Dr. Valerie Vannevel

Valerie Vannevel is a maternal and child health researcher whose work centers on fetal growth, placental function, and perinatal outcomes in low- and middle-income settings, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Her scholarship advances affordable screening strategies, notably continuous-wave Doppler technologies, to identify high-risk fetuses in ostensibly low-risk pregnancies and reduce preventable stillbirths.

Her publications highlight expertise in antenatal Doppler screening, placental insufficiency, and early childhood growth, including the downstream effects of maternal HIV exposure and impaired fetoplacental blood flow. She contributes to interdisciplinary frameworks for growth assessment across the first 1000 days, strengthening continuity of care from pregnancy through infancy in resource-constrained contexts.

Recent research expands into climate and digital health, investigating heat stress pathways to preterm birth and evaluating smartphone-based blood pressure tools in diverse populations. Work on COVID-19 and pregnancy in Africa further demonstrates a commitment to evidence-informed policy, equity, and scalable innovations that improve maternal and neonatal outcomes.