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.

Estimating the impact of treatment and imaging modalities on 5-year net survival of 11 cancers in 200 countries: a simulation-based analysis.
Authors: Authors: Ward ZJ, Scott AM, Hricak H, Abdel-Wahab M, Paez D, Lette MM, Vargas HA, Kingham TP, Atun R.
Lancet Oncol
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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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Progress towards reducing sociodemographic disparities in breastfeeding outcomes in Indonesia: a trend analysis from 2002 to 2017.
Authors: Authors: Saputri NS, Spagnoletti BRM, Morgan A, Wilopo SA, Singh A, McPake B, Atun R, Dewi RK, Lee JT.
BMC Public Health
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Physical multimorbidity, health service use, and catastrophic health expenditure by socioeconomic groups in China: an analysis of population-based panel data.
Authors: Authors: Zhao Y, Atun R, Oldenburg B, McPake B, Tang S, Mercer SW, Cowling TE, Sum G, Qin VM, Lee JT.
Lancet Glob Health
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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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12 Lessons learned from the management of the coronavirus pandemic.
Authors: Authors: Forman R, Atun R, McKee M, Mossialos E.
Health Policy
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Machine learning health-related applications in low-income and middle-income countries: a scoping review protocol.
Authors: Authors: Carrillo-Larco RM, Tudor Car L, Pearson-Stuttard J, Panch T, Miranda JJ, Atun R.
BMJ Open
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Rural and urban differences in health system performance among older Chinese adults: cross-sectional analysis of a national sample.
Authors: Authors: Qin VM, McPake B, Raban MZ, Cowling TE, Alshamsan R, Chia KS, Smith PC, Atun R, Lee JT.
BMC Health Serv Res
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Shifting the paradigm: using disease outbreaks to build resilient health systems.
Authors: Authors: Durski KN, Osterholm M, Majumdar SS, Nilles E, Bausch DG, Atun R.
BMJ Glob Health
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Sustainable care for children with cancer: a Lancet Oncology Commission.
Authors: Authors: Atun R, Bhakta N, Denburg A, Frazier AL, Friedrich P, Gupta S, Lam CG, Ward ZJ, Yeh JM, Allemani C, Coleman MP, Di Carlo V, Loucaides E, Fitchett E, Girardi F, Horton SE, Bray F, Steliarova-Foucher E, Sullivan R, Aitken JF, Banavali S, Binagwaho A, Alcasabas P, Antillon F, Arora RS, Barr RD, Bouffet E, Challinor J, Fuentes-Alabi S, Gross T, Hagander L, Hoffman RI, Herrera C, Kutluk T, Marcus KJ, Moreira C, Pritchard-Jones K, Ramirez O, Renner L, Robison LL, Shalkow J, Sung L, Yeoh A, Rodriguez-Galindo C.
Lancet Oncol
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