With a diverse background in public health implementation that spans disciplines and continents, Rachel Stalnaker Coley brings a systems-level lens to public health research and practice.

She is particularly drawn to how health workers themselves experience and sustain their work, and to the knowledge-sharing structures that help academics, practitioners, and policy-makers act on evidence together. To date, her work has been published in several international journals and presented more than two dozen times at international conferences.

Since February 2025, Rachel has been a PhD Candidate at UWC’s School of Public Health, and from June 2026 she has taken on an additional role with the South African Alliance for the District Health System (SALAD). Through SALAD, she leads knowledge management strategy and product development for a network working to strengthen primary health care across South Africa’s district health system.

Beyond her research, Rachel organises inter-sectoral events on behalf of SALAD and the SOPH—and mentors students completing their Master of Public Health mini-theses while taking part more broadly in the School’s academic activities.

At the centre of Rachel’s doctoral work is a question about what drives (or undermines) mental well-being among South Africa’s ward-based community health workers, and what that means for the reengineering of primary health care. Outside her PhD, Rachel has served as a community and workplace leader in the United States, Vietnam, and South Africa. She is passionate about building organisations and workplace cultures that foster excellence, mental well-being, and support the growth of early-career staff.

Awards and NRF rating

• 2024 FHI 360 Impact Award: Advancing a Positive Culture through Team Leadership
• 2023 USAID Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting Case Competition, case entitled: EpiC Vietnam transforms team dynamics using continuous learning and adapting

Projects