Image of Rifat Atun, MD, BS

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

Vice Dean for Non-Degree Education and Innovation, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Temporary Academic, Harvard Medical School
Julio Frenk Professor of Public Health Leadership, 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
DCE Teaching Support, Faculty of Arts & Sciences

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.

Cardiovascular disease risk profile and management practices in 45 low-income and middle-income countries: A cross-sectional study of nationally representative individual-level survey data.
Authors: Authors: Peiris D, Ghosh A, Manne-Goehler J, Jaacks LM, Theilmann M, Marcus ME, Zhumadilov Z, Tsabedze L, Supiyev A, Silver BK, Sibai AM, Norov B, Mayige MT, Martins JS, Lunet N, Labadarios D, Jorgensen JMA, Houehanou C, Guwatudde D, Gurung MS, Damasceno A, Aryal KK, Andall-Brereton G, Agoudavi K, McKenzie B, Webster J, Atun R, Bärnighausen T, Vollmer S, Davies JI, Geldsetzer P.
PLoS Med
View full abstract on Pubmed
Use of social impact bonds in financing health systems responses to non-communicable diseases: scoping review.
Authors: Authors: Hulse ESG, Atun R, McPake B, Lee JT.
BMJ Glob Health
View full abstract on Pubmed
Global costs, health benefits, and economic benefits of scaling up treatment and imaging modalities for survival of 11 cancers: a simulation-based analysis.
Authors: Authors: Ward ZJ, Scott AM, Hricak H, Atun R.
Lancet Oncol
View full abstract on Pubmed
A global investment framework for the elimination of hepatitis B.
Authors: Authors: Howell J, Pedrana A, Schroeder SE, Scott N, Aufegger L, Atun R, Baptista-Leite R, Hirnschall G, 't Hoen E, Hutchinson SJ, Lazarus JV, Olufunmilayo L, Peck R, Sharma M, Sohn AH, Thompson A, Thursz M, Wilson D, Hellard M.
J Hepatol
View full abstract on Pubmed
The association between mental-physical multimorbidity and disability, work productivity, and social participation in China: a panel data analysis.
Authors: Authors: Pan T, Mercer SW, Zhao Y, McPake B, Desloge A, Atun R, Hulse ESG, Lee JT.
BMC Public Health
View full abstract on Pubmed
Impact of non-communicable disease multimorbidity on health service use, catastrophic health expenditure and productivity loss in Indonesia: a population-based panel data analysis study.
Authors: Authors: Marthias T, Anindya K, Ng N, McPake B, Atun R, Arfyanto H, Hulse ES, Zhao Y, Jusril H, Pan T, Ishida M, Lee JT.
BMJ Open
View full abstract on Pubmed
Medical costs and out-of-pocket expenditures associated with multimorbidity in China: quantile regression analysis.
Authors: Authors: Zhao Y, Atun R, Anindya K, McPake B, Marthias T, Pan T, Heusden AV, Zhang P, Duolikun N, Lee J.
BMJ Glob Health
View full abstract on Pubmed
Universal health care in middle-income countries: Lessons from four countries.
Authors: Authors: Preker AS, Cotlear D, Kwon S, Atun R, Avila C.
J Glob Health
View full abstract on Pubmed
Correction: Transition to universal primary health care coverage in Brazil: Analysis of uptake and expansion patterns of Brazil's Family Health Strategy (1998-2012).
Authors: Authors: Andrade MV, Coelho AQ, Neto MX, Carvalho LR, Atun R, Castro MC.
PLoS One
View full abstract on Pubmed
The Joint Effect of Physical Multimorbidity and Mental Health Conditions Among Adults in Australia.
Authors: Authors: Ishida M, Hulse ES, Mahar RK, Gunn J, Atun R, McPake B, Tenneti N, Anindya K, Armstrong G, Mulcahy P, Carman W, Lee JT.
Prev Chronic Dis
View full abstract on Pubmed