Emily E. Peca

Emily E. Peca, DrPH, MA, serves as Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Global Health at the Milken Institute for Public Health at The George Washington University. Dr. Peca has more than 18 years of experience fostering global public health partnership to better use evidence to improve health of populations in low and middle-income contexts in the US and overseas. Areas of expertise include implementation science and mixed methods capacity development, research leadership and management, and improving access to high quality health care.

Since 2021, Dr. Peca has been the Course Director for Applied Public Health Methods, a foundational research methodology course for Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) students. She also serves on the DrPH governance committee and engages in program admissions, along with academic and dissertation advising. In 2025, Dr. Peca founded Practical Evaluation and Communication Associates, LLC after spending 12 years leading multiple large USAID-funded global implementation science projects at URC. Prior to that, Dr. Peca spent five years in a variety of roles for GW's Department of Global Health spanning academic support, overseas program development and teaching.

Dr. Peca has a Doctor of Public Health in global health, a Master of Public Health and a Master of International Affairs from The George Washington University. She holds a BA in English, Communication from Boston College. Dr. Peca’s research has largely focused on how to mitigate mistreatment and advance respectful maternal health service delivery in low- and middle-income contexts. Her field-based experience includes living and working in East Africa and Latin America. She is a native English speaker, fluent in Spanish and has basic Kiswahili language skills.