2021-2022 Daniel R. Mishell, Jr, MD Outstanding Article Award Presented to Tina Raine-Bennett, MD, MPH, FACOG 

Medicines360 Chief Executive Officer, Tina Raine-Bennett, MD, MPH, FACOG, was recently awarded the 2021-2022 Daniel R. Mishell, Jr, MD Outstanding Article Award for her original research article entitled, “Ectopic pregnancy prevention: Further evidence of benefits of prescription contraceptives.” Dr. Raine-Bennett’s study explored the incidence of ectopic pregnancy in the last decade in U.S. women who used prescription contraceptives versus those who did not use prescription contraceptives. The study found that ectopic pregnancy incidence was lower during prescription contraceptive use compared to the absence of prescription contraceptive use. As an organization focused on reducing barriers to health access, Dr. Raine-Bennett’s passion, and keen understanding of the structural challenges, make us well positioned to develop solutions that enable greater access for women.  

With over 30 years of experience in the healthcare field, Dr. Raine-Bennett has worked diligently to improve women’s health outcomes, and in her last two years as CEO, has continued this critical work through Medicines360’s mission. For over a decade, Medicines360 has worked to prioritize women’s health over profit, to ensure equitable access. Recently, our Vice President of Communications, Stacey Manley, sat down with Dr. Raine-Bennett to discuss this important recognition, her professional journey thus far, and her hopes for the future of women’s health.  

Can you share more about the trajectory of your career and interest in women’s health? 

As a Board-Certified Obstetrician Gynecologist, I have always had a strong interest in family planning, specifically in supporting teens and underserved women as they navigate their reproductive needs. Prior to joining Medicines360, I served as a senior research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) Division of Research and was the director of the Women’s Health Research Institute. In this role, I expanded research conducted in women’s health and translated the findings into clinical applications. Additionally, I worked to involve clinicians in research with the goal of improving patients’ healthcare experiences and outcomes. So, in many ways my passion to improve women’s healthcare has been infused in everything I do. And I look forward to continuing this pursuit through the mission of Medicines360. 

You have contributed to over 115 peer-reviewed publications, how does this study stand out? What do the results suggest regarding the future of women’s health? 

Our goal with this study was to evaluate the benefits of birth control. The results demonstrate how imperative it is to expand how we view contraceptives and the conversation surrounding access to women’s healthcare. Ectopic pregnancy disproportionately affects black women. If we can find ways to reduce the chances of an ectopic pregnancy with prescription contraceptives, we are one step closer to providing women with more quality reproductive healthcare and reducing health disparities. 

How does this study align with Medicines360’s focus as a nonprofit pharma company? 

The results of the study affirm the broad benefits of prescription contraceptives and align well with our mission to expand access to women’s health and contraceptive options. Already, we have worked to make our hormonal IUD available to more than 400K US women who receive care via public sector clinics; we’ve successfully registered our global product in seven (7) countries outside the US and aspire to ensure global product availability in 74 additional countries around the world. My vision is that our nonprofit pharma model can help speed the transformation of the healthcare system by leveraging philanthropic funding and social impact investments to research and develop effective products that can benefit women and their reproductive health. Finally in 2023, we will continue to increase public sector availability of our hormonal IUD so that more women can gain access to the full range of birth control options and control over their reproductive health. 

What is your hope for the future of women’s health? 

My hope is that collectively, the field continues to develop similar models and interventions that improve access to necessary medicines. It’s truly a domino effect—by reducing the cost of medicines and increasing their access, women have more options and freedom when it comes to their healthcare and lives. I am also hopeful that the body of research in this space continues to grow and garner the support of stakeholders. By investing in women’s health, we are better able to meet the specific needs of diverse women and provide them with solutions that lead to meaningful change. I cannot emphasize enough how vital it is that we pursue research with a focus on supporting women’s health and wellbeing.  

As we continue our efforts to address the gaps in women’s health, my ultimate hope is that we contribute to the creation of a world where all women have control over their reproductive health and receive the support needed to make informed choices about their care. 

