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.

The long run impact of early childhood deworming on numeracy and literacy: Evidence from Uganda.
Authors: Authors: Croke K, Atun R.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis
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Systematic review of evidence on public health in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Authors: Authors: Park JJ, Lim AY, Ahn HS, Kim AI, Choi S, Oh DH, Lee-Park O, Kim SY, Jung SJ, Bump JB, Atun R, Shin HY, Park KB.
BMJ Glob Health
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Political priority and pathways to scale-up of childhood cancer care in five nations.
Authors: Authors: Denburg AE, Ramirez A, Pavuluri S, McCann E, Shah S, Alcasabas T, Antillon F, Arora R, Fuentes-Alabi S, Renner L, Lam C, Friedrich P, Maser B, Force L, Galindo CR, Atun R.
PLoS One
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The impact of the Family Medicine Model on patient satisfaction in Turkey: Panel analysis with province fixed effects.
Authors: Authors: Sparkes SP, Atun R, B?rnighausen T.
PLoS One
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The health and cost burden of antibiotic resistant and susceptible Escherichia coli bacteraemia in the English hospital setting: A national retrospective cohort study.
Authors: Authors: Naylor NR, Pouwels KB, Hope R, Green N, Henderson KL, Knight GM, Atun R, Robotham JV, Deeny SR.
PLoS One
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Health diplomacy through health entrepreneurship: using hackathons to address Palestinian-Israeli health concerns.
Authors: Authors: Ramadi K, Srinavasan S, Atun R.
BMJ Glob Health
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Health system modelling research: towards a whole-health-system perspective for identifying good value for money investments in health system strengthening.
Authors: Authors: Verguet S, Feldhaus I, Jiang Kwete X, Aqil A, Atun R, Bishai D, Cecchini M, Guerra Junior AA, Habtemariam MK, Jbaily A, Karanfil O, Kruk ME, Haneuse S, Norheim OF, Smith PC, Tolla MT, Zewdu S, Bump J.
BMJ Glob Health
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Early experience of universal health coverage in Turkey on access to health services for the poor: regression kink design analysis.
Authors: Authors: Tirgil A, Gurol-Urganci I, Atun R.
J Glob Health
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Quantifying drivers of antibiotic resistance in humans: a systematic review.
Authors: Authors: Chatterjee A, Modarai M, Naylor NR, Boyd SE, Atun R, Barlow J, Holmes AH, Johnson A, Robotham JV.
Lancet Infect Dis
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Non-technical health care quality and health system responsiveness in middle-income countries: a cross-sectional study in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa.
Authors: Authors: Geldsetzer P, Haakenstad A, James EK, Atun R.
J Glob Health
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