Dr. Eileen Natuzzi has worked on health capacity building in the Solomon Islands for 18 years.
She received her medical degree from George Washington University, did her surgical training
at the University of California San Francisco and obtained her Masters in Public Health in
Epidemiology from San Diego State University. She currently serves as Solomon Island’s co-
coordinator for the Australia New Zealand Gastrointestinal International Training Association
(ANZGITA) and is a visiting staff member at the National Referral Hospital (NRH) in Honiara,
Guadalcanal. The ANZGITA program along with the doctors and nurses at the NRH established
the first endoscopy service for the country which is now defining the prevalence and
epidemiology of gastrointestinal diseases the people of Solomon Islands suffer from.

Dr. Natuzzi’s main focus is on the health impacts from climate change, in particular extreme
weather events in urban Pacific Island environments. She actively advocates for health system
infrastructure development aid as a means to reduce risk and harms from extreme weather
events. Dr. Natuzzi has published a number of papers on health and climate change in
Solomon Islands as well as editorials on issues pertinent to geopolitical events in The Hill, The
Diplomat, DevPolicy, Griffith University’s Pacific Outlook and Global Health Governance in
addition to publishing in medical journals.