Mary B. Adam, MD, MA, PhD, FAAP

Dr. Adam is a co-founder of Africa Consortium for Quality Improvement Research in Frontline Healthcare (ACQUIRE). She trained as a pediatrician and has been working in medical education and public health based at AIC Kijabe Hospital, Kenya, since 2011, where she is Head of Research and the Director of the Kijabe Maternal Newborn Community Health Project. 

She completed her medical school and pediatric residency training at the University of Arizona as well as her PhD in Psychology, with a focus in Program Evaluation and Research Methods, with Lee Sechrest, PhD. Her ongoing interest in public health in developing countries was fueled in 2007-2008 when she spent a year in Kenya courtesy of a Fulbright Research Award in HIV prevention and the experience resulted in her relocating to Kenya. She has published work in the fields of judgment and decision making, pediatrics, bioethics, and public health and is a Clinical Associate Professor at Vanderbilt University and a member of the Vanderbilt Institute of Global Health.

Her current research focus is on quality improvement and her work at the front line of community engagement examines the use of human centered design in building community-based improvement strategies. She has also published work on developing rapid cycle quality improvement processes to support employee well-being during COVID. 

Dr. Adam served with the American Academy of Pediatrics as member and chair of the Section of Bioethics. She has written on multiple topics in the field of Bioethics including The American Academy of Pediatrics Case Based Teaching Guides. She has been a fellow of the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity Bioethics since 2002.