Vanessa is an e-Patient Scholar at Stanford University Medicine X as well as antibiotic resistance and one health activist. She established Healthcare Communications and Social Media South Africa in 2013 which started as a Twitter chat to discuss sustainable health development. Vanessa also created the first CPD course in South Africa about e-Patients accredited by the South African Medical Association (SAMA) and has further provided training to various organisations including the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) and the Africa CDC. Before her advocacy, Vanessa was a creative director and advertising business owner for 18 years. Due to a severe car accident during 2004 in Johannesburg, she spent ten years in the medical system reconstructing damage caused to her face which resulted in an antibiotic-resistant infection called MRSA. After an extensive fight to recover, she introduced digital medical marketing services to her business because one of her greatest challenges was finding reliable, patient-centered information. Since 2013, she has been appointed an advisor to multiple entities including the South African Antibiotic Stewardship Programme and in 2019 was recognised with a FINDdx Award at the 72nd World Health Assembly in Geneva. One of Vanessa's major achievements was to assist in the implementation of the Antibiotic Guardian Pledge Campaign in South Africa working alongside Professor Adrian Brink, Head of Microbiology at the University of Cape Town which was later adopted by the National Department of Health.

Her contact details and more about her work can be viewed at www.vanessacarter.co.za and www.healthcaresocialmedia.co.za