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

A systematic review of barriers to breast cancer care in developing countries resulting in delayed patient presentation.
Authors: Authors: Sharma K, Costas A, Shulman LN, Meara JG.
J Oncol
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Costs and benefits of neurosurgical intervention for infant hydrocephalus in sub-Saharan Africa.
Authors: Authors: Warf BC, Alkire BC, Bhai S, Hughes C, Schiff SJ, Vincent JR, Meara JG.
J Neurosurg Pediatr
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Nasal glioma: prenatal diagnosis and multidisciplinary surgical approach.
Authors: Authors: Ajose-Popoola O, Lin HW, Silvera VM, Teot LA, Madsen JR, Meara JG, Rahbar R.
Skull Base Rep
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Accountable care organizations: a primer for surgeons.
Authors: Authors: Ganske I, Abbott MM, Meara J.
Bull Am Coll Surg
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Magnetic resonance imaging for detection of brain abnormalities in fetuses with cleft lip and/or cleft palate.
Authors: Authors: Rosen H, Chiou GJ, Stoler JM, Mulliken JB, Tarui T, Meara JG, Estroff JA.
Cleft Palate Craniofac J
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The state of medical liability reform.
Authors: Authors: Pollack J, Selzer D, Meara JG.
Bull Am Coll Surg
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Timeliness of surgical care in children with special health care needs: delayed palate repair for publicly insured and minority children with cleft palate.
Authors: Authors: Abbott MM, Kokorowski PJ, Meara JG.
J Pediatr Surg
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Potential economic benefit of cleft lip and palate repair in sub-Saharan Africa.
Authors: Authors: Alkire B, Hughes CD, Nash K, Vincent JR, Meara JG.
World J Surg
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Unilateral cleft lip and nasal repair: techniques and principles.
Authors: Authors: Meara JG, Andrews BT, Ridgway EB, Raisolsadat MA, Hiradfar M.
Iran J Pediatr
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Audiologic findings in Saethre-Chotzen syndrome.
Authors: Authors: Rosen H, Andrews BT, Meara JG, Stoler JM, Mulliken JB, Rogers GF.
Plast Reconstr Surg
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