Jennifer Kasper, MD, MPH

Jennifer Kasper, MD, MPH

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Brigham and Women's Hospital
Assistant Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Chair, Faculty Advisory Committee on Global Health, Harvard Medical School
Pediatrician, Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center
Director, Pediatric Racial Justice and Health Equity, SJPHC
Presidents' Council, Doctors for Global Health

Jennifer Kasper is a pediatrician, global health practitioner, and social medicine educator committed to clinical medicine, human rights, training and mentoring. Her unique and diverse background is reflective of these areas of expertise. For 20 years, Dr. Kasper has provided clinical care to underserved children in the US and resource-limited settings abroad; directed health care delivery and capacity-building programs in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa; implemented PEPFAR-funded HIV programs in Mozambique; participated in disaster relief efforts in Honduras and Haiti.

Dr. Kasper is also an associate pediatrician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, assistant professor of pediatrics and Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS), chair of the HMS Scholars in Medicine Faculty Advisory Committee on Global Health, primary care pediatrician and director of Pediatric Racial Justice and Health Equity at Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center. She received a combined BA/MD with honors from Boston University/Boston University School of Medicine and an MPH from Boston University School of Public Health. Dr. Kasper is a past president and member of the President’s Council of Doctors for Global Health (DGH). DGH practices, “liberation medicine, the conscious and conscientious use of health to promote human dignity and social justice.” DGH partners with rural communities in El Salvador, Mexico and Uganda. Her domestic and global health expertise and publications include health service delivery; rural community development; complex humanitarian emergencies; health system strengthening; capacity building, especially community health worker training; and global health ethics. Dr. Kasper is a co-editor of the MGHfC Handbook of Pediatric Global Health. She directs and teaches courses on social medicine (Essentials of the Profession I and II), community engagement, and global health professionalism at HMS.

Dr. Kasper has conducted research projects on hunger among immigrant families with children in the US, child labor in India, and the relevance of social medicine course for undergraduate medical education.

The relevance of U.S. Ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child for Child Health: a matter of equity and social justice.
Authors: Authors: Kasper J.
Child Welfare
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Pediatricians and the Rights of the Child. UN Convention provides blueprint for monitoring the well-being of children worldwide.
Authors: Authors: Kasper J.
Pediatr Ann
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Child labour in India: a health and human rights perspective.
Authors: Authors: Venkateswarlu D, Kasper J, Mathews R, Reis C, Iacopino V, Wise P.
Lancet
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Doctors for Global Health and Santa Marta, El Salvador: An Example of Liberation Medicine and Accompaniment
Authors: Authors: Kasper J, Smith CL
Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean: A Guide for Global Health Workers
Doctors for Global Health: Applying Liberation Medicine and Accompanying Communities’ Struggles toward Health and Social Justice
Authors: Authors: Smith CL, Kasper J, Holtz TH
U.S
Am J Public Health
Authors: Authors: Hunger in Legal Immigrants in California, Texas, and Illinois
2000; 90:1629-1633.
Rights-Based Approaches to Public Health
Authors: Authors: Doctors for Global Health Experience with Rights-Based Approaches to Health: Liberation Medicine and Accompaniment in Estancia, El Salvador
2010.
Lancet
Authors: Authors: The UDHR and the physician’s role
1998; 352:733.
MGHfC Handbook for Pediatric Global Health
Authors: Authors: Gupta N, Nelson B, Kasper J, Hibberd PL, eds
2013.
Encyclopedia of Public Health
Authors: Authors: Child Labor
2008; 583-590.