Why we took Jessica as a Fellow

Jessica Beckerman is an OBGYN resident in San Francisco who believes in eradicating preventable deaths. During her health research in Mali, Jessica began accompanying her neighbors to health clinics as they struggled to access care for themselves and their children in a poorly-designed health system.

The diseases that kill kids in Africa -- malaria, diarrhea, and pneumonia -- are easily treatable. What matters is speed -- how quickly they're diagnosed and treated. Muso is about speed: getting community members and health workers to find sick kids, making sure those kids get to a clinic, and ensuring they receive timely treatment. It's proactive -- not reactive -- healthcare, and it can yield spectacular results: in the pilot community -- a slum in Bamako, Mali -- child mortality dropped by 90%.