Image of John Gerard Meara

John G Meara, MD, DMD, MBA

Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine
Professor of Surgery
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

Comparative Study of Pharyngeal Flap Outcomes between Children With 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome and Non-Syndromic Cleft Lip and Palate.
Authors: Authors: Wang AT, Hseu AF, Staffa SJ, Clark RE, Meara JG, Nuss RC, Ganske IM, Rogers-Vizena CR.
Plast Reconstr Surg
View full abstract on Pubmed
Association between Surgery, Anesthesia, and Obstetric Workforce and Emergent Surgical and Obstetric Mortality among United States Hospital Referral Regions.
Authors: Authors: Truche P, Semco RS, Hansen NF, Uribe-Leitz T, Roa L, Allar BG, Layman IB, Bergmark RW, Williams W, Riviello R, McClain CD, Jarman MP, Cooper Z, Meara JG, Ortega G.
Ann Surg
View full abstract on Pubmed
Context matters for disability and priority setting for musculoskeletal diseases: revisiting the egalitarian approach to disability weights and disability-adjusted life-years.
Authors: Authors: Pigeolet M, Franco H, Nussbaum L, Corlew DS, Meara J.
BMJ Glob Health
View full abstract on Pubmed
Perioperative Pain Management After Primary Palate Repair: A 3-Surgeon Retrospective Study.
Authors: Authors: Ganske IM, Langa OC, Cappitelli AT, Nuzzi LC, Staffa SJ, DiTullio N, Fullerton Z, Alrayashi W, Meara JG, Rogers-Vizena CR.
Cleft Palate Craniofac J
View full abstract on Pubmed
Orbital and Eyelid Characteristics, Strabismus, and Intracranial Pressure Control in Apert Children Treated by Endoscopic Strip Craniectomy versus Fronto-Orbital Advancement.
Authors: Authors: Dohlman JC, Prabhu SP, Staffa SJ, Kanack MD, Mackinnon S, Warkad VU, Meara JG, Proctor MR, Dagi LR.
Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open
View full abstract on Pubmed
A new approach to sustainable surgery: E-liability accounting for surgical health systems.
Authors: Authors: Forbes C, Raguveer V, Hey MT, Sana H, Naus A, Meara J, McClain C.
BMJ Glob Health
View full abstract on Pubmed
Assessing the inclusion of children's surgical care in National Surgical, Obstetric and Anaesthesia Plans: a policy content analysis.
Authors: Authors: Wimmer S, Truche P, Guadagno E, Ameh E, Samad L, Makasa EMM, Greenberg S, Meara JG, van Dijk TH, Poenaru D.
BMJ Open
View full abstract on Pubmed
Large Vertex Encephaloceles: Management and Outcomes.
Authors: Authors: Schneider H, Cappitelli A, Langa OC, Goobie SM, Meara JG, Proctor M, Ganske IM.
J Craniofac Surg
View full abstract on Pubmed
Estimating access to surgical care: A community centered national household survey from Pakistan.
Authors: Authors: Ashraf MN, Fatima I, Muhammad AA, Albutt K, Pigeolet M, Latif A, Meara JG, Samad L.
PLOS Glob Public Health
View full abstract on Pubmed
Estimating the economic impact of interpersonal violence in Mexico in 2021: projecting three hypothetical scenarios for 2030.
Authors: Authors: Cervantes A, Jhunjhunwala R, Castañeda Alcántara ID, Elizundia Cisneros ME, Ringel R, Cortes Rodriguez A, Del Valle D, Hill S, Meara JG, Uribe-Leitz T.
Rev Panam Salud Publica
View full abstract on Pubmed