Rebecca W. Acosta, RN, MPH, FISTM has been providing travel health care for over 25 years and is an internationally recognized expert in pre-travel health care practice.
She received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from the University of Rochester and a Master in Public Health (MPH) in International Health and Health Education from The Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. After completing her nursing degree, she traveled in Kenya for 3 months. Upon return she worked as a travel health nurse for Traveler’s Medical Service of Washington and where she helped to formalize the practice of travel health care as an emerging specialty. After moving to New York City and additional time traveling in Africa, she co-founded Traveler’s Medical Service of New York in 1996.
Rebecca is an active member of the International Society of Travel Medicine (ISTM) and was selected to participate in defining the body of knowledge in travel medicine and developing the first international examination in travel medicine. She was one of the first recipients of the Certificate of Knowledge in Travel Health (CTH®) from the ISTM. Rebecca is a co-founder and former board member of The American Travel Health Nurses Association. She was a contributing author to The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Health Information for International Travel “Yellow Book” in 2010 and 2012, authoritative textbooks on travel medicine and is an invited speaker to international conferences. She is a consultant to global corporations, international relief organizations and the entertainment industry on travel medicine. Rebecca has been traveling the world since the age of two and she continues to travel internationally with her own family.
