Image of John Gerard Meara

John G Meara, D.M.D., M.D.

Boston Children's Hospital Professor of Surgery in the Field of Pediatric Plastic Surgery, Boston Children's Hospital
Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School
617-355-2313

John G. Meara, MD, DMD, MBA is the Director of the Program in Global Surgery and Social Change, and Professor of Surgery in the Department of Surgery at Harvard Medical School.  Dr. Meara serves as the Plastic Surgeon-in-Chief of the Department of Plastic & Oral Surgery at Boston Children's Hospital.   He was Co-Chair for the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery and was a commissioner on the Lancet Global Health Commission on High Quality Health Systems in the SDG Era, and the Lancet Oncology Commission.   He currently serves as a commissioner on the Lancet Commission on Diagnostics.  In 2008 he created the Paul Farmer Global Surgery Fellowship program. He is also interested in value-based health care and implementation science research, including time driven activity-based cost research and outcomes research.  Dr. Meara has led several ICHOM projects focusing on outcomes reporting and international benchmarking. 

Affiliations
Department of Plastic and Oral Surgery, Boston Children's Hospital

Contact Information
Harvard Medical School
Department of Global Health and Social Medicine
641 Huntington Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02115

Boston Children's Hospital
Department of Plastic and Oral Surgery

Assistant
Marshalee Bowens

Dr. Meara's interests and innovation activities lie in the areas of craniofacial anomalies, cleft lip and cleft palate, but he has a particular interest in augmenting the delivery of quality surgical and anesthesia care in low-resource settings through long term capacity building. He is involved in multiple global surgery projects looking at the burden of surgical disease, the surgical capacity and health systems building in low-resource environments, surgical education and the economic impact of untreated surgical disease. He is also interested in value based health care and implementation science research, including time driven activity based cost research and outcomes research. Dr. Meara has led several ICHOM projects focusing on outcomes reporting and international benchmarking. Since 2008, he has directed the Paul Farmer Global Surgery Fellowship program in collaboration with Partners In Health. Its purpose is to strengthen global surgical systems through a combination of research, advocacy, and implementation science as well as train leaders who will further promote surgical care, education, and research pertinent to global surgery.

Research Interests

Hospital Variation and Resource Use for Infants with Craniosynostosis Undergoing Open, Endoscopic, and Distraction Osteogenesis Surgical Techniques.
Authors: Authors: Kanack MD, Proctor MR, Meara JG, Balkin DM, Rodean J, Stringfellow IC, Berry JG.
Cleft Palate Craniofac J
View full abstract on Pubmed
Child Opportunity Index Disparities in Pediatric Surgical Encounters During the Coronavirus 2019 Pandemic.
Authors: Authors: Berry JG, Ferrari L, Ward VL, Hall M, Desmarais A, Raval MV, Tian Y, Mathieu D, Incorvia J, Meara JG.
Acad Pediatr
View full abstract on Pubmed
A practical tool for managing change: Cross-sectional psychometric assessment of the safe surgery organizational readiness tool.
Authors: Authors: Hayirli TC, Meara JG, Abahuje E, Alayande B, Augustin S, Barash D, Boatin AA, Kalolo A, Kengia J, Kingpriest P, Kissima I, Lugazia ER, Mpirimbanyi C, Ngonzi J, Njai A, Smith VL, Kapologwe N, Alidina S.
Int J Surg
View full abstract on Pubmed
Routine Pediatric Surgical Emergencies: Incidence, Morbidity, and Mortality During the 1st 8000 Days of Life-A Narrative Review.
Authors: Authors: Abbas A, Laverde R, Yap A, Stephens CQ, Samad L, Seyi-Olajide JO, Ameh EA, Ozgediz D, Lakhoo K, Bickler SW, Meara JG, Bundy D, Jamison DT, Klazura G, Sykes A, Philipo GS.
World J Surg
View full abstract on Pubmed
Surgically Correctable Congenital Anomalies: Reducing Morbidity and Mortality in the First 8000 Days of Life.
Authors: Authors: Banu T, Sharma S, Chowdhury TK, Aziz TT, Martin B, Seyi-Olajide JO, Ameh E, Ozgediz D, Lakhoo K, Bickler SW, Meara JG, Bundy D, Jamison DT, Klazura G, Sykes A, Yap A, Philipo GS.
World J Surg
View full abstract on Pubmed
New ICD-10 Diagnosis Codes to Improve Craniosynostosis Classification.
Authors: Authors: Golinko MS, Berry JG, Proctor M, Bonfield CM, Meara JG.
Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open
View full abstract on Pubmed
Research capacity, motivators and barriers to conducting research among healthcare providers in Tanzania's public health system: a mixed methods study.
Authors: Authors: Kengia JT, Kalolo A, Barash D, Chwa C, Hayirli TC, Kapologwe NA, Kinyaga A, Meara JG, Staffa SJ, Zanial N, Alidina S.
Hum Resour Health
View full abstract on Pubmed
Environmental Impact of a Pediatric and Young Adult Virtual Medicine Program: A Lesson from the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Authors: Authors: Finkelstein JB, Hauptman M, Acosta K, Flanagan S, Cahill D, Smith B, Bernstein A, Shah SH, Kaur R, Meyers H, Shah AS, Meara JG, Estrada CR.
Acad Pediatr
View full abstract on Pubmed
Universal health coverage: a commitment to essential surgical, obstetric, and anesthesia care, World Health Summit 2021 (PD 20).
Authors: Authors: Pigeolet M, Degu S, Faria I, Hey MT, Jean-Pierre T, Lucerno-Prisno DE, Jafarian A, Kanem N, Meara JG, Gebremedhin LT, Varghese C, Uribe-Leitz T, Park KB.
BMC Proc
View full abstract on Pubmed
A Financing Strategy to Expand Surgical Health Care.
Authors: Authors: Jumbam DT, Reddy CL, Meara JG, Makasa EM, Atun R.
Glob Health Sci Pract
View full abstract on Pubmed