Events Articles
The Equity Imperative: Building and strengthening a national health system in Rwanda
11 Mar 2013
Dr. Agnes Binagwaho spoke to the HMS community on March 11, 2013 about how Rwanda's public sector has prioritized health outcomes among the poorest and most vulnerable. The video recording of the talk may be viewed here.The coming transformation in global health: a conversation with Crisp, Frenk, and Farmer
08 Mar 2013
On February 28, 2013, Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health presented a conversation among Lord Nigel Crisp, Harvard School of Public Health Dean Julio Frenk, and Professor Paul Farmer titled "The coming transformation in global health." This event was videotaped and may be viewed here. Also see the related story in HMS News.Conference on Ethical Issues in Universal Health Coverage to Be Held April 18-19
29 Jan 2013
The Harvard University Program in Ethics and Health announces the 8th Annual International Bioethics Conference, Universal Health Coverage in Low-Income Countries: Ethical Issues, to be held on April 18 and 19, 2013, at the Inn at Longwood Medical, 342 Longwood Avenue, Boston. The conference is free and open to the public, but space is limited and registration is required.Sixty attend seminar on mental health services in China
15 Jun 2012
At a seminar held in Shanghai on May 14-15, 2012, 60 mental health specialists from across China gathered to examine China’s progress and challenges in building a new system of public mental health. The seminar, Mental Health Services in China: Research, Implementation and Policy, featured presentations from faculty members of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine and colleagues, including leadership, from the Shanghai Mental Health Center and the Peking University Institute of Mental Health. The seminar also served to launch the five-year program, Building Research Capacity to Improve Mental Health in China across the Lifespan.GHDonline Announces New Communities and Discussions
08 Jun 2012
GHDonline, the global health delivery virtual community and blog site connecting clinicians, researchers, policy makers, students, and managers from more than 160 countries and nearly 2200 organizations, announces new opportunities and reports successful use of online resources by health care workers in Africa. The Young Professionals Chronic Disease Network goes public. Virtual expert panels on malaria control and on community health workers and nurses are scheduled on June 25-29, 2012.Global Health Delivery Course Launches in Rwanda
22 Feb 2012
On February 19, 2012, 41 faculty and students from Burundi, Haiti, Rwanda, and the United States gathered at the Rwinkwavu Hospital Training Center to launch the Global Health Delivery course, led by Harvard Medical School faculty in conjunction with the Ministry of Health of Rwanda. Dr. Agnès Binagwaho, Rwanda’s Minister of Health and a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Medical School, described the course as an example of “authentic and effective capacity building for the health sector, meant to break the vicious cycle of poverty and disease.”Famine in the Horn of Africa Talks to be Presented Feb 6
26 Jan 2012
The Program in Infectious Disease and Social Change and the Committee on African Studies present a series of brief talks followed by discussion on "Famine in the Horn of Africa" on Monday, February 6, 2012, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Radcliffe Gym, Harvard University, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge. These talks are free and open to the public, but seating is limited. Click the heading link for full details.Sachs Delivers Global Health Keynote Speech
06 May 2011
On April 4 and 5, 2011 the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School hosted the inaugural symposium of the Programs in Global Health and Social Change. Global Health Delivery: Challenges and Opportunities for Advancing Excellence and Equity was the launching point for an exchange of ideas focused on some of the most pressing issues confronted by scientists, educators, and practitioners who are committed to improving global health delivery. Jeffrey Sachs delivered the keynote address, which we are pleased to present: Global Health Symposium Keynote.Deadly Medicine Exhibit Comes to HMS, April 4 to July 17, 2011
05 Apr 2011
GHSM faculty members Mildred Solomon and Scott Podolsky have brought the exhibit Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race to the Countway Library as of April 4. Dean Jeffrey Flier announced that Harvard Medical School has partnered with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to bring this groundbreaking exhibition to the Boston community. It will remain on display until July 17, 2011.Health Financing for Universal Coverage Events to Be Held April 7
