HGHI Spring 2026 Open House
42 Church Street, Cambridge, MA, United States Join the Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI) team, student leaders, and members of the Harvard community at the HGHI Spring 2026 Open House!
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Strategies for Improving Maternal Healthcare Delivery: Insights from Pakistan and Sub-Saharan Africa
This webinar highlights two complementary strategies that reflect distinct but aligned approaches to improving maternal care delivery. Together, these perspectives illustrate how “high-tech” tools that amplify women’s voices and “high-touch” training that centers compassionate, patient-responsive care can address different challenges within maternal healthcare systems.
Neuropsychiatric Genetics in African Populations: Lessons from the Past Decade and Future Directions
Virtual: Zoom This event highlights Professor Koenen’s research and perspectives on expanding the global reach of psychiatric genetics to advance equity and understanding in mental health science and will include time for audience Q&A. This event is free and open to the public.
Global Health Coffee Session
The Global Health Coffee Sessions is a virtual series of timely conversations on wide-ranging topics at the intersection of health, policy, and global cooperation. Held on the last Friday of each month from 9:00–10:00 AM ET, this series brings together global health experts, policymakers, and practitioners from Harvard and beyond for dynamic, forward-looking discussions.
Featured
See, Believe, Create: A Formula to Strengthen Public Health Research and Practice—Dr. Tom Frieden in conversation with Dr. David Blumenthal
Join us for an engaging conversation between Dr. Tom Frieden, former Director of the CDC and Commissioner of the New York City Health Department, and Dr. David Blumenthal, Professor of the Practice of Public Health and Health Policy, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Frieden has spent his career strengthening health systems around the world—from transforming tuberculosis care in India and stopping the largest U.S. outbreak of multidrug-resistant TB, to reducing tobacco use and leading responses to Ebola and other deadly epidemics.
Rethinking American Indian Mental Health Services: Explorations in Alter-Native Psy-ence
Virtual: Zoom Since the early stages of his career, Joseph P. Gone has been examining depression and problem drinking within his own community on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana. During this work, he interviewed a cultural traditionalist named Traveling Thunder, who linked substance abuse challenges to the historical and ongoing impacts of Euro-American colonization on community life. Building on these insights, Professor Gone proposes an alternative Indigenous mental health discourse, an “alter-Native psy-ence”, that contests and recasts mainstream psychiatric concepts and reframes “mental health” problems as postcolonial disorders.
Models of Global Collaboration: Practical Approaches to Vaccine Access
The evolving landscape of global health funding and shifting priorities are redefining how we work together. Countries are reshaping how they address the direct impact on critical health infrastructure by strengthening new and existing collaborations between governments and the private sector. Vaccine delivery is one area where these partnerships are already achieving positive results. Join us for a focused discussion on how nations are advancing local vaccine manufacturing to accelerate health equity. Our panel of experts will offer insights into what national ownership looks like for vaccine development and distribution today, especially as traditional donor support declines. Whether you are a current or future health professional, policymaker, advocate, or researcher, you will gain valuable perspectives on how countries are shaping the future of vaccines and health systems amid shifting global support.
Bridging Disciplines, Advancing Solutions: Harvard’s Global Health Collaborations
As part of Harvard Worldwide Week, this event showcases the impact of the Harvard Global Health Institute’s Scholarly Working Group (SWG) Program, an initiative that brings together faculty across Harvard’s schools, departments, and centers to collaborate on pressing global health challenges. Harvard faculty from current and past SWGs will share how the program has fostered interdisciplinary dialogue, generated key research deliverables, and sparked innovative events and convenings. From advancing health justice in conflict zones to responding to the health threats of climate change and beyond, these working groups exemplify how cross-campus collaboration enhances Harvard’s global health efforts. Join us to learn how the SWG Program supports intellectual partnerships, builds research communities, and drives forward-thinking solutions in global health within Harvard and beyond. This event is free and open to the public.
Agenda
Networking Health Care Providers Confronting Climate Change
Megan Murray, MD, MPH, ScD Choose Your Future: Climate Change, War, and Health in the Next 50-100 Years
Tina Duhaime, MD Increasing the Resilience of Threatened Health Systems
Margaret Bourdeaux, MD, MPH Register
Featured Panelists Megan Murray, M.D., Sc.D.