About Medicines360

Located in San Francisco, California, Medicines360 is a global nonprofit pharmaceutical organization with a mission to accelerate the timeline from health innovation to access for all women. Medicines360 is committed to working with healthcare providers, advocacy groups, and patients to deliver innovative and meaningful treatments that help women around the world have greater access to the medicines they need. For more information, visit www.medicines360.org.

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AVIBELA can be made available in the following 88 countries

  1. Algeria
  2. Angola
  3. Bangladesh
  4. Belize
  5. Benin
  6. Bhutan
  7. Botswana
  8. Burkina Faso
  9. Burundi
  10. Cambodia
  11. Cameroon
  12. Cape Verde
  13. Central African Republic
  14. Chad
  15. Comoros
  16. Costa Rica
  17. Cuba
  18. Democratic Republic of the Congo
  19. Djibouti
  20. Dominica
  21. Dominican Republic
  22. Egypt
  23. El Salvador
  24. Equatorial Guinea
  25. Eritrea
  26. Ethiopia
  27. Gabon
  28. Ghana
  29. Grenada
  30. Guatemala
  31. Guinea
  32. Guinea-Bissau
  33. Haiti
  34. Honduras
  35. India
  36. Indonesia
  37. Ivory Coast
  38. Jamaica
  39. Kenya
  40. Lao PDR
  41. Lesotho
  42. Liberia
  43. Libya
  44. Madagascar
  45. Malawi
  46. Malaysia
  47. Maldives
  48. Mali
  49. Mauritania
  50. Mauritius
  51. Mayotte
  52. Morocco
  53. Mozambique
  54. Myanmar
  55. Namibia
  56. Nepal
  57. Nicaragua
  58. Niger
  59. Nigeria
  60. Pakistan
  61. Panama
  62. Papua New Guinea
  63. Philippines
  64. Republic of the Congo
  65. Rwanda
  66. Sao Tome and Principe
  67. Senegal
  68. Seychelles
  69. Sierra Leone
  70. Somalia
  71. South Africa
  72. South Sudan
  73. Sri Lanka
  74. Kitts and Nevis
  75. Lucia
  76. Vincent & the Grenadines
  77. Sudan
  78. Swaziland
  79. Tanzania
  80. Thailand
  81. The Gambia
  82. Timor-Leste
  83. Togo
  84. Tunisia
  85. Uganda
  86. Vietnam
  87. Zambia
  88. Sri Lanka

Tina Raine-Bennett, MD, MPH, FACOG

Chief Executive Officer

Tina Raine-Bennett, MD, MPH, is CEO of Medicines360. Previously, she served as a senior research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research and the research director of the Women’s Health Research Institute. She is a Board-Certified Obstetrician Gynecologist who received her medical training at the University of California, San Diego, and post-graduate residency training and MPH at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she also completed a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Fellowship. She was also senior staff physician at Kaiser Permanente and has a special interest in family planning and adolescent reproductive health.

As the director of the Women’s Health Research Institute, Dr. Raine-Bennett focused on expanding research on women’s health within the Division and translating women’s health research into clinical practice and policy within the Ob/Gyn departments in Northern California. She also promoted the involvement of clinicians in research designed to improve the health outcomes and healthcare experiences of women at Kaiser Permanente and women in general.

Prior to Kaiser Permanente, Dr. Raine-Bennett was a professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She was based at San Francisco General Hospital where she was also the medical director of the New Generation Health Center, a UCSF affiliate site that provides community-based reproductive health services. Dr. Raine-Bennett’s research has focused on contraceptive methods and on elucidating factors that influence contraceptive choice and continuation, and she was principal investigator on NIH grants to assess hormonal contraceptive use predictors and develop interventions to improve contraceptive access.

Her past and current research on emergency contraception has focused on the safety of making emergency contraception more accessible and she conducted a pivotal clinical trial to make emergency contraception available to teens without a prescription. She served on the editorial board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and has over 100 peer-reviewed publications. She was the Treasurer of the Board of Directors for the Society of Family Planning and Society of Family Planning Research Fund. She has also served as an examiner for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and on national committees for the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the National Medical Board of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.