Center for
Global Health

Associate Scholar

Languages: English, Spanish(intermediate)

BIO STATEMENT

Vanessa Denny, MD, MS is an Attending Physician in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology, Critical Care, and Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Of Caribbean descent and a first-generation Canadian, Dr. Denny has lived and worked on global health missions throughout the Caribbean, Central America, and Sub-Saharan Africa. As part of her mentored fellowship scholarly research, she is studying the implementation of a novel “Hot Key” simulation education intervention to improve pediatric septic shock outcomes in Kumasi, Ghana. This pilot work will serve as the foundation for her mentored clinical-scientist K-Award application focused on innovations in Global Health Education and Implementation Science.

Recent Global Health Projects

1. My current fellowship scholarly research project revolves around improving healthcare provider recognition, preparedness, and patient outcomes for children presenting in septic shock in Kumasi, Ghana. This project is an inter-disciplinary collaboration that uses a tele-simulation virtual platform developed by the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication. This is a large multi-institutional project that will be launched in Kumasi, Ghana at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in collaboration with Kwame Nkrumah University of Science of Technology, the CMC Vellore Medical Center in India, the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, and Center for Global Health.

2. During my pediatric residency training, I was on the global health track and participated in projects through the Hands up for Haiti organization. I was awarded a grant that allowed me to purchase point-of-care (POC) sickle cell disease (SCD) testing kits that aimed at creating adaptable and reliable diagnostic tools in resource challenged areas. The goal of this study was to propose the feasibility of introducing POC SCD screening in newborn infants in Haiti in order to decrease the burden of disease.

Publications

Denny VC, Appiah JA, Nadkarni VM, et al. Barriers and facilitators when seeking healthcare for septic children in Ghana: a single-centre qualitative study of patient caregivers and emergency department clinicians BMJ Paediatrics Open 2024;8:e002814. doi: 10.1136/bmjpo-2024-002814

Denny, Vanessa MDa; Shah, Niva DOa; Petro, Karolina MDa; Choksey, Karishma MDa; DeSantis, Elizabeth APNa; Hintz, Molly MDa; Rethi, Shruthi MDa; Sanchez, Sarah MDa; Sylla, Bernadette MDa; Chiu, Stephanie MPHb; Gagliardo, Christina MDa,c; Kairam, Neeraja MDc,d; Nwaobasi-Iwuh, Eberechi MDa,c; Di Pentima, M. Cecilia MD, MPH, FAAPa,c,∗. Impact of outpatient SARS-CoV-2 infections in minority children. Medicine: February 26, 2021 - Volume 100 - Issue 8 - p e24895
doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000024895 

Denny VC, Cassese JS, Jacobsen KH. Nonfatal injury incidence and risk factors among middle school students from four Polynesian countries: The Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa, and Tonga. Injury. 2016 May;47(5):1135-42. doi: 10.1016/j.injury.2015.12.018. Epub 2015 Dec 29. PMID: 26775210.

Last Updated: 24 October 2025