Image of Gene Kwan

Gene Kwan, MD

Lecturer on Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine
Associate Director of Cardiovascular Research and Training, Partners In Health

I am a cardiologist and global health researcher developing expertise in the intersection between these two fields. My primary professional goal is to push the frontier of global cardiovascular disease epidemiology and health service delivery (implementation) research through the development, implementation, evaluation, improvement and dissemination of integrated chronic care programs targeted to overcome specific barriers in rural low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). 

My research stems from experience in the field in rural Rwanda and Haiti since 2008 in collaboration with local Ministries of Health and the non-governmental organizations Partners In Health and Zanmi Lasante. I have developed and implemented care models using the strategy of task-shifting: training in-country nurses and generalist physicians in simplified protocols to aid in specialty care for the diagnosis and management of non-communicable diseases (NCD) including hypertension, diabetes, heart failure, stroke, and respiratory disease. My research has helped determine that heart failure in rural Rwanda and Haiti is generally from endemic causes (as opposed to coronary heart disease) and a leading cause of hospitalization. In addition, we demonstrated that nurse-directed management improves control of blood pressure for patients with hypertension and improves symptoms for those with heart failure. I also study the prevalence of poverty among patients with NCDs and develop approaches to overcome poverty-related barriers. My long-term goal is to develop and utilize evidence-based approaches for the understanding of cardiovascular disease in LMICs and influence programmatic development, implementation and policy.

I have active academic collaborations with projects in Haiti, Rwanda, Malawi, Liberia, and India. I am one of the principal authors of the implementation guide and clinician handbook The Partners In Health Guide to Chronic Care Integration for Endemic Non-Communicable Diseases. I have presented my work at several American Heart Association conferences including the Annual Scientific Sessions, Epidemiology, Nutrition, Prevention and Metabolism, and Quality and Clinical Outcomes Research sessions. I have also been an invited speaker both nationally and in Haiti and Rwanda. I continue to serve as an Advisor for Non-Communicable Diseases at Partners In Health in Boston, Haiti and Rwanda.

Endemic Cardiovascular Diseases of the Poorest Billion.
Authors: Authors: Kwan GF, Mayosi BM, Mocumbi AO, Miranda JJ, Ezzati M, Jain Y, Robles G, Benjamin EJ, Subramanian SV, Bukhman G.
Circulation
View full abstract on Pubmed
Access to Medications for Cardiovascular Diseases in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.
Authors: Authors: Wirtz VJ, Kaplan WA, Kwan GF, Laing RO.
Circulation
View full abstract on Pubmed
Descriptive epidemiology and short-term outcomes of heart failure hospitalisation in rural Haiti.
Authors: Authors: Kwan GF, Jean-Baptiste W, Cleophat P, Leandre F, Louine M, Luma M, Benjamin EJ, Mukherjee JS, Bukhman G, Hirschhorn LR.
Heart
View full abstract on Pubmed
Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks in 188 countries, 1990-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013.
