Dr. Joannie Marlene BEWA, MD, MPH, PhD, is a physician-scientist, digital health innovator, and global public health leader with over 15 years of cross-sectoral experience across Africa, Asia, and the United States. Dr. Bewa currently serves as an Assistant Scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she co-leads a $2.2 million Gates Foundation-funded initiative improving maternal and chronic disease care through telemedicine in Indonesia. She additionally supports research at the intersection of technology and immunization in The Democratic Republic of the Congo, and telehealth for contraception care in the Benin Republic. She has authored or contributed to peer-reviewed publications in BMJ Global Health, The Lancet, and PLOS ONE, and is a peer reviewer for academic journals such as SSM Population Health and the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH). She served as a board member of Merck for Mothers, a $500 million initiative focused on maternal health improvement globally.

 

    A recognized force in global health, Dr. Bewa was featured by Melinda Gates in 2016 as one of six influential women advancing access to contraception globally and was invited by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2017 for the announcement of Canada’s $650 million global women’s health commitment. In 2018, she was appointed as one of 17 UN Young Leaders for the SDGs by the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, recognizing her global advocacy and leadership on adolescent health and reproductive rights.

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    Dr. Bewa is the Founder and CEO of DOTOH Health, Benin’s first telehealth platform, providing primary, reproductive, and maternal health services through voice/video teleconsultations, geolocation referrals, and electronic health records, for underserved communities. Her work has earned her the highly competitive 2025 Johns Hopkins Faculty Award for Practice in International Health, 2024 Marc Mitchell Leadership & Innovation Award in Digital Health, the African Women in Digital Health Award, the Grand Challenges Canada Stars in Global Health Award, and an invitation to share her work during the White House 2024 briefing on digital health equity. In 2010, Dr. Bewa founded the Young Beninese Leaders Association (YBLA) to amplify youth voices in public health, gender equality, and leadership development. As the YBLA Executive Director, she mobilized over 2,000 signatures to support Benin's anti-gender-based violence law and trained more than 10,000 youth on HIV prevention and 3,000 girls on leadership through a grant from First Lady Michelle Obama Young African Women Leaders Grant.

    Dr. Bewa has advised governments and organizations including UNFPA, WHO, Merck for Mothers, Gates Foundation, and the World Bank, providing technical expertise in digital innovation, maternal health equity, and adolescent reproductive health. She has worked with Ministries of Health across 25+ low- and middle-income countries, providing strategic input on policy design, program evaluation, and innovation scale-up. She is a Women Deliver Young Leader Alumni, a State Department IVLP/YALI alumna, and a Clinton Women in Public Service Fellow. 

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    A Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Bewa holds a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Abomey Calavi in Benin, both a Master of Public Health (MPH) in Maternal and Child Health, and a PhD in Public Health from the University of South Florida. She has taught more than 500 students, designed graduate-level global health curricula, and mentored emerging African health researchers and practitioners.

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Selected Leadership Roles & Recognitions

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• Reviewer, ICFP 2025 scientific program, Colombia.

• Recipient, White House Digital Health Equity Briefing, United States, 2024.

• Co-Chair, American Public Health Association Contraception Task Force, 2023.

• Expert, WHO Technical Advisory Group on Reproductive, Maternal, Child Health, 2024.

• Women in Global Health, Board Member, 2020.

• Merck for Mothers, Global Advisory Board, 2023.

• UN Young Leaders for SDGs, Office of the United Nations Secretary-General Envoy on Youth, United States, 2020.

• African Women Leaders Network (AWLN), Steering Committee Member and Young Women Caucus Chair, 2017

• United States Ambassador Youth Council, President, 2013

• Secretary Hillary Clinton Women in Public Service Network (WPSP), United States, 2012

• First Lady Michelle Obama Young African Women Leaders Grant Recipient, United States, 2011

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I am passionate about health, gender equality, and human rights

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At nine years old, I nearly died from an asthma attack but was lucky enough to be treated by a skilled physician in Cotonou, Benin. At such a young age, it became clear that I wanted to become a physician to give back and save lives.

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While nurturing the desire to become a physician, another tragic moment changed me forever. I lost my teenage best friend to unwanted pregnancy complications. "She never returned to school, and that’s how we knew something had gone wrong." These experiences shaped my purpose, and fueled my mission to expand life-saving reproductive healthcare for girls and women across underserved communities.

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I was raised in Cotonou, Benin, and today I split my time between West Africa and the United States. I define myself as a global citizen, building systems that are just, accessible, and resilient, especially for those most often left behind.