Global Health and Service
at Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School advances health equity through rigorous research, evidence-based implementation, and innovative policy analysis. Our faculty and trainees apply social science and biomedical research to improve the practice of medicine, strengthen health system delivery, and develop health care policies that serve vulnerable and marginalized populations locally and worldwide.
Our mission is to translate scientific evidence and innovation into health equity for the world’s most vulnerable populations. The stories below demonstrate how philanthropic support advances this work across research, education, policy, and implementation.
You can be assured that the faculty, staff, and students of Harvard Medical School and Harvard University will not step back from our commitment to health equity both here in the United States and around the world. This is a commitment that isn’t just scientific. It isn’t just humanitarian. It is fundamentally a moral commitment, a solidarity with humanity.
Vikram Patel
Paul Farmer Professor and Chair of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School
At Alumni Day 2026, hundreds of HMS alumni convened for a panel discussion on global health to tackle critical questions: Why invest in global health? What should HMS’s role be? Panelists, including Atul Gawande, Rochelle Walensky, and Pardis Sabeti, addressed urgent challenges (the health crisis in Haiti, the Ebola outbreak in central Africa, and the resurgence of measles in the United States) and reasons for hope: new breakthroughs, strong partnerships like the Paul Farmer Collaborative in Rwanda, and a committed next generation.
Watch: Joia Mukherjee, associate professor of global health and social medicine and director of the Master of Medical Sciences in Global Health Delivery program at HMS, explains her work expanding care globally: “That is why I’m here at Harvard Med: to make sure that everyone gets the fruits of science and the right to health.”
Reimagining Global Health in 2026
Educating & Mentoring Leaders
A Fulbright Scholar from Rwanda, Daniel practices in both rural and urban hospitals, teaches medical students to “see the life behind diseases,” and conducts malaria trials. Inspired by Dr. Paul Farmer’s legacy, he joined HMS’s Global Health Delivery program to study implementation science. His thesis focuses on bringing newborn genetic screening to Rwanda. Daniel emphasizes that for those seeking to solve global health problems, this program provides both knowledge and a practical framework for action.
Daniel Byiringiro, MD
Daniel Byiringiro, MD
An emergency physician from Argentina, Juana saw firsthand how structural inequities shape health outcomes, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Determined to drive systemic change, she joined the Global Health Delivery program to deepen her understanding of health systems reform and equity. As a Fulbright Scholar, she’s researching how primary care reform in Buenos Aires affects access and equity. She plans to return to Argentina to drive system-level change.
Juana Moro, MD
Juana Moro, MD
Advancing Global Health Equity Amid Challenge
Despite federal funding cuts and WHO withdrawal, Louise Ivers, Henry J. Kaiser Endowed Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, professor of medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Director, Harvard Global Health Institute at Harvard University, sees possibilities: new HIV treatments, shorter TB regimens, and expanding surgical capacity worldwide. Drawing on 20 years of experience in Haiti, she emphasizes that proximity to problems—working closely with local partners—is essential. Real solutions, she argues, emerge from listening to and learning from those with lived experience.
Nadav Sprague, inaugural U.S. Health Equity Postdoctoral Fellow at HMS, investigates how to transform cooling centers into welcoming community spaces during deadly heat waves. His research spans eight U.S. cities, examining how green space and community connection support health during climate crises. Drawing on his experience founding Gateway to the Great Outdoors, a nature-based STEM program for low-income students in Chicago and St. Louis, Sprague brings a community-centered approach to his work. Partnering with Harvard Chan’s C-CHANGE and the Planetary Health Lab, he’s building solutions at the intersection of climate, equity, and health.
Innovation in Systems & Policy
Over 75 leaders from the fields of global health, technology, finance, and policy convened at HMS in November 2025 to ask: How can we effectively leverage clinical AI to treat populations in low-income countries at scale? The Summit on Clinical AI for Global Health moved beyond ethical concerns to address the urgent challenge: our failure to harness existing AI for the world’s poorest. Concrete projects emerged: donating AI tools, expanding language models, connecting engineers to global health projects, and exploring financing options.
AI & HEALTH EQUITY
More than a billion people worldwide lack adequate mental health care, according to the World Health Organization. At the Paul Farmer Symposium in November 2025, global health leaders explored how task-sharing, digital innovation, and community-led models close the treatment gap. Examples include community health workers in Peru reaching more than 700 mothers with depression, digital chatbots supporting tens of thousands of adolescents with HIV, and the SAMARTH project in India integrating schizophrenia treatment into primary care. These programs demonstrate that meaningful impact requires reaching beyond traditional health systems into faith communities, veteran organizations, and rural settings.
MENTAL HEALTH EQUITY IN ACTION
Why are prescription drugs so expensive? To answer this question, Luca Maini, assistant professor of health care policy at HMS, studies the global pharmaceutical market. While most wealthy countries negotiate prices directly, the United States relies on pharmacy benefit managers. Maini explains the Trump administration’s “Most Favored Nation” approach and its implications for Medicaid, Medicare, and patients. His research reveals how Medicaid’s “best price” clause inadvertently drives up commercial prices. Maini’s work underscores that transparency and policy research are essential to ensuring new therapeutics reach those who need them most.
MAKING MEDICINES AFFORDABLE
Does payment reform improve cancer care? Nancy Keating, professor of health care policy at HMS, studies how payment structures influence oncology practices’ clinical decisions. Her research on Medicare’s Oncology Care Model shows that tying payments to quality outcomes and overall costs encouraged more thoughtful treatment decisions and greater efficiency without sacrificing care quality. Two new studies reveal that participating practices achieved increasing savings over time and became more selective in initiating chemotherapy for patients unlikely to benefit. Keating’s work demonstrates that value-based payment models show promise in oncology but require careful design to succeed.
VALUE-BASED CARE IN CANCER
Office of Alumni Affairs and Development
25 Shattuck Street
Boston, MA 02115
giving@hms.harvard.edu
