2019.