Group 4: Gynuity Health Projects

By: Sruti, Cara, Chytanya, Renan, and Natalie

On Friday, November 22^nd our group visited Gynuity Health Projects, located on the north end of Madison Square Park on 26^th Street.

We were pleasantly greeted by Ilana Dzuba, a senior program associate with a formidable and diverse background. Dzuba completed her undergraduate education in American Civilization and Latin American Studies at Brown University. She continued her education at John Hopkins School of Public health and received her M.H.Sc in International Health. She spent her early career working in Mexico coordinating implementation of women’s health programs in community organizations and conducting research on cervical cancer prevention with the National Institute of Public Health and the Mexican Institute for Social Security.

In 2003, Beverly Winikoff founded Gynuity Health Projects— an internationally focused, research-based organization that is a devoted to making the essential scientific and technologic findings of reproductive health accessible to all populations. The organization uses, primarily, clinical research as a gateway to develop new technologies and to evolve existing technologies by making them more convenient, less expensive, and safer. As a primarily donor based organization, the specific projects that Gynuity works on are largely determined by the work that the donors promote.

Currently, Gynuity is working on the creation of a post-pardon hemorrhage pill; the medication is already existent as an injectible. The pill would be far more convenient for individuals living in rural areas because it does not require a professional to perform the injection nor does it require that individuals travel to a clinic more than once. Gynuity is working on many projects similar to this one that increase accessibility and promote convenience.

Ilana Dzuba enlightened us of the numerous tasks that a Gynuity employee is expected to engage in. This was a very interesting site visit that left us well-informed of the work and environment at a small NGO.