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Vanessa Kerry, MD, MSc

Director, Program in Global Public Policy and Social Change
CEO, Seed Global Health
Associate Professor of Medicine

Vanessa Kerry is the director of the Program in Global Public Policy and Social Change in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. The program helps examine the underutilization of healthcare as a tool to address economic, social, and cultural disparities that define poor health domestically and internationally. The Program’s signature initiative is on health system strengthening and crisis response. Dr. Kerry is the founder and CEO of Seed Global Health, a non-profit that invests in health system strengthening by training needed health professionals in resource limited settings; these health professionals can not only provide quality care but can help train others ensuring there is pipeline of doctors, nurses and midwives for future generations. She is also a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and serves as the associate director of Partnerships and Global Initiatives at the hospital’s Center for Global Health.

Dr. Kerry graduated from Yale University summa cum laude and Harvard Medical School cum laude, completing her internal medicine residency and critical care fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital. She earned her Master’s in Health Policy, Planning, and Financing from the London Schools of Economics and of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Affiliations:

  • Instructor in Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital
  • Associate Director of Partnerships and Global Initiatives, Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Global Health

Vanessa Kerry is the director of the Program in Global Public Policy and Social Change in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. The program helps examine the underutilization of healthcare as a tool to address economic, social, and cultural disparities that define poor health domestically and internationally. The Program’s signature initiative is the Threatened Health System Initiative which specifically focuses on the opportunities for protecting health systems in crisis response especially by security and military actors. The Initiative’s goal is to strengthen policies around crisis response, to develop networks between security actors, health providers, iNGOs and others to improve problem solving, to engage in research to better understand the health systems’ vulnerability and the subsequent opportunities for improved response, and to provide technical support to build capacity in in these systems. Dr. Kerry is the founder and CEO of Seed Global Health, a non-profit that invests in health system strengthening by training needed health professionals in resource limited settings; through her work at Seed Global Health, she examines the role for and impact of improving human resources for health in these countries.

Global Neurosurgery Education in United States Residency Programs.
Authors: Authors: Rolle ML, Parker T, Zaki M, Berger C, Knowlton H, Kerry V, Nahed B.
World Neurosurg
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What Does a Mutually Beneficial Global Health Partnership in Family Medicine Residency Look Like?
Authors: Authors: Hutchinson E, Kerry V, Sayeed S.
AMA J Ethics
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Assessment of Point-of-Care Ultrasound Training for Clinical Educators in Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda.
Authors: Authors: Shokoohi H, Raymond A, Fleming K, Scott J, Kerry V, Haile-Mariam T, Sayeed S, Boniface KS.
Ultrasound Med Biol
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Puerperal Psychosis: A brief review and unusual case report.
Authors: Authors: Stewart GH, Gadama LA, Kerry V.
Malawi Med J
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The Global Health Service Partnership's point-of-care ultrasound initiatives in Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda.
Authors: Authors: Boniface KS, Raymond A, Fleming K, Scott J, Kerry VB, Haile-Mariam T, Sayeed S, Shokoohi H.
Am J Emerg Med
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Has development assistance for health facilitated the rise of more peaceful societies in sub-Saharan Africa?
Authors: Authors: Gupta V, Mason-Sharma A, Lyon ZM, Orav EJ, Jha AK, Kerry VB.
Glob Public Health
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Analysis of results from the Joint External Evaluation: examining its strength and assessing for trends among participating countries.
Authors: Authors: Gupta V, Kraemer JD, Katz R, Jha AK, Kerry VB, Sane J, Ollgren J, Salminen MO.
J Glob Health
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Leveraging the Global Health Service Partnership Model for Workforce Development in Global Radiation Oncology.
Authors: Authors: Irabor OC, Kerry VB, Matton J, Ngwa W.
J Glob Oncol
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Have geopolitics influenced decisions on American health foreign assistance efforts during the Obama presidency?
Authors: Authors: Gupta V, Tsai AC, Mason-Sharma A, Goosby EP, Jha AK, Kerry VB.
J Glob Health
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It is time for academic institutions to align their strategies and priorities with the Sustainable Development Goals.
Authors: Authors: Cancedda C, Binagwaho A, Kerry V.
BMJ Glob Health
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