Yvonne "Bonnie" Maldonado is an American physician, pediatrician, and Professor of Pediatrics and of Health Research and Policy at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, with a focus on

Infectious Diseases An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

. She founded Stanford's pediatric HIV Clinic and now serves as

Stanford University School of Medicine Stanford University School of Medicine is the medical school of Stanford University and is located in Stanford, California. It traces its roots to the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific, founded in San Francisco in 1858. This ...

's Senior Associate Dean of Faculty Development and Diversity.

Early life

Raised in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, Maldonado is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and was the first in her family to attend college. Maldonado received her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. She then attended

, where she received her

Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin language, Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a profes ...

degree in 1981. She then performed her residency in

pediatrics Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until th ...

Johns Hopkins Hospital The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. It was founded in 1889 using money from a bequest of over $7 million (1873 mo ...

, where she remained for her fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases.

Career

Following her residency she joined the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer in the mid-1980s at the beginning of the

HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States The AIDS epidemic, caused by HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), found its way to the United States between the 1970s and 1980s, but was first noticed after doctors discovered clusters of Kaposi's sarcoma and pneumocystis pneumonia in homosexu ...

. There, she became interested in how to prevent the spread of HIV infection from mothers to their babies, particularly in developing countries. In 1988, she became a professor of pediatrics at

, where she started the pediatric HIV Clinic.

Leadership and service

Maldonado has contributed her expertise to governmental policy, serving on the National Vaccine Advisory Committee through the

United States Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...

and as a member of Governor

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who has been the 40th governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California fr ...

's California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine Advisory Council. She is the Chair of the committee on infectious diseases at the

American Academy of Pediatrics The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is an American professional association of pediatricians, headquartered in Itasca, Illinois. It maintains its Department of Federal Affairs office in Washington, D.C. Background The Academy was founded ...

and serves as a Senior Fellow at the Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health. She is also an advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, serving as Stanford's Associate Dean of Faculty Development and Diversity since May 2014, succeeding

Hannah Valantine Dr. Hannah Valantine is the Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity at the United States National Institutes of Health. Biography Valantine was born in The Gambia and lived in Banjul as a child. When her father was selected as the ...

Research

Her research focuses on the epidemiology and prevention of

infectious disease An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

s, such as

rotavirus ''Rotavirus'' is a genus of double-stranded RNA viruses in the family ''Reoviridae''. Rotaviruses are the most common cause of diarrhoeal disease among infants and young children. Nearly every child in the world is infected with a rotavirus a ...

measles Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...

mumps MUMPS ("Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System"), or M, is an imperative, high-level programming language with an integrated transaction processing key–value database. It was originally developed at Massachusetts Gener ...

rubella Rubella, also known as German measles or three-day measles, is an infection caused by the rubella virus. This disease is often mild, with half of people not realizing that they are infected. A rash may start around two weeks after exposure and ...

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

, and pediatric

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

infection. She has also worked on developing and evaluating programs to prevent

gender-based violence Gender-related violence or gender-based violence includes any kind of violence directed against people due to their gender or gender identification. Types of gender-related violence include: * Violence against women (sometimes referred to simply a ...

, working on interventions in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. Her group partnered with the non-profit "Ujamaa-Africa/No Means No Worldwide" to develop and implement a 12-hour empowerment program to teach girls verbal and physical techniques to prevent sexual harassment and assault. They found the intervention was successful in both curbing the incidence of sexual assault and increasing the likelihood that girls would disclose assault.

HIV research

One of Maldonado's research interests is preventing perinatal HIV transmission, which includes preventing transmission through breastfeeding and maximizing prevention strategies in developing countries. She and her colleagues found that treating infants with the

anti-retroviral The management of HIV/AIDS normally includes the use of multiple antiretroviral drugs as a strategy to control HIV infection. There are several classes of antiretroviral agents that act on different stages of the HIV life-cycle. The use of multip ...

drug

nevirapine Nevirapine (NVP), sold under the brand name Viramune among others, is a medication used to treat and prevent HIV/AIDS, specifically HIV-1. It is generally recommended for use with other antiretroviral medications. It may be used to prevent mothe ...

for their first six months of life reduces HIV transmission through breastfeeding.