Authors: Authors: Forouzanfar MH, Alexander L, Anderson HR, Bachman VF, Biryukov S, Brauer M, Burnett R, Casey D, Coates MM, Cohen A, Delwiche K, Estep K, Frostad JJ, Astha KC, Kyu HH, Moradi-Lakeh M, Ng M, Slepak EL, Thomas BA, Wagner J, Aasvang GM, Abbafati C, Abbasoglu Ozgoren A, Abd-Allah F, Abera SF, Aboyans V, Abraham B, Abraham JP, Abubakar I, Abu-Rmeileh NM, Aburto TC, Achoki T, Adelekan A, Adofo K, Adou AK, Adsuar JC, Afshin A, Agardh EE, Al Khabouri MJ, Al Lami FH, Alam SS, Alasfoor D, Albittar MI, Alegretti MA, Aleman AV, Alemu ZA, Alfonso-Cristancho R, Alhabib S, Ali R, Ali MK, Alla F, Allebeck P, Allen PJ, Alsharif U, Alvarez E, Alvis-Guzman N, Amankwaa AA, Amare AT, Ameh EA, Ameli O, Amini H, Ammar W, Anderson BO, Antonio CA, Anwari P, Argeseanu Cunningham S, Arnlöv J, Arsenijevic VS, Artaman A, Asghar RJ, Assadi R, Atkins LS, Atkinson C, Avila MA, Awuah B, Badawi A, Bahit MC, Bakfalouni T, Balakrishnan K, Balalla S, Balu RK, Banerjee A, Barber RM, Barker-Collo SL, Barquera S, Barregard L, Barrero LH, Barrientos-Gutierrez T, Basto-Abreu AC, Basu A, Basu S, Basulaiman MO, Batis Ruvalcaba C, Beardsley J, Bedi N, Bekele T, Bell ML, Benjet C, Bennett DA, Benzian H, Bernabé E, Beyene TJ, Bhala N, Bhalla A, Bhutta ZA, Bikbov B, Bin Abdulhak AA, Blore JD, Blyth FM, Bohensky MA, Bora Basara B, Borges G, Bornstein NM, Bose D, Boufous S, Bourne RR, Brainin M, Brazinova A, Breitborde NJ, Brenner H, Briggs AD, Broday DM, Brooks PM, Bruce NG, Brugha TS, Brunekreef B, Buchbinder R, Bui LN, Bukhman G, Bulloch AG, Burch M, Burney PG, Campos-Nonato IR, Campuzano JC, Cantoral AJ, Caravanos J, Cárdenas R, Cardis E, Carpenter DO, Caso V, Castañeda-Orjuela CA, Castro RE, Catalá-López F, Cavalleri F, Çavlin A, Chadha VK, Chang JC, Charlson FJ, Chen H, Chen W, Chen Z, Chiang PP, Chimed-Ochir O, Chowdhury R, Christophi CA, Chuang TW, Chugh SS, Cirillo M, Claßen TK, Colistro V, Colomar M, Colquhoun SM, Contreras AG, Cooper C, Cooperrider K, Cooper LT, Coresh J, Courville KJ, Criqui MH, Cuevas-Nasu L, Damsere-Derry J, Danawi H, Dandona L, Dandona R, Dargan PI, Davis A, Davitoiu DV, Dayama A, de Castro EF, De la Cruz-Góngora V, De Leo D, de Lima G, Degenhardt L, del Pozo-Cruz B, Dellavalle RP, Deribe K, Derrett S, Des Jarlais DC, Dessalegn M, deVeber GA, Devries KM, Dharmaratne SD, Dherani MK, Dicker D, Ding EL, Dokova K, Dorsey ER, Driscoll TR, Duan L, Durrani AM, Ebel BE, Ellenbogen RG, Elshrek YM, Endres M, Ermakov SP, Erskine HE, Eshrati B, Esteghamati A, Fahimi S, Faraon EJ, Farzadfar F, Fay DF, Feigin VL, Feigl AB, Fereshtehnejad SM, Ferrari AJ, Ferri CP, Flaxman AD, Fleming TD, Foigt N, Foreman KJ, Paleo UF, Franklin RC, Gabbe B, Gaffikin L, Gakidou E, Gamkrelidze A, Gankpé FG, Gansevoort RT, García-Guerra FA, Gasana E, Geleijnse JM, Gessner BD, Gething P, Gibney KB, Gillum RF, Ginawi IA, Giroud M, Giussani G, Goenka S, Goginashvili K, Gomez Dantes H, Gona P, Gonzalez de Cosio T, González-Castell D, Gotay CC, Goto A, Gouda HN, Guerrant RL, Gugnani HC, Guillemin F, Gunnell D, Gupta R, Gupta R, Gutiérrez RA, Hafezi-Nejad N, Hagan H, Hagstromer M, Halasa YA, Hamadeh RR, Hammami M, Hankey GJ, Hao Y, Harb HL, Haregu TN, Haro JM, Havmoeller R, Hay SI, Hedayati MT, Heredia-Pi IB, Hernandez L, Heuton KR, Heydarpour P, Hijar M, Hoek HW, Hoffman HJ, Hornberger JC, Hosgood HD, Hoy DG, Hsairi M, Hu G, Hu H, Huang C, Huang JJ, Hubbell BJ, Huiart L, Husseini A, Iannarone ML, Iburg KM, Idrisov BT, Ikeda N, Innos K, Inoue M, Islami F, Ismayilova S, Jacobsen KH, Jansen HA, Jarvis DL, Jassal SK, Jauregui A, Jayaraman S, Jeemon P, Jensen PN, Jha V, Jiang F, Jiang G, Jiang Y, Jonas JB, Juel K, Kan H, Kany Roseline SS, Karam NE, Karch A, Karema CK, Karthikeyan G, Kaul A, Kawakami N, Kazi DS, Kemp AH, Kengne AP, Keren A, Khader YS, Khalifa SE, Khan EA, Khang YH, Khatibzadeh S, Khonelidze I, Kieling C, Kim D, Kim S, Kim Y, Kimokoti RW, Kinfu Y, Kinge JM, Kissela BM, Kivipelto M, Knibbs LD, Knudsen AK, Kokubo Y, Kose MR, Kosen S, Kraemer A, Kravchenko M, et al.