01 Apr 2011
The Department of Global Health and Social Medicine is co-hosting two events related to health financing for universal coverage, both on Thursday, April 7. The first, at noon, will be held at Harvard Medical School Armenise Amphitheater. The second will be held at 6:00 p.m. at the Kennedy School of Government Nye Conference Center, Cambridge. Both events feature Robert Yates, Senior Health Adviser, Department for International Development, United Kingdom, and S.A.S. Kargbo, Director, Reproductive and Child Health Unit, Ministry of Health, Sierra Leone.No Woman, No Cry to be presented on April 5
24 Mar 2011
The Harvard Medical School Department of Global Health and Social Medicine and Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Global Health present No Woman, No Cry, a documentary film by Christy Turlington Burns, on Tuesday, April 5, 2011, at 5:00 p.m. at the 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur. Refreshments will be available between 4:30 and 5:00. A panel discussion will follow the film. Seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.GHSM hosts symposium on global health delivery
09 Mar 2011
On April 4-5, 2011, the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine hosts the symposium, Global Health Delivery: Challenges and Opportunities for Advancing Excellence and Equity. The symposium will explore the issues of evaluating impact and framing priorities for global health, the role of academic institutions in solving global health delivery problems, and translating effective delivery strategies into policy. Registration for this symposium is now closed.GHSM hosts conference on non-communicable diseases
03 Jan 2011
On March 2-3, 2011, the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine co-hosts the conference, The Long Tail of Global Health Equity: Tackling the Endemic Non-Communicable Diseases of the Bottom Billion. The conference seeks to focus attention on the non-communicable disease burden of the poorest populations, the bottom billion, largely composed of children and young adults. Held at the Joseph P. Martin conference center at Harvard Medical School, the conference is free and open to the public. See the full story and link to the conference web site for details and to register.Good lectures on ‘the subject’ and ‘subjectivity’
16 Sep 2010
Professor of Medical Anthropology Byron Good redelivered the 2010 Robert Ranulph Marett Memorial Lectureship in the Friday Morning Seminar in Medical Anthropology on September 17. Alastair Donald and Michael M.J. Fischer led the commentary at the September 17 talk. Dr. Donald is a practicing psychiatrist, anthropologist, and a lecturer in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Fischer is Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Humanities and Professor of Anthropology and Science and Technology Studies at MIT.Good gives keynote at VA equity research conference
15 Sep 2010
Mary-Jo Good, Professor of Social Medicine, gave a keynote address at the Veterans Administration field-based conference, VA Equity Research: Moving the Field Forward, held on Monday September 13, at Boston University School of Management. The title of her talk was "The Culture of Medicine and Disparities in Treatment and Care."Ware Gives Keynote Lecture at “Knowledge and Pain” Conference
29 Jun 2010
Norma Ware, Associate Professor of Social Medicine, gave a keynote lecture at an international invitational conference on “Knowledge and Pain,” hosted by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, on May 25. Prof. Ware spoke on “Bridging Anthropology and Medicine through the Study of Pain.” She asserted that, despite their epistemological differences and divergent objects of study, anthropological research and research in medicine/public health can be brought into dialogue to benefit health and improve quality of life for patients.Lu Speaks on Government Health Expenditure in Developing Countries
28 Jun 2010
Chunling Lu, Instructor in Social Medicine, gave an invited talk on “Government Health Expenditure in Developing Countries: Data Problems, Imputation Methods, and Future Work” at the Financial Flows Advisory Panel of the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. The presentation was part of current work which studies the impact of global health aid on government health expenditure in developing countries.Fairbank Center Hosts Seminar on China’s One Child Policy
19 Apr 2010
Joan Kaufman reports that Harvard's Fairbank Center held a seminar on “China’s One Child Policy after 30 years – Time for a Change?” on April 19. Panelists included:- Joan Kaufman, Lecturer in Global Health and Social Medicine;