Ronda Stryker and William Johnston Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Epidemiology at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health
Megan Murray, MD, MPH, ScD is an epidemiologist and an infectious disease physician with over 25 years of experience in the management of TB programs and TB epidemiology, as well as the transmission dynamics of emerging infectious diseases. She is a Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, where she leads the Global Health Research Core, a multidisciplinary group of researchers who work with the Global Health Delivery Partnership faculty and staff to develop its mission to link research to the teaching and service activities of the Partnership. She is also a Professor of Epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health and the Director of Research at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Division of Global Health Equity and its sister organization, Partners In Health. Dr. Murray has conducted field studies in Peru, Rwanda, South Africa, Ukraine, Russia and the US, and has previously worked in Kenya, Niger and Pakistan. Her current interests include identifying ways to reduce the suffering caused by the health impacts of climate change, especially in low and middle income countries. Dr. Murray led the Harvard Global Health Scholarly Working Group titled the Climate Change and Health Collaborative.
Ann-Christine Duhaime, M.D.
Nicholas T. Zervas Professor of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School
Dr. Duhaime is a pediatric neurosurgeon at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Professor of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School. Her research has focused on traumatic brain injury and recovery in children, and more recently on climate change, war, and health. Her longstanding interest in the relationship between brain, behavior and environmental issues was explored in her 2022 book, Minding the Climate (Harvard University Press). She serves as Associate Director of the Mass General Center for the Environment and Health, as Faculty Associate at Harvard Salata Institute and at the Harvard Global Health Institute, and as Associate Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Climate Change and Health. Dr. Duhaime led the Harvard Global Health Scholarly Working Group on Climate Change, War, and Health: Effects of Intergenerational Global Health Adaptation.
Margaret Bourdeaux, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School; Associate Physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Margaret Bourdeaux, MD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and an Associate Physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she also serves as the Director of the Health Security Policy Academy in the Division of Global Health Equity. Her professional affiliations extend to being a Faculty Affiliate at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for the Internet and Society and a member of the Steering Committee for the Massachusetts Consortia of Pathogen Readiness. Dr. Bourdeaux conducts research and fieldwork focused on health systems and institutions in conflict affected states. Her research interests lie at the intersection of health, international security, and domestic and global health policy. Dr. Bourdeaux leads the Harvard Global Health Scholarly Working Group titled Increasing the Resilience of Threatened Health Systems.
About the Harvard Global Health Institute's Scholarly Working Groups
The Harvard Global Health Institute’s Scholarly Working Groups are designed to encourage a collaborative environment, promote inter-faculty gatherings, and explore and accelerate research areas in topics critical to the advancement of “Health for All”. Each Scholarly Working Group includes faculty from at least two schools across Harvard University. Through these working groups, we aim to catalyze ideas, inspire the writing of grants, policy briefs, or working papers, or build networks to advance a program of work. Through our events and programs, the Harvard Global Health Institute provides a platform for different perspectives and debates within the field of global health through a variety of media. The views expressed in these events and programs are solely those of the speakers, authors, researchers, and participating audience. As such, they do not speak for the institute or the university.
Careers in Global Health: Pathways, Challenges, and Opportunities
Interested in a future career in global health? As part of Worldwide Week at Harvard, we invite you to join us in-person at the Mignone Center for Career Success for an engaging panel featuring experts from Harvard Medical School, the School of Public Health, and the Business School. They’ll share their journeys into the field, the skills that helped them succeed, tips for finding meaningful experiences (in the U.S. and abroad), and their thoughts on where the field of global health is headed.
Whether you're just exploring or already planning your path, this is a great chance to learn, ask questions, and get inspired! Panelists will share candid insights on refining your focus, landing your first global health job, and overcoming uncertainty. This event includes a Q&A session for you to get personalized advice and discover the wide-ranging career paths and opportunities in global health. Agenda Panel Discussion: ~45 minutes
Audience Q&A: ~15 minutes
Optional 1:1 Conversations with Panelists (Post-event): ~15 minutes This event is available to current Harvard graduate and undergraduate students.
Register
Featured Panelists Jessica Cohen, PhD
Professor of Health Economics at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Jessica Cohen is a Professor of Health Economics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where she focuses on health policy, behavioral economics, and maternal and child health. Her research examines how health systems, policies, and programs influence maternal and newborn health in the U.S. and East Africa with the aim of embedding this evidence into policy design and increasing policy impact. Dr. Cohen was a member of the WHO Global Malaria Program's Technical Expert Group on Surveillance, Monitoring and Evaluation and has served on NIH expert review panels related to implementation science and impact evaluation. She has also co-authored the behavioral economics chapter in the textbook Health Behavior: Theory, Research, and Practice. Her contributions have been recognized through honors like the Alice Hamilton Award and the National Academy of Medicine Healthy Longevity Catalyst Award.