Lancet
View full abstract on Pubmed
Global health and cardiovascular disease.
Authors: Authors: Kwan GF, Benjamin EJ.
Circulation
View full abstract on Pubmed
Global Health and Cardiovascular Disease.
Authors: Authors: Kwan GF, Benjamin EJ.
Circulation
View full abstract on Pubmed
Endemic diabetes in the world's poorest people.
Authors: Authors: Bukhman G, Bavuma C, Gishoma C, Gupta N, Kwan GF, Laing R, Beran D.
Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol
View full abstract on Pubmed
Global epidemiology of atrial fibrillation.
Authors: Authors: Rahman F, Kwan GF, Benjamin EJ.
Nat Rev Cardiol
View full abstract on Pubmed
Global, regional, and national incidence and mortality for HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria during 1990-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013.
Authors: Authors: Murray CJ, Ortblad KF, Guinovart C, Lim SS, Wolock TM, Roberts DA, Dansereau EA, Graetz N, Barber RM, Brown JC, Wang H, Duber HC, Naghavi M, Dicker D, Dandona L, Salomon JA, Heuton KR, Foreman K, Phillips DE, Fleming TD, Flaxman AD, Phillips BK, Johnson EK, Coggeshall MS, Abd-Allah F, Abera SF, Abraham JP, Abubakar I, Abu-Raddad LJ, Abu-Rmeileh NM, Achoki T, Adeyemo AO, Adou AK, Adsuar JC, Agardh EE, Akena D, Al Kahbouri MJ, Alasfoor D, Albittar MI, Alcalá-Cerra G, Alegretti MA, Alemu ZA, Alfonso-Cristancho R, Alhabib S, Ali R, Alla F, Allen PJ, Alsharif U, Alvarez E, Alvis-Guzman N, Amankwaa AA, Amare AT, Amini H, Ammar W, Anderson BO, Antonio CA, Anwari P, Arnlöv J, Arsenijevic VS, Artaman A, Asghar RJ, Assadi R, Atkins LS, Badawi A, Balakrishnan K, Banerjee A, Basu S, Beardsley J, Bekele T, Bell ML, Bernabe E, Beyene TJ, Bhala N, Bhalla A, Bhutta ZA, Abdulhak AB, Binagwaho A, Blore JD, Basara BB, Bose D, Brainin M, Breitborde N, Castañeda-Orjuela CA, Catalá-López F, Chadha VK, Chang JC, Chiang PP, Chuang TW, Colomar M, Cooper LT, Cooper C, Courville KJ, Cowie BC, Criqui MH, Dandona R, Dayama A, De Leo D, Degenhardt L, Del Pozo-Cruz B, Deribe K, Des Jarlais DC, Dessalegn M, Dharmaratne SD, Dilmen U, Ding EL, Driscoll TR, Durrani AM, Ellenbogen RG, Ermakov SP, Esteghamati A, Faraon EJ, Farzadfar F, Fereshtehnejad SM, Fijabi DO, Forouzanfar MH, Fra Paleo U, Gaffikin L, Gamkrelidze A, Gankpé FG, Geleijnse JM, Gessner BD, Gibney KB, Ginawi IA, Glaser EL, Gona P, Goto A, Gouda HN, Gugnani HC, Gupta R, Gupta R, Hafezi-Nejad N, Hamadeh RR, Hammami M, Hankey GJ, Harb HL, Haro JM, Havmoeller R, Hay SI, Hedayati MT, Pi IB, Hoek HW, Hornberger JC, Hosgood HD, Hotez PJ, Hoy DG, Huang JJ, Iburg KM, Idrisov BT, Innos K, Jacobsen KH, Jeemon P, Jensen PN, Jha V, Jiang G, Jonas JB, Juel K, Kan H, Kankindi I, Karam NE, Karch A, Karema CK, Kaul A, Kawakami N, Kazi DS, Kemp AH, Kengne AP, Keren A, Kereselidze M, Khader YS, Khalifa SE, Khan EA, Khang YH, Khonelidze I, Kinfu Y, Kinge JM, Knibbs L, Kokubo Y, Kosen S, Defo BK, Kulkarni VS, Kulkarni C, Kumar K, Kumar RB, Kumar GA, Kwan GF, Lai T, Balaji AL, Lam H, Lan Q, Lansingh VC, Larson