- Gu Baochang, Professor of Demography, Center for Population and Development Studies, Renmin University;
- Zhen Zhenzhen, Professor, Institute of Population and Labor Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; and
- Cai Yong, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Department Faculty Lead Planning for Deadly Medicine Exhibit at HMS
15 Apr 2010
Harvard Medical School is hosting Deadly Medicine, a traveling exhibit of the U.S. Holocaust Museum from April through mid-July 2011. In March, HMS hosted a planning summit meeting of senior leaders from area hospitals and schools of medicine, nursing, public health, law and to plan this event. Deadly Medicine chronicles the ways in which physicians helped to advance Nazi plans both before and during World War II. Unlike many Holocaust events, this exhibit is not simply a tale of horror but an analysis of the role that the German medical elite played in turning German medicine into Nazi medicine through longstanding commitments to eugenics. The exhibit focuses specifically on the German sterilization and euthanasia campaigns directed primarily to German citizens deemed unfit. It raises contemporary issues related to professional ethics, dual agency, contemporary genetic medicine and disabilities.Center for the History of Medicine Launches New Web Site
14 Apr 2010
Scott Podolsky, Director of the Center for the History of Medicine at HMS, announces the launch of a new website, which is interactive and designed specifically to communicate with and meet the needs of students, faculty, and other researchers. The new website includes announcements of symposia, lectures, exhibit openings, and other special events; notice of collections newly opened to research; information about new acquisitions; deadlines for fellowship program applications; and invitations to interact with the history of medicine community. The site has a new blog with comment features that make it simple to share thoughts and questions. Click here to visit the site and sign-up for the Center mailing list.Chivian speaks on News Hour with Jim Lehrer
19 Feb 2010
Eric Chivian, Nobel Laureate and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and of Global Health and Social Medicine, spoke on links between climate change and the biodiversity that human health depends upon in an interview aired on December 18, 2009. The interview is available at: PBS News Hour.Family Van launches MobileHealthMap.org
19 Feb 2010
The Family Van working in collaboration with the Mobile Health Clinics Network and The Children’s Hospital Boston Health Informatics Program has recently launched a website, MobileHealthMap.org, that is beginning to connect the national network of independent mobile clinics and provide them access to the Mobile Health Clinic Return-on-Investment Calculator as recently described by Nancy E. Oriol, Paul J. Cote, Anthony P. Vavasis, Jennifer Bennet, Darien DeLorenzo, Phillip Blanc, Isaac Kohane in (June 2, 2009) Calculating the Return on Investment of Mobile Healthcare. BMC Medicine. The website is currently open and accepting new participants.Lu presents on measuring household health expenditure
19 Feb 2010
Chunling Lu, Instructor in Global Health and Social Medicine, presented “Measuring Private Health Expenditure: Methods, Limitations, and Future Work” at a recent World Health Organization / WorldBank / OECD Technical Meeting on Standardization of Health Survey Modules. The presentation explored the effect of survey design on estimates of household out-of-pocket and catastrophic health expenditure and discussed future work on developing better instruments to collect reliable, valid, and comparable data.Kleinman lecturing on care-giving
19 Feb 2010
Arthur Kleinman is lecturing on the paradoxical situation of care-giving in today's medicine and how to strengthen care-giving in medical education and practice. He discussed these issues in a lecture at the Ethics Center at U Penn in November and in the Henry Hardy Lecture at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in December. This month he is also examining this topic when he delivers the Simon Lecture at Brown University. Kleinman is currently teaching his course in the Core Curriculum at Harvard College: "Culture, Illness and Healing: An Introduction to Medical Anthropology" which he first taught in 1984.Fein presents the Harvard Memorial Minute on Julius B. Richmond
19 Feb 2010
