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

Development and upgrading of public primary healthcare facilities with essential surgical services infrastructure: a strategy towards achieving universal health coverage in Tanzania.
Authors: Authors: Kapologwe NA, Meara JG, Kengia JT, Sonda Y, Gwajima D, Alidina S, Kalolo A.
BMC Health Serv Res
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Globalization of national surgical, obstetric and anesthesia plans: the critical link between health policy and action in global surgery.
Authors: Authors: Truché P, Shoman H, Reddy CL, Jumbam DT, Ashby J, Mazhiqi A, Wurdeman T, Ameh EA, Smith M, Lugazia E, Makasa E, Park KB, Meara JG.
Global Health
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A country-level comparison of access to quality surgical and non-surgical healthcare from 1990-2016.
Authors: Authors: Wurdeman T, Menon G, Meara JG, Alkire BC.
PLoS One
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Towards high-quality peri-operative care: a global perspective.
Authors: Authors: Santhirapala V, Peden CJ, Meara JG, Biccard BM, Gelb AW, Johnson WD, Lipnick MS, Makasa EM, Martin J, Maswime S, Mellin-Olsen J, McClain CD.
Anaesthesia
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Minimally Invasive Endoscopic Surgery for Infantile Craniosynostosis: A Longitudinal Cohort Study.
Authors: Authors: Riordan CP, Zurakowski D, Meier PM, Alexopoulos G, Meara JG, Proctor MR, Goobie SM.
J Pediatr
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Perspectives on perioperative management of children's surgical conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic in low-income and middle-income countries: a global survey.
Authors: Authors: Truche P, Bowder A, Lalla AT, Crum R, Botelho F, Rice HE, Lopes BC, Greenberg S, Evans F, Meara JG, Ameh EA, Mooney DP.
World J Pediatr Surg
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Projected impact of COVID-19 mitigation strategies on hospital services in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area.
Authors: Authors: Fowler Z, Moeller E, Roa L, Castañeda-Alcántara ID, Uribe-Leitz T, Meara JG, Cervantes-Trejo A.
PLoS One
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The impact of physician migration on mortality in low and middle-income countries: an economic modelling study.
Authors: Authors: Saluja S, Rudolfson N, Massenburg BB, Meara JG, Shrime MG.
BMJ Glob Health
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A review of the management of single-suture craniosynostosis, past, present, and future.
Authors: Authors: Proctor MR, Meara JG.
J Neurosurg Pediatr
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Artificial Intelligence and its role in surgical care in low-income and middle-income countries.
Authors: Authors: Reddy CL, Mitra S, Meara JG, Atun R, Afshar S.
Lancet Digit Health
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