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
Faculty Lead- International Health Care Systems, Harvard Medical School
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.

Health priority-setting for official development assistance in low-income and middle-income countries: a Best Fit Framework Synthesis study with primary data from Ethiopia, Nigeria and Tanzania.
Authors: Authors: Kwete XJ, Berhane Y, Mwanyika-Sando M, Oduola A, Liu Y, Workneh F, Hagos S, Killewo J, Mosha D, Chukwu A, Salami K, Yusuf B, Tang K, Zheng ZJ, Atun R, Fawzi W.
BMC Public Health
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Estimated effect of increased diagnosis, treatment, and control of diabetes and its associated cardiovascular risk factors among low-income and middle-income countries: a microsimulation model.
Authors: Authors: Basu S, Flood D, Geldsetzer P, Theilmann M, Marcus ME, Ebert C, Mayige M, Wong-McClure R, Farzadfar F, Saeedi Moghaddam S, Agoudavi K, Norov B, Houehanou C, Andall-Brereton G, Gurung M, Brian G, Bovet P, Martins J, Atun R, Bärnighausen T, Vollmer S, Manne-Goehler J, Davies J.
Lancet Glob Health
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Integrating HIV services and other health services: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Authors: Authors: Bulstra CA, Hontelez JAC, Otto M, Stepanova A, Lamontagne E, Yakusik A, El-Sadr WM, Apollo T, Rabkin M, Atun R, Bärnighausen T.
PLoS Med
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Evidence-based policymaking when evidence is incomplete: The case of HIV programme integration.
Authors: Authors: Hontelez JAC, Bulstra CA, Yakusik A, Lamontagne E, Bärnighausen TW, Atun R.
PLoS Med
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Estimating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on diagnosis and survival of five cancers in Chile from 2020 to 2030: a simulation-based analysis.
Authors: Authors: Ward ZJ, Walbaum M, Walbaum B, Guzman MJ, Jimenez de la Jara J, Nervi B, Atun R.
Lancet Oncol
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Socioeconomic inequalities in effective service coverage for reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health: a comparative analysis of 39 low-income and middle-income countries.
Authors: Authors: Anindya K, Marthias T, Vellakkal S, Carvalho N, Atun R, Morgan A, Zhao Y, Hulse ES, McPake B, Lee JT.
EClinicalMedicine
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Economic impact of tuberculosis mortality in 120 countries and the cost of not achieving the Sustainable Development Goals tuberculosis targets: a full-income analysis.
Authors: Authors: Silva S, Arinaminpathy N, Atun R, Goosby E, Reid M.
Lancet Glob Health
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Unmet need for hypercholesterolemia care in 35 low- and middle-income countries: A cross-sectional study of nationally representative surveys.
Authors: Authors: Marcus ME, Ebert C, Geldsetzer P, Theilmann M, Bicaba BW, Andall-Brereton G, Bovet P, Farzadfar F, Singh Gurung M, Houehanou C, Malekpour MR, Martins JS, Moghaddam SS, Mohammadi E, Norov B, Quesnel-Crooks S, Wong-McClure R, Davies JI, Hlatky MA, Atun R, Bärnighausen TW, Jaacks LM, Manne-Goehler J, Vollmer S.
PLoS Med
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Non-communicable disease risk factors and management among internal migrant in China: systematic review and meta-analysis.
Authors: Authors: Qian CX, Zhao Y, Anindya K, Tenneti N, Desloge A, Atun R, Qin VM, Mulcahy P, Lee JT.
BMJ Glob Health
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The impact of scaling up access to treatment and imaging modalities on global disparities in breast cancer survival: a simulation-based analysis.
Authors: Authors: Ward ZJ, Atun R, Hricak H, Asante K, McGinty G, Sutton EJ, Norton L, Scott AM, Shulman LN.
Lancet Oncol
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