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

Optimal Outcomes Reporting (OOR): A New Value-Based Metric for Outcome Reporting Following Cleft Palate Repair.
Authors: Authors: Meara JG, Hughes CD, Sanchez K, Catallozzi L, Clark R, Kummer AW.
Cleft Palate Craniofac J
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Innovative financing to fund surgical systems and expand surgical care in low-income and middle-income countries.
Authors: Authors: Reddy CL, Peters AW, Jumbam DT, Caddell L, Alkire BC, Meara JG, Atun R.
BMJ Glob Health
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Age at craniosynostosis surgery and its impact on ophthalmologic diagnoses: A single-center retrospective review.
Authors: Authors: Dagi LR, Rogers GF, Proctor MR, Meara JG.
Plast Reconstr Surg
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How will increasing surgical volume affect mortality in the Pacific, Papua New Guinea and Timor Leste?
Authors: Authors: Nagra S, Kaur B, Singh S, Tangi V, Mccaig E, Stupart D, Moore EM, Meara JG, Guest GD, Watters DA.
ANZ J Surg
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Comment on "Managing COVID-19 in Surgical Systems": An Opportunity for Global Surgery to Advance Global Health.
Authors: Authors: Rose J, Long C, Meara JG.
Ann Surg
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Immediate and long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on delivery of surgical services.
Authors: Authors: Søreide K, Hallet J, Matthews JB, Schnitzbauer AA, Line PD, Lai PBS, Otero J, Callegaro D, Warner SG, Baxter NN, Teh CSC, Ng-Kamstra J, Meara JG, Hagander L, Lorenzon L.
Br J Surg
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Comparative analysis of cranial vault remodeling versus endoscopic suturectomy in the treatment of unilateral lambdoid craniosynostosis.
Authors: Authors: Rattani A, Riordan CP, Meara JG, Proctor MR.
J Neurosurg Pediatr
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The Scale-Up of the Global Surgical Workforce: Can Estimates be Achieved by 2030?
Authors: Authors: Daniels KM, Riesel JN, Verguet S, Meara JG, Shrime MG.
World J Surg
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National Surgical, Obstetric, and Anesthesia Plans Supporting the Vision of Universal Health Coverage.
Authors: Authors: Peters AW, Roa L, Rwamasirabo E, Ameh E, Ulisubisya MM, Samad L, Makasa EM, Meara JG.
Glob Health Sci Pract
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Development of a surgical assessment tool for national policy monitoring & evaluation in Ethiopia: A quality improvement study.
Authors: Authors: Iverson KR, Ahearn O, Citron I, Garringer K, Mukhodpadhyay S, Teshome A, Bekele A, Workneh S, Workneh RS, Zemenfeskudus S, Gultie T, Varghese A, Shrime MG, Meara JG, Burssa D.
Int J Surg
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