Dr. Lawn is Professor of Maternal, Reproductive and Child Health and Director of the MARCH Centre at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Prior to joining the LSHTM, she served as a Senior Research and Policy Advisor with Saving Newborn Lives-Save the Children-US, a program funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. An African-born pediatrician and perinatal epidemiologist, Dr. Lawn has worked in several African countries, providing newborn care services and training. From the late 1990s through 2004, she worked at the WHO Collaborating Center in Reproductive Health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Institute of Child Health in London. Dr. Lawn co-leads the Neonatal Group of the Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group, which developed the first systematic cause of death estimates for four million neonatal deaths each year. Based in South Africa, Dr. Lawn works with governments and partners to integrate and scale-up newborn care, particularly in Africa. She recently co-led a team of 60 authors from 14 organizations working on the book, Opportunities for Africa’s Newborns. She also serves on the core Countdown planning group.