Jeannie Annan, PhD, is the International Rescue Committee’s Chief Research and Innovation Officer, spearheading the agency’s efforts to design, test, and scale life-changing solutions for people affected by conflict and disaster. Jeannie co-founded the Airbel Impact Lab to increase IRC’s investment in research and innovation to improve the impact and reach of humanitarian interventions. Airbel has been designing and testing new and improved products, services, and delivery systems in more than 30 crisis-affected countries around the world.

Dr. Annan’s main research focus has been to develop and test economic, behavioral, and mental health interventions to prevent violence and to mitigate its psychological and social consequences on women and children. She started her career leading education and psychosocial programming in Kosovo, northern Uganda and South Sudan. She is a Senior Research Associate at the Harris School of Public Policy at University of Chicago. She is also a research affiliate at Innovations for Poverty Action where she leads their initiatives on humanitarian and forced displacement and on intimate partner violence. She holds a PhD in Counseling Psychology from Indiana University-Bloomington. She was a post-doctorate fellow at Yale University and NYU and a visiting scientist at the Harvard T.C. Chan School of Public Health.