Image of Rifat Atun, MD, BS

Rifat Atun, M.B.,B.S.

Professor of Global Health Systems, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Faculty Affiliate in the Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Dr Rifat Atun is Professor of Global Health Systems at Harvard University and the Faculty Chair for the Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program.

From 2006- to 2013, Dr Atun was Professor of International Health Management and Head of the Health Management Group at Imperial College London. From 2008 to 2012 he served as a member of the Executive Management Team of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria as the Director of Strategy, Performance and Evaluation Cluster, where he chaired the panel that oversaw investments of around $4billion each year in more than 100 countries.

Dr Atun has published more than 400 papers in leading journals including the Lancet, NEJM, Academy of Management Journal, Lancet Global Health, Lancet Infectious Diseases, Lancet Oncology, and Lancet Psychiatry and PLoS Medicine. He has led or has been a commissioner in 12 Lancet Commissions and was a co-author and member of the Advisory Committee for the Editors for Disease Control Priorities (DCP) 3. In 2020, he was recognized by the Web of Science as one of the World’s Highly Cited Researchers.

Prof. Atun has worked with more than 30 governments globally and with the World Bank, World Health Organization, and the UK Department for International Development (DfID) to design, implement and evaluate health system reform initiatives. In 1999-2006 he was a member of the UK DfID Resource Centre for Health Systems.

Dr Atun has led executive education programs and undertaken assignments for major organizations including Novartis, Medtronic, GSK, Pfizer Inc., the Vodafone Group, and Hofmann-La Roche.

Professor Atun’s research has two major strands. The first examines health systems performance and how design and implementation of health system reforms impact on outcomes. The second strand of research explores adoption and diffusion of innovations in health systems (e.g. new health technologies, disease control programmes, and primary healthcare reforms), and innovative financing in global health. Prof. Atun is a co-Investigator and the joint lead for the innovation work stream at the National Centre for Infection Prevention and Management at Imperial College.

He is also a co-Investigator and the Theme Lead for ‘Organisational Change, Health Economics and Evaluation’ at the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit for Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infection.

Recruitment and participation of a survey in a public-private primary care setting: experience from the QUALICOPC Malaysia.
Authors: Authors: Husin M, Ab Rahman N, Wong XC, Mohamad Noh K, Tong SF, Schäfer W, Boerma W, Atun R, Sivasampu S.
Prim Health Care Res Dev
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Association between country preparedness indicators and quality clinical care for cardiovascular disease risk factors in 44 lower- and middle-income countries: A multicountry analysis of survey data.
Authors: Authors: Davies JI, Reddiar SK, Hirschhorn LR, Ebert C, Marcus ME, Seiglie JA, Zhumadilov Z, Supiyev A, Sturua L, Silver BK, Sibai AM, Quesnel-Crooks S, Norov B, Mwangi JK, Omar OM, Wong-McClure R, Mayige MT, Martins JS, Lunet N, Labadarios D, Karki KB, Kagaruki GB, Jorgensen JMA, Hwalla NC, Houinato D, Houehanou C, Guwatudde D, Gurung MS, Bovet P, Bicaba BW, Aryal KK, Msaidié M, Andall-Brereton G, Brian G, Stokes A, Vollmer S, Bärnighausen T, Atun R, Geldsetzer P, Manne-Goehler J, Jaacks LM.
PLoS Med
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Lifetime Prevalence of Cervical Cancer Screening in 55 Low- and Middle-Income Countries.
Authors: Authors: Lemp JM, De Neve JW, Bussmann H, Chen S, Manne-Goehler J, Theilmann M, Marcus ME, Ebert C, Probst C, Tsabedze-Sibanyoni L, Sturua L, Kibachio JM, Moghaddam SS, Martins JS, Houinato D, Houehanou C, Gurung MS, Gathecha G, Farzadfar F, Dryden-Peterson S, Davies JI, Atun R, Vollmer S, Bärnighausen T, Geldsetzer P.
JAMA
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The Lancet NCDI Poverty Commission: bridging a gap in universal health coverage for the poorest billion.
Authors: Authors: Bukhman G, Mocumbi AO, Atun R, Becker AE, Bhutta Z, Binagwaho A, Clinton C, Coates MM, Dain K, Ezzati M, Gottlieb G, Gupta I, Gupta N, Hyder AA, Jain Y, Kruk ME, Makani J, Marx A, Miranda JJ, Norheim OF, Nugent R, Roy N, Stefan C, Wallis L, Mayosi B.
Lancet
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Diagnostic performance of conventional and advanced imaging modalities for assessing newly diagnosed cervical cancer: systematic review and meta-analysis.
Authors: Authors: Woo S, Atun R, Ward ZJ, Scott AM, Hricak H, Vargas HA.
Eur Radiol
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Global hepatitis C elimination: an investment framework.
Authors: Authors: Pedrana A, Howell J, Scott N, Schroeder S, Kuschel C, Lazarus JV, Atun R, Baptista-Leite R, 't Hoen E, Hutchinson SJ, Aufegger L, Peck R, Sohn AH, Swan T, Thursz M, Lesi O, Sharma M, Thwaites J, Wilson DP, Hellard M.
Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol
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The allocation of USdollar;105 billion in global funding from G20 countries for infectious disease research between 2000 and 2017: a content analysis of investments.
Authors: Authors: Head MG, Brown RJ, Newell ML, Scott JAG, Batchelor J, Atun R.
Lancet Glob Health
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Analysis of Attained Height and Diabetes Among 554,122 Adults Across 25 Low- and Middle-Income Countries.
Authors: Authors: Teufel F, Geldsetzer P, Manne-Goehler J, Karlsson O, Koncz V, Deckert A, Theilmann M, Marcus ME, Ebert C, Seiglie JA, Agoudavi K, Andall-Brereton G, Gathecha G, Gurung MS, Guwatudde D, Houehanou C, Hwalla N, Kagaruki GB, Karki KB, Labadarios D, Martins JS, Msaidie M, Norov B, Sibai AM, Sturua L, Tsabedze L, Wesseh CS, Davies J, Atun R, Vollmer S, Subramanian SV, Bärnighausen T, Jaacks LM, De Neve JW.
Diabetes Care
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Study protocol on Enhanced Primary Healthcare (EnPHC) interventions: a quasi-experimental controlled study on diabetes and hypertension management in primary healthcare clinics.
Authors: Authors: Sivasampu S, Teh XR, Lim YMF, Ong SM, Ang SH, Husin M, Khamis N, Jaafar FSA, Wong WJ, Shanmugam S, Ismail SA, Pang SHL, Nasir NH, Ismail MS, Kusuma D, Ross-Degnan D, Atun R.
Prim Health Care Res Dev
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The role and contribution of treatment and imaging modalities in global cervical cancer management: survival estimates from a simulation-based analysis.
Authors: Authors: Ward ZJ, Grover S, Scott AM, Woo S, Salama DH, Jones EC, El-Diasty T, Pieters BR, Trimble EL, Vargas HA, Hricak H, Atun R.
Lancet Oncol
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