HJ, Larsson A, Lee JT, Leigh J, Leinsalu M, Leung R, Li Y, Li Y, De Lima GM, Lin HH, Lipshultz SE, Liu S, Liu Y, Lloyd BK, Lotufo PA, Machado VM, Maclachlan JH, Magis-Rodriguez C, Majdan M, Mapoma CC, Marcenes W, Marzan MB, Masci JR, Mashal MT, Mason-Jones AJ, Mayosi BM, Mazorodze TT, Mckay AC, Meaney PA, Mehndiratta MM, Mejia-Rodriguez F, Melaku YA, Memish ZA, Mendoza W, Miller TR, Mills EJ, Mohammad KA, Mokdad AH, Mola GL, Monasta L, Montico M, Moore AR, Mori R, Moturi WN, Mukaigawara M, Murthy KS, Naheed A, Naidoo KS, Naldi L, Nangia V, Narayan KM, Nash D, Nejjari C, Nelson RG, Neupane SP, Newton CR, Ng M, Nisar MI, Nolte S, Norheim OF, Nowaseb V, Nyakarahuka L, Oh IH, Ohkubo T, Olusanya BO, Omer SB, Opio JN, Orisakwe OE, Pandian JD, Papachristou C, Caicedo AJ, Patten SB, Paul VK, Pavlin BI, Pearce N, Pereira DM, Pervaiz A, Pesudovs K, Petzold M, Pourmalek F, Qato D, Quezada AD, Quistberg DA, Rafay A, Rahimi K, Rahimi-Movaghar V, Ur Rahman S, Raju M, Rana SM, Razavi H, Reilly RQ, Remuzzi G, Richardus JH, Ronfani L, Roy N, Sabin N, Saeedi MY, Sahraian MA, Samonte GM, Sawhney M, Schneider IJ, Schwebel DC, Seedat S, Sepanlou SG, Servan-Mori EE, Sheikhbahaei S, Shibuya K, Shin HH, Shiue I, Shivakoti R, Sigfusdottir ID, Silberberg DH, Silva AP, Simard EP, Singh JA, Skirbekk V, Sliwa K, Soneji S, Soshnikov SS, Sreeramareddy CT, Stathopoulou VK, Stroumpoulis K, Swaminathan S, Sykes BL, Tabb KM, Talongwa RT, Tenkorang EY, Terkawi AS, Thomson AJ, Thorne-Lyman AL, Towbin JA, Traebert J, Tran BX, Dimbuene ZT, Tsilimbaris M, Uchendu US, Ukwaja KN, Uzun SB, Vallely AJ, Vasankari TJ, Venketasubramanian N, Violante FS, Vlassov VV, Vollset SE, Waller S, Wallin MT, Wang L, Wang X, Wang Y, Weichenthal S, Weiderpass E, Weintraub RG, Westerman R, White RA, Wilkinson JD, Williams TN, Woldeyohannes SM, Wong JQ, Xu G, et al.
Lancet
View full abstract on Pubmed
Global, regional, and national levels and causes of maternal mortality during 1990-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013.
Authors: Authors: Kassebaum NJ, Bertozzi-Villa A, Coggeshall MS, Shackelford KA, Steiner C, Heuton KR, Gonzalez-Medina D, Barber R, Huynh C, Dicker D, Templin T, Wolock TM, Ozgoren AA, Abd-Allah F, Abera SF, Abubakar I, Achoki T, Adelekan A, Ademi Z, Adou AK, Adsuar JC, Agardh EE, Akena D, Alasfoor D, Alemu ZA, Alfonso-Cristancho R, Alhabib S, Ali R, Al Kahbouri MJ, Alla F, Allen PJ, AlMazroa MA, Alsharif U, Alvarez E, Alvis-Guzmán N, Amankwaa AA, Amare AT, Amini H, Ammar W, Antonio CA, Anwari P, Arnlöv J, Arsenijevic VS, Artaman A, Asad MM, Asghar RJ, Assadi R, Atkins LS, Badawi A, Balakrishnan K, Basu A, Basu S, Beardsley J, Bedi N, Bekele T, Bell ML, Bernabe E, Beyene TJ, Bhutta Z, Bin Abdulhak A, Blore JD, Basara BB, Bose D, Breitborde N, Cárdenas R, Castañeda-Orjuela CA, Castro RE, Catalá-López F, Cavlin A, Chang JC, Che X, Christophi CA, Chugh SS, Cirillo M, Colquhoun SM, Cooper LT, Cooper C, da Costa Leite I, Dandona L, Dandona R, Davis A, Dayama A, Degenhardt L, De Leo