Vaccine research

Maldonado's research program also focuses on the development and implementation of vaccines. Her group has received funding from the

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was l ...

to understand the factors that underlie the poor

immunogenicity Immunogenicity is the ability of a foreign substance, such as an antigen, to provoke an immune response in the body of a human or other animal. It may be wanted or unwanted: * Wanted immunogenicity typically relates to vaccines, where the injectio ...

of the

oral polio vaccine Polio vaccines are vaccines used to prevent poliomyelitis (polio). Two types are used: an inactivated poliovirus given by injection (IPV) and a weakened poliovirus given by mouth (OPV). The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends all child ...

among children in three communities in

Orizaba, Veracruz Orizaba () is a city and municipality in the Mexican state of Veracruz. It is located 20 km west of its sister city Córdoba, and is adjacent to Río Blanco and Ixtaczoquitlán, on Federal Highways 180 and 190. The city had a 2005 census ...

, Mexico with the goal of understanding how to improve immunogenicity. She also studies the circulation and epidemiology of vaccine-derived polioviruses, which originate from the live oral vaccine used against polio. She notes the live vaccine is still in use in developing countries, despite associated risks, because it is much cheaper and because manufacturers are still working to ramp up production of the inactivated vaccine, which is five times more expensive (as of 2018). She has also analyzed the efficacy of mandatory vaccination policies, which have been implemented in some European countries. She also found that California's elimination of non-medical vaccine exemptions for students entering school in 2016 also led to an increase in vaccine coverage. While mandates are effective in increasing immunization, Maldonado and her colleagues have also advocated for interventions to combat misinformation and address

vaccine hesitancy Vaccine hesitancy is a delay in acceptance, or refusal, of vaccines despite the availability of vaccine services and supporting evidence. The term covers refusals to vaccinate, delaying vaccines, accepting vaccines but remaining uncertain abou ...

COVID-19 response

Maldonado and her team have been involved in many of the studies at

seeking to understand the biology and epidemiology of

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...

. She has worked on a study of the accuracy of three different self-administered nasal swab techniques, which would allow individuals to test themselves for infection without the need to come to the hospital. In the meantime, she has spoken of the importance of drive-through

COVID-19 testing COVID-19 testing involves analyzing samples to assess the current or past presence of SARS-CoV-2. The two main types of tests detect either the presence of the virus or antibodies produced in response to infection. Molecular tests for viral ...

, which Stanford implemented to minimize the risk of spreading the disease at hospitals. She also launched a study to understand how COVID-19 is transmitted within a household. Adults who come into the hospital for COVID-19 were asked to perform at-home nose swab tests, along with all members of their household, as well as keep a symptom log to understand when infection is spread and whether that spread occurs before or after symptoms have disappeared. Her team also worked to develop and implement an

antibody An antibody (Ab), also known as an immunoglobulin (Ig), is a large, Y-shaped protein used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as pathogenic bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique molecule of the ...

test to determine if someone had contracted COVID-19; the test was approved by the

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...

in early April 2020.

Awards and honors

Epidemic Intelligence Service The Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) is a program of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The modern EIS is a two-year, hands-on post-doctoral training program in epidemiology, with a focus on field work. History Creation ...

Alumni Award,

, 1989 * Multicultural Alumni Hall of Fame,

, 2001 * RISE (Reach, Inspire, Serve and Engage) Alumni Award,

, 2018 * Elected to the

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, En ...

, 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maldonado, Yvonne 21st-century American women physicians American women epidemiologists American epidemiologists COVID-19 researchers American pediatricians Stanford University alumni Stanford University faculty University of California, Los Angeles alumni HIV/AIDS researchers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American medical researchers 21st-century American physicians Women pediatricians American academics of Mexican descent 21st-century American women scientists Women medical researchers Scientists from California Physicians from California Members of the National Academy of Medicine