Rashi Fein, Professor of Economics of Medicine, Emeritus, read the Memorial Minute on Julius B. Richmond at a recent Harvard Faculty meeting. Dr. Richmond, Professor of Health Policy Emeritus in the Faculty of Medicine, was born in Chicago, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, in September, 1916. He was almost 92 when he died at his home in Brookline. Few individuals have had as great and lasting an impact on health, health care, and the well-being of children. Click on the header to read an abbreviated version of the minute on our news page. The full minute is available at the Harvard Gazette link.Castro speaks on eliminating MTCT of HIV and syphilis
29 Nov 2009
Arachu Castro presented, “Operational research aimed at eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV and congenital syphilis,” at the Invited Symposium on Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV and Congenital Syphilis: Prevention Strategies, Fifth Latin American and Caribbean Forum on HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (November 2009), Lima, Peru.Lu speaks on Yan Xin Qigong at APHA meeting
28 Nov 2009
Chunling Lu gave two plenary presentations at the recent American Public Health Association Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. One was on “Promoting mental health with traditional medicine: An evidence-based study on Yan Xin Qigong” and the other was, “Impact of Yan Xin Qigong on promoting women's health: An evidence-based study on traditional medical care programs.”Levkoff lectures on mental health care needs of caregivers
27 Nov 2009
Sue Levkoff gave the Twenty-second Annual Edith Harris Endowed Memorial Lecture at Wayne State University School of Social Work, Detroit, Michigan on October 23. Her lecture was on “The Mental Health Care Needs of Caregivers: A Growing Public Health Problem.”Krakauer speaks in Hanoi on rights to health and development
26 Nov 2009
In late October, Eric Krakauer gave a plenary address at a conference on “Realizing the Rights to Health and Development for All” in Hanoi, organized by the Vietnamese government and the Initiative for Health and Human Rights of the University of New South Wales, Australia. The conference website is: http://www.healthandrights.com/Fein speaking on health care reform
04 Nov 2009
In recent months Rashi Fein has continued to discuss and help plan health care reform. He participated in the Second Adirondack Health Care Summit sponsored by the New York State Association of Counties. The Summit discussed the new pilot program that restructures medical care delivery and public and private insurance payments in the Adirondacks. Rashi will be speaking on Health Care Reform: Past, Present, and Future at the following venues:
- On November 22 at Temple Emeth (Brookline, MA)
- On December 1 at the New York Academy of Medicine
Healing, Ritual, and Placebo Seminar Series, Fall 2009
03 Nov 2009
The Department of Global Health and Social Medicine co-sponsors the seminar series on Healing, Ritual, and Placebo, which Ted Kaptchuk organizes. Seminars are held monthly at the Osher Research Center, 401 Park Drive, Boston, on Thursdays at 4:00 p.m. On November 19, Irving Kirsch from the University of Hull, UK, will speak on “The Emperor’s New Drugs: The Placebo Effect in Depression.”Oliver Wendell Holmes Symposium to be held on November 17
03 Nov 2009
The Center for the History of Medicine at Harvard Medical School is celebrating the Oliver Wendell Holmes bicentennial this year with several events, including a symposium to be held on Wednesday, November 17. Scott Podolsky, Director of the Center and Assistant Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine will introduce the symposium, beginning at 1:00 p.m. Scott and co-author, Charles S. Bryan, expect their new book, Oliver Wendell Holmes: Physician and Man of Letters (Science History Publications, 2009) to be published at about the same time.New partnership to deliver medical information to clinicians in underserved areas
27 Oct 2009
The Global Health Delivery Project is starting a new partnership with UpToDate, Inc. to provide a limited number of one-year complimentary subscriptions to UpToDate® — a leading evidence-based and peer-reviewed clinical information resource — to clinicians and organizations providing medical care or related services to poor or underserved populations outside the U.S. This program is administered via GHDonline (details to apply available online), and we hope this will be a great opportunity for GHDonline members.Belfer participates in African psychiatry study group and conference
22 Oct 2009
