Irene de Vries

Staff

As a medical doctor and social scientist I like to work in the field where both skills meet to improve health for all. After my degrees, I worked several years as a medical doctor in the Netherlands, the Caribbean and Zambia, mainly in the fields of obstetrics & gynaecology, neonatal care and pediatrics. 

I believe that the combination of being a critical anthropologist and a passionate doctor with a heart for the quality of lives of individuals helps in reviewing health in a broader perspective and understanding relations between the macro- and micro level.

At KIT I develop and implement advisory, evaluation and research projects related to SRHR in low and middle-income countries, with a focus on maternal and newborn health. Furthermore I am involved in educational, training and capacity building activities.

My most recent work focuses on strengthening health care providers’ roles, and contributions to advocacy and public health issues. I also focus on innovations that arise at the intersection of medical and social sciences, working to establish these advancements in institutions and societies. By utilizing a people-centered approach and applying system-level thinking, I aim to ensure the adoption, sustainability, scalability, and reach of innovations, particularly benefiting those most in need.