Rebecca Alcock

Rebecca is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Centre for Global Engineering, working with Professors Amy Bilton and Nikki Weckman. She leads or supports active research projects on the topics of health facility electrification, decentralized domestic water procurement systems, and antimicrobial resistance in global health settings. Prior to University of Toronto, Rebecca studied Biomedical Engineering (BS'18, MS'20) and Industrial Engineering (MS'22, PhD'25) at the University of Wisconsin, during which she completed 15 months of research exchange at ETH Zurich (Switzerland) in the Power Systems Lab and Global Health Engineering groups through the Fulbright and NCCR Automation programs. Broadly, her research leverages human-centered design, community-based participatory research, and advanced analytics methods (e.g., mathematical optimization and machine learning) to mitigate the human and environmental health effects of anthropogenic change. Past thematic areas have included production and movement of essential goods during communicable disease pandemics, clean electrification of global health facilities, and decarbonization of the last-mile logistics sectors in low- and middle-income settings. Beyond the US and Canada, Rebecca's experience spans three continents with study/research collaborations in Colombia, Malawi, and Switzerland, as well as Ecuador, Guatemala, Kenya, and Uganda.