Myron Belfer participated as faculty in the second African Child and Adolescent Mental Health Study Group in Abuja, Nigeria October 19 to 21. The Study Group was formed during his presidency of the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions and supports junior faculty to develop child mental health clinical and advocacy skills. He presented a paper, "Psychotrauma or Psychobabble: What is the evidence?" at the World Psychiatric Association African Regional Conference held from October 22 to 24.Castro speaks on health policy and MTCT of STDs in Latin America
01 Oct 2009
Arachu Castro recently gave two presentations:
- The Bacardi Family Distinguished Lecture on Health and Policy in Latin America at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL. The title of the lecture was: Responding to Public Health Priorities in Latin America and the Caribbean: From Academic Research to Policy Setting to Clinical Practice. (September 14)
- Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and Integration of HIV in Maternal and Child Health services syphilis in Latin America and the Caribbean, Invited Plenary Lecture. Regional Conference for UNICEF Health and HIV Focal Points, Regional Office of UNICEF for Latin America and the Caribbean. Panama City, Panama. (October 1)
Lu presents at the 7th World Congress of International Health Economics Association
30 Sep 2009
Chunling Lu presented three papers at the 7th World Congress of International Health Economics Association, this summer in Beijing, China:
- “Assessing Regional Performance in Achieving MDGs in Rwanda”
- “Sub-national assessment of health system performance in Mexico”
- “A substitute for government resource allocation to the health sector? – the role of international health aid in Rwanda”
Harvard Medical School remembers Leon Eisenberg
17 Sep 2009
Harvard Medical School remembers Leon Eisenberg, the Maude and Lillian Presley professor emeritus of social medicine, who died on Sept. 15. A child psychiatrist, Eisenberg is known for innovative research in autism, groundbreaking advances in pediatric clinical trials and psychopharmacology, and integration of social experience into the study of disease. He was a leader of the HMS affirmative action program. Recently, he had advocated for a rigorous code of ethics to avoid conflicts of interest in medicine and for depression screening in the primary care setting. In June, Children’s Hospital Boston named an endowed chair for him.Ware shows social ties helping African AIDS patients adhere to ART
01 Jul 2009
At the Harvard Center for AIDS Research conference held in June, Norma Ware, associate professor of social medicine, reported her findings from sub-Saharan Africa that social relationships are helping HIV/AIDS patients to maintain anti-retroviral treatment regimens.Becker gives keynote at Royal College of Psychiatrists annual meeting
05 Jun 2009
Anne Becker presents a keynote address to the Eating Disorders Section Institute Day "Eating Disorders Unbound: Improving Care in a Multi-Cultural Society" at the Royal College of Psychiatrists Annual Meeting in Liverpool June 5. The keynote is entitled: "Eating Disorders: A Global Perspective."Lu discusses health spending at Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
02 Jun 2009
Chunling Lu gave two invited presentations at the University of Washington in Seattle in May. First was the lecture, “Measuring government health spending,” at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation Advisory Board Meeting. Also at the Institute, she gave a seminar on “Additionality or substitution? Effect of international aid on government health spending.”Lowenstein speaks on physicians’ responsibility to support access to care for all
01 Jun 2009
In a presentation at Stanford University this spring, Ed Lowenstein discusses his belief that “while cardiac anesthesiologists have contributed effectively to the broad practice of medicine and benefited many individual patients, these actions do not by themselves completely fulfill our professional obligations.” He suggests that “our moral responsibilities as physicians must be expanded beyond our immediate patients."Children’s Hospital presents third annual Belfer International Child Mental Health Lecture
27 May 2009
Myron Belfer was honored on May 27 with the third annual Belfer International Child Mental Health Lecture at Children’s Hospital. Harriet MacMillan, Professor, Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences and Pediatrics and David R. (Dan) Offord Chair in Child Studies, Offord Centre for Child Studies, McMaster University, Ontario, presented the talk, “Community-Based Research in Family Violence: The Challenges of Linking Policy with Evidence.”Kim and Porter Present the Academic Model for the Prevention and Treatment of HIV/AIDS
22 Apr 2009