D, del Pozo-Cruz B, Deribe K, Dessalegn M, deVeber GA, Dharmaratne SD, Dilmen U, Ding EL, Dorrington RE, Driscoll TR, Ermakov SP, Esteghamati A, Faraon EJ, Farzadfar F, Felicio MM, Fereshtehnejad SM, de Lima GM, Forouzanfar MH, França EB, Gaffikin L, Gambashidze K, Gankpé FG, Garcia AC, Geleijnse JM, Gibney KB, Giroud M, Glaser EL, Goginashvili K, Gona P, González-Castell D, Goto A, Gouda HN, Gugnani HC, Gupta R, Gupta R, Hafezi-Nejad N, Hamadeh RR, Hammami M, Hankey GJ, Harb HL, Havmoeller R, Hay SI, Pi IB, Hoek HW, Hosgood HD, Hoy DG, Husseini A, Idrisov BT, Innos K, Inoue M, Jacobsen KH, Jahangir E, Jee SH, Jensen PN, Jha V, Jiang G, Jonas JB, Juel K, Kabagambe EK, Kan H, Karam NE, Karch A, Karema CK, Kaul A, Kawakami N, Kazanjan K, Kazi DS, Kemp AH, Kengne AP, Kereselidze M, Khader YS, Khalifa SE, Khan EA, Khang YH, Knibbs L, Kokubo Y, Kosen S, Defo BK, Kulkarni C, Kulkarni VS, Kumar GA, Kumar K, Kumar RB, Kwan G, Lai T, Lalloo R, Lam H, Lansingh VC, Larsson A, Lee JT, Leigh J, Leinsalu M, Leung R, Li X, Li Y, Li Y, Liang J, Liang X, Lim SS, Lin HH, Lipshultz SE, Liu S, Liu Y, Lloyd BK, London SJ, Lotufo PA, Ma J, Ma S, Machado VM, Mainoo NK, Majdan M, Mapoma CC, Marcenes W, Marzan MB, Mason-Jones AJ, Mehndiratta MM, Mejia-Rodriguez F, Memish ZA, Mendoza W, Miller TR, Mills EJ, Mokdad AH, Mola GL, Monasta L, de la Cruz Monis J, Hernandez JC, Moore AR, Moradi-Lakeh M, Mori R, Mueller UO, Mukaigawara M, Naheed A, Naidoo KS, Nand D, Nangia V, Nash D, Nejjari C, Nelson RG, Neupane SP, Newton CR, Ng M, Nieuwenhuijsen MJ, Nisar MI, Nolte S, Norheim OF, Nyakarahuka L, Oh IH, Ohkubo T, Olusanya BO, Omer SB, Opio JN, Orisakwe OE, Pandian JD, Papachristou C, Park JH, Caicedo AJ, Patten SB, Paul VK, Pavlin BI, Pearce N, Pereira DM, Pesudovs K, Petzold M, Poenaru D, Polanczyk GV, Polinder S, Pope D, Pourmalek F, Qato D, Quistberg DA, Rafay A, Rahimi K, Rahimi-Movaghar V, ur Rahman S, Raju M, Rana SM, Refaat A, Ronfani L, Roy N, Pimienta TG, Sahraian MA, Salomon JA, Sampson U, Santos IS, Sawhney M, Sayinzoga F, Schneider IJ, Schumacher A, Schwebel DC, Seedat S, Sepanlou SG, Servan-Mori EE, Shakh-Nazarova M, Sheikhbahaei S, Shibuya K, Shin HH, Shiue I, Sigfusdottir ID, Silberberg DH, Silva AP, Singh JA, Skirbekk V, Sliwa K, Soshnikov SS, Sposato LA, Sreeramareddy CT, Stroumpoulis K, Sturua L, Sykes BL, Tabb KM, Talongwa RT, Tan F, Teixeira CM, Tenkorang EY, Terkawi AS, Thorne-Lyman AL, Tirschwell DL, Towbin JA, Tran BX, Tsilimbaris M, Uchendu US, Ukwaja KN, Undurraga EA, Uzun SB, Vallely AJ, van Gool CH, Vasankari TJ, Vavilala MS, Venketasubramanian N, Villalpando S, Violante FS, Vlassov VV, Vos T, Waller S, Wang H, Wang L, Wang X, Wang Y, Weichenthal S, Weiderpass E, Weintraub RG, Westerman R, Wilkinson JD, Woldeyohannes SM, Wong JQ, Wordofa MA, Xu G, Yang YC, Yano Y, Yentur GK, Yip P, Yonemoto N, Yoon SJ, Younis MZ, Yu C, Jin KY, El Sayed Zaki M, Zhao Y, Zheng Y, Zhou M, Zhu J, Zou XN, Lopez AD, Naghavi M, Murray CJ, Lozano R.
Lancet
View full abstract on Pubmed