PLOS Global Public Health Editor Spotlight: Patience Afulani

Welcome back to our Editor Spotlight series, where we highlight the work and contributions of a PLOS Global Public Health Academic Editor. Today we are meeting Dr. Patience A. Afulani, MBChB, MPH, PhD, who is an Associate Professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

What background and expertise do you bring to PLOS Global Public Health?

My work sits at the intersection of global health, maternal and reproductive health, health equity, and implementation science. As a physician and public health researcher, I study the social and health system factors that drive inequities in reproductive, maternal, neonatal, and child health, with a particular focus on the quality of care that people experience during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period.

I lead the Person-Centered Equity Lab at UCSF, where our work focuses on measuring, understanding, and developing interventions to improve person-centered care—responsive and respectful care— through an equity lens. Over the past several years, I have led and collaborated on research in Ghana, Kenya, and the United States to understand sources of disparities in maternal health outcomes, develop and validate measures of person-centered maternal and reproductive health care, and design and evaluate interventions to improve both patient experience and health outcomes.

My work also increasingly focuses on supporting health workers, addressing provider burnout and bias, and strengthening health systems to deliver equitable, person-centered care. My scholarship reflects a deep commitment to ensuring that all individuals receive respectful, responsive, compassionate, and high-quality healthcare regardless of their social status. I have over 100 publications spanning these topics and have received several awards for my contributions to research, teaching, and mentorship.

I am the co-director of the Mixed Methods Research course in the Implementation Science program and the Research Ethics and Practice in Global Health course in the Global Health PhD program at UCSF. In addition, I have served on and co-led several international and national working and technical advisory groups, including with the World Health Organization. I earned my medical degree (MBChB) from the University of Ghana and postgraduate degrees (MPH and PhD) in Public Health from the University of California, Los Angeles.

It is this combination of content, methodological, and implementation perspectives, as well as my lived experience as an African woman living in the US, that I bring to support the journal’s mission of advancing rigorous, impactful global public health research.

You have done a lot of fieldwork as part of your research; what’s been your most memorable experience? Do you have any upcoming fieldwork or other projects?

The most rewarding aspects of my work have been leading the development of tools and interventions that are being used and implemented globally. One contribution I am especially proud of is leading the development of the Person-Centered Maternity Care (PCMC) scale, which is now used internationally to measure women’s experiences of care during childbirth. We have also recently developed person-centered antenatal and postnatal care scales, which I anticipate will have similar widespread uptake.

Other rewarding aspects of my work have been partnering with researchers, health workers, and communities in Ghana and Kenya, and the US over many years to ensure our work is grounded in the experiences of the people we want to serve. These long-term collaborations have reinforced that improving health outcomes requires listening carefully to both patients and providers and co-developing solutions that are responsive to local contexts. Listening to frontline providers has reminded me of my own prior experience as one of them and deepened my appreciation for the challenges they face, shaping much of my current research on health workforce well-being and person-centered care.

Currently, I am leading the Caring for Providers to Improve Patient Experience (CPIPE) trial in Ghana and Kenya. This study evaluates whether supporting providers to address stress and unconscious bias can improve person-centered maternal health care for all, and especially for the most vulnerable, and ultimately, maternal and newborn outcomes. I am looking forward to expanding this work beyond the facilities involved in the trial in Kenya and Ghana and beyond.

Why did you decide to become part of PLOS Global Public Health?

I was also excited by the journal’s emphasis on elevating diverse perspectives and scholarship from around the world. Some of the most innovative and impactful work is led by researchers deeply connected to the communities they serve. Yet, they don’t always have equal opportunities to publish or be heard. Being part of the editorial team is an opportunity to amplify high-quality research that could inform policy, strengthen health systems, and advance health equity.

Finally, editing is an opportunity to give back to the research community. Every paper represents years of work, and thoughtful, constructive peer review can make good research even stronger. I hope to foster an editorial process that is rigorous, fair, and supportive, while encouraging research that advances the field and drives meaningful improvements in global public health.

Do you have any tips for authors to strengthen their work?

Here are ten tips:

1. Work on issues you are passionate about and want to engage the broader community through your findings.
2. Keep the people and communities most affected by the research at the center of the work.
3. Invest in meaningful engagement with local collaborators throughout the research process.
4. Build on what you start, rather than jumping from one new idea to another.
5. Solve real problems.
6. Be curious and open-minded.
7. Practice cultural humility.
8. Invest in rigorous measurement and transparent reporting.
9. Respect your research participants’ time. If your research involves collecting data, there is no better way to honor their time than by analyzing, writing up, and publishing the findings.
10. Don’t underestimate the importance of a clear, compelling narrative. Even the most sophisticated analyses have greater impact when the story is accessible to readers across disciplines and regions.

Do you have anything else you’d like to add?

Thank you for the opportunity to be part of this community and contribute to elevating high-quality, open-access research that addresses some of the world’s most pressing public health challenges.

Discover all of our latest publications and submit your original research to PLOS Global Public Health today!