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 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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Hybrid Organizations in Health Systems: The Corporatization of Malaysia's National Heart Institute.
Authors: Authors: Virk A, Croke K, Mohd Yusoff M, Mokhtaruddin K, Abdullah Z, Nadziha Mohd Hanafiah A, Soleha Ramli E, Filzatun Borhan N, Almodovar Diaz Y, Aun YW, Atun R.
Health Syst Reform
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Surgery and universal health coverage: Designing an essential package for surgical care expansion and scale-up.
Authors: Authors: Reddy CL, Vervoort D, Meara JG, Atun R.
J Glob Health
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Trends, patterns and health consequences of multimorbidity among South Korea adults: Analysis of nationally representative survey data 2007-2016.
Authors: Authors: Kim J, Keshavjee S, Atun R.
J Glob Health
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On time horizons in health economic evaluations.
Authors: Authors: Haacker M, Hallett TB, Atun R.
Health Policy Plan
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