Sophie La Vincente
Rheach Deputy Director
BPsych (Hons) MAppEpi PhD
sophie.lavincente@telethonkids.org.au
Sophie is an epidemiologist with over 10 years’ experience in operational health research in low and middle income countries. Her work has primarily focused the delivery of maternal and child health services to vulnerable populations, management of childhood pneumonia and vaccine impact evaluation.
Prior to joining The Kids she worked with the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, where she was an investigator on grants totalling over $10 million from funding agencies including the GAVI Alliance and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She was based in the Philippines during 2009-10 as Country Manager for a multi-country activity to support the use of local evidence to guide prioritisation and planning for maternal and child health. More recently, she co-led an evaluation of the impact of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine introduction in Mongolia.
Sophie has worked extensively as a consultant to the UN and other agencies in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. She joined The Kids Research Institute Australia in May 2017 as a Senior Technical Advisor with RhEACH, based at the World Heart Federation in Geneva.
Projects
RHD Action
September 2020
Reach: to stop rheumatic heart disease
September 2020
Published research
Evaluation of a phased pneumococcal conjugate vaccine introduction in Mongolia using enhanced pneumonia surveillance and community carriage surveys
The enhanced surveillance system in Mongolia will facilitate assessment of PCV13 impact on pneumonia, with radiological confirmed disease as the primary outcome
Time to tackle rheumatic heart disease: Data needed to drive global policy dialogues
This report provides an update on the contemporary global and regional policy landscapes relevant to rheumatic heart disease
Education and Qualifications
Master of Applied Epidemiology, 2006-2007 (Australian Field Epidemiology Training Program)
The Australian National University, Canberra
PhD, 2001-2004
Faculty of Medicine, University of Adelaide, Australia
Bachelor of Psychology (Honours), 1996-1999
Flinders University of South Australia, Australia
Awards/Honours
- National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health Scholarship 2006-2007
- Rotary Scholarship awarded in support of WHO internship, 2004
- The Foundation for Young Australians Youth Investment Grant (formerly the Queens Trust Award), 2004
- Dawes Postgraduate Research Scholarship, Royal Adelaide Hospital, 2002-2004
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA, Postgraduate Research Scholarship