On April 22, the Global Health Delivery Project (GHD) and the Harvard Business School’s Healthcare Initiative co-sponsored a discussion of GHD's global health case study entitled The Academic Model for the Prevention and Treatment of HIV/AIDS (AMPATH). Nearly 70 students, representing Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Business School, Harvard Law School, Harvard Initiative for Global Health, Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, MIT, and Tufts School of Medicine participated. Numerous faculty and deans from those institutions were also in attendance.Becker speaks on eating disorders among Fijians
19 Mar 2009
Anne Becker presented findings about eating disorders among Fijians at a recent Radcliffe seminar. Her studies show that the introduction of television to rural Fiji led to a profound change of cultural and psychological views about food and the body. See the Harvard Gazette story, Fijian girls succumb to Western dysmorphia.Farmer speaks on faith-based initiatives
18 Mar 2009
Paul Farmer gave the Price Lecture, "Is it possible to give faith-based initiatives a good name?" at Trinity Church Boston last month. The talk can be streamed or downloaded from The Trinity Church Boston web site.Leon Eisenberg Speaks on Student Activism in American Medicine
14 Mar 2009
Leon Eisenberg spoke at the annual National Undergraduate Bioethics Conference (NUBC), hosted by HUBS, the Harvard Undergraduate Bioethics Society, on March 14th, on a history of student activism in 20th century American medicine. His talk was entitled “Professing Ethics at the Universities of Sodom and Gomorrah” and was blogged publicly at the Electric Monk: a many-brained bioethics blog.Prioritization of Health Resources - April 23 & 24
03 Mar 2009
The Harvard University Program in Ethics and Health, directed by Dan Brock, Frances Glessner Lee Professor of Medical Ethics in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, announces its fourth annual conference on April 23-24, 2009. The theme of the conference is "Ethical Issues in the Prioritization of Health Resources." It will begin with three detailed case studies drawn from recent experiences in developed and developing countries. Speakers will identify ethical issues arising in these cases and other priority-setting dilemmas and will explore possible resolutions. Health officials, health policy analysts, physicians, economists, philosophers, and lawyers are among the scheduled presenters. The program will be of interest to a range of scholars and professionals interested in rigorous analysis of the normative dimensions of health policy. There is no fee to participate in this conference, but registration is required. Please see the PEH conference web site.Carola Eisenberg speaks on Physicians for Human Rights
09 Jan 2009
At a presentation at Dartmouth College, Carola Eisenberg told the story of how her experiences of witnessing inhumane treatment of patients and others led to the founding of Physicians for Human Rights. She urged students to get involved with PHR, which promotes the universal right to health care using advocacy, health training and public policy.
David Jones is keynote speaker at NCQA Policy Conference in Washington, DC
05 Dec 2008
David Jones and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) are the two keynote speakers at the National Committee for Quality Assurance Policy Conference on December 5, 2008. Prof. Jones is speaking on, “History, Cardiac Technology, and Dilemmas for Health Policy.”Ware speaks on residential mental health treatment
14 Nov 2008
On November 14, 2008, Norma Ware gave an invited presentation entitled, “Building Capacity for Connectedness & Citizenship in Residential Mental Health Treatment” at the semi-annual meeting of the American Residential Treatment Association.Marcia Angell gives Vanuxem Lecture
17 Sep 2008
On September 17, Marcia Angell gave the Louis Clark Vanuxem Lecture at Princeton University, titled "Reforming Our Health System: Why Neither Candidate Has the Answer."Myron Belfer chairs Plenary Symposium at the World Association for Infant Mental Health in Yokohama
02 Aug 2008
Dr. Myron Belfer chaired the Plenary Symposium at the World Association for Infant Mental Health (WAIMH) in Yokohama, Japan on August 2. The symposium, "International perspectives: Infant, child and adolescent mental health through science-based advocacy," was sponsored by the Global Consortium for Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Dr. Belfer chairs the consortium which consists of the leadership of several international child mental health organizations, including WAIMH, the World Federation for Mental Health, the International Association for Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology, and the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions.