For International Women's Day, CCA published a joint op-ed with IEA on empowering women through clean cookingRead it now!

Donee Alexander

Chief Science and Learning Officer

Dr. Donee Alexander is the Chief Science and Learning Officer for the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA). Dr. Alexander provides vision, leadership, technical guidance, operational direction, and oversight for all research, evidence, and learning (REL) activities at CCA, including the health, environment, & climate portfolios; global standards & testing efforts; monitoring, evaluation & learning across the organization; and development of CCA’s Nepal Program. Prior to joining CCA, Dr. Alexander was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Chicago where she managed a randomized controlled intervention trial evaluating household air pollution and pregnancy outcomes in Ibadan, Nigeria. She has over 15 years of experience evaluating the health effects of household air pollution in low-income countries and has published on both the maternal and child impacts of exposure to household air pollution. Dr. Alexander sits on the National Institutes of Health’s Implementation Science Network Steering Committee, provides expert consultation to the World Health Organization’s Household Energy Programme, and is a regular peer-reviewer for articles in multiple academic journals. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Washington in environmental engineering and has lived and worked in both Latin America and West Africa.

Articles by Donee Alexander

Black carbon cookstove emissions: A field assessment of 19 stove/fuel combinations

Black carbon cookstove emissions: A field assessment of 19 stove/fuel combinations

Black carbon (BC) emissions from household cookstoves consuming solid fuel produce approximately 25 percent of total anthropogenic BC emissions. The short atmospheric lifetime of BC means that reducing BC emissions would result in a faster climate re…

Read more

Study finds improved cookstove use associated with reduced blood pressure in indigenous Bolivian women

Study finds improved cookstove use associated with reduced blood pressure in indigenous Bolivian women

Journal of Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health: The use of biomass fuels as a primary fuel source is widespread and is linked to significant health effects. High blood pressure is a risk factor for cardiovascular effects including myocardial infarctio…

Read more

Randomized Controlled Ethanol Cookstove Intervention and Blood Pressure in Pregnant Nigerian Women

Randomized Controlled Ethanol Cookstove Intervention and Blood Pressure in Pregnant Nigerian Women

Hypertension during pregnancy is a leading cause of maternal mortality. Exposure to household air pollution elevates blood pressure (BP).

Read more

Pregnancy outcomes and ethanol cook stove intervention: A randomized-controlled trial in Ibadan, Nigeria

Pregnancy outcomes and ethanol cook stove intervention: A randomized-controlled trial in Ibadan, Nigeria

Household air pollution exposure has been linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes. A randomized controlled trial was undertaken in Ibadan, Nigeria to determine the impact of cooking with ethanol on pregnancy outcomes.

Read more

Household air pollution, ultrasound measurement, fetal biometric parameters and intrauterine growth restriction

Household air pollution, ultrasound measurement, fetal biometric parameters and intrauterine growth restriction

We investigated the effect of a cookstove intervention on fetal biometric parameters and intrauterine growth restriction in a randomized controlled trial cohort of household air pollution-exposed pregnant Nigerian women.

Read more

Ventilated cookstoves associated with improvements in respiratory health-related quality of life in rural Bolivia

Ventilated cookstoves associated with improvements in respiratory health-related quality of life in rural Bolivia

Household air pollution (HAP) from combustion of biomass fuels worldwide is linked to asthma, respiratory infections and chronic pulmonary diseases. Implementation of ventilated cookstoves significantly reduces exposure to HAP.

Read more

Systolic blood pressure changes in indigenous Bolivian women associated with an improved cookstove intervention

Systolic blood pressure changes in indigenous Bolivian women associated with an improved cookstove intervention

This study evaluated the effects of changes in cookstove-related particulate matter on blood pressure in 28 women head-of-households pre-intervention and 1 year post-intervention of an improved cookstove in a small, indigenous community in rural Bolivia.

Read more

Household air pollution and chronic hypoxia in the placenta of pregnant Nigerian women: A randomized controlled ethanol Cookstove intervention

Household air pollution and chronic hypoxia in the placenta of pregnant Nigerian women: A randomized controlled ethanol Cookstove intervention

Household air pollution (HAP) is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. This study investigates the impact of in-utero HAP exposure on placental development and chronic hypoxia.

Read more

Household air pollution and angiogenic factors in pregnant Nigerian women: A randomized controlled ethanol cookstove intervention

Household air pollution and angiogenic factors in pregnant Nigerian women: A randomized controlled ethanol cookstove intervention

Maternal exposure to ambient air pollution affects placental growth markers. This study investigates the impact of household air pollution (HAP) on placental growth markers.

Read more

Sustained usage of bioethanol cookstoves shown in an urban Nigerian city via new SUMs algorithm

Sustained usage of bioethanol cookstoves shown in an urban Nigerian city via new SUMs algorithm

An unbiased assessment of cooking patterns during a cookstove intervention can provide strong evidence for sustained usage of a cookstove among the target population.

Read more

Helpline: Expert response by Donee Alexander and Seema Patel

Helpline: Expert response by Donee Alexander and Seema Patel

Page 24 in Boiling Point, a practitioner’s journal for those working with household energy and stoves.

Read more

Effect of a clean stove intervention on inflammatory biomarkers in pregnant women in Ibadan, Nigeria: A randomized controlled study

Effect of a clean stove intervention on inflammatory biomarkers in pregnant women in Ibadan, Nigeria: A randomized controlled study

Exposure to household air pollution (HAP) has been linked to systemic inflammation. We determined the impact of transition from traditional firewood/kerosene stove to bioethanol-burning stove on inflammatory biomarkers in pregnant Nigerian women.

Read more

A global review of the state of the evidence of household air pollution’s contribution to ambient fine particulate matter and their related health impacts

A global review of the state of the evidence of household air pollution’s contribution to ambient fine particulate matter and their related health impacts

We find that household fine particulate air pollution is a dominant source of ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) globally — regardless of variations in model types, configurations, and emission inventories used — that contributes approximately 20 % of total global PM2.5 exposure.

Read more

Household Air Pollution Interventions to Improve Health in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Household Air Pollution Interventions to Improve Health in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

An estimated 3 billion people, largely in low- and middle- income countries, rely on unclean fuels for cooking, heating, and lighting to meet household energy needs. The resulting exposure to household air pollution (HAP) is a leading cause of pneumonia, chronic lung disease, and other adverse health effects. In the last decade, randomized controlled trials of clean cooking interventions to reduce HAP have been conducted. We aim to provide guidance on how to interpret the findings of these trials and how they should inform policy makers and practitioners.

Read more