Daniel Palazuelos, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Medicine, HMS; Director of Community-Centered Medical Education, HMS; Director of Community Health Systems, PIH
Daniel Palazuelos, MD, MPH is a community health implementer-educator who holds positions at Harvard Medical School (HMS), the Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), and Partners In Health (PIH). He started his career in global health equity by living and working with community health workers (CHWs) in impoverished communities in Chiapas, Mexico, and these grassroots experiences have deeply influenced his approach to addressing the biggest challenges in global health. He worked over two decades to launch Compañeros En Salud - México (CES, PIH's program in Mexico), the Financing Alliance for Health (FAH, which helps governments design and fund ambitious, affordable, and at-scale community health programs), and the Community Health Impact Coalition (CHIC, an advocacy, research and organizing initiative led by many of the most innovative implementers in community health). His unified goal is to assure that our finest clinicians are trained to understand the community perspective, and our health care system strengthening efforts are aligned to the real needs of people living in the poorest and most difficult circumstances.
Chuan-Chin Huang, ScD, MSc
Associate Epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Instructor at Harvard Medical School
Chuan-Chin Huang, Sc.D., is an epidemiologist and biostatistician dedicated to advancing global health equity and infectious disease research, particularly tuberculosis. Currently, he serves as an Associate Epidemiologist at the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and as an Instructor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Huang has been involved in numerous interdisciplinary projects focused on understanding bacterial and host factors associated with TB outcomes. His work integrates pathogen and host genomics, clinical, and epidemiologic data from longitudinal field studies conducted in Lima Peru. His research has significantly contributed to understanding the transmission dynamics and epidemiology of multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant TB. Ultimately, his goal is to use data to identify optimal TB control and treatment strategies, reducing morbidity and mortality from this deadly disease.
Ashley V. Whillans, PhD, MA
Volpert Family Associate Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
Ashley Whillans is the Volpert Family Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Negotiation, Organizations & Markets Unit at Harvard Business School, where she teaches Motivation course to MBA students. Her research explores the intersection of behavioral science and organizational effectiveness, investigating how intangible incentives—such as experiential and time-saving rewards—impact employee motivation, well-being, and performance.
Professor Whillans' work examines the critical relationships between time, money, and happiness, with relevance to public health through her focus on stress reduction, work-life balance, and psychological well-being. Her research extends globally, with ongoing projects in the Thar Desert region of India and Nairobi, Kenya, examining how time-use patterns affect health and quality of life across diverse populations. As a 2019 Burke Global Health Fellow at Harvard, she conducted a large-scale field experiment with 1,200 financially constrained working mothers in Kibera, Kenya—the largest informal settlement in East Africa—focusing on alleviating "time poverty" among women in developing markets.
Moderator Princess Magor Agbozo
Graduate Student at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Princess Magor Agbozo is a Master of Science student in Global Health and Population at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She holds a bachelor’s in Public Health from the University of Kentucky. During her undergraduate studies, Agbozo worked as an intern in the Division of Epidemiology and Health Planning in the Kentucky Department for Public Health, supporting perinatal epidemiologists with surveillance projects to determine substance use in Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) positive mothers. She has also conducted community-engaged research focused on crisis management, maternal and child health, and cervical cancer. Her current research interest lies in health systems strengthening and cross-sector partnerships between faith-based organizations and public health institutions to improve population health and well-being.
About the Harvard Global Health Institute
The Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI) is an interfaculty initiative that facilitates collaboration across the Harvard community and partners worldwide to advance global health equity. We tackle the greatest health challenges of our time through innovative transdisciplinary research, education, and partnerships that build knowledge and drive positive change in global health.
Socially Responsible Business in Global Health: A Presentation and Moderated Discussion with Dr. Lutz Hegemann
37 Harvard Way, Boston, MA, United States The Harvard Global Health Institute, the HBS Social Enterprise Club, HBS Healthcare Club, and the HKS Health Policy PIC invite you to a student-facilitated discussion with Dr. Lutz Hegemann, President of Novartis Global Health, on Friday, October 10, 4–5pm in Hawes 101. Dr. Hegemann will provide an overview of Novartis’ initiatives to increase access to medicines in low- and middle-income countries. Student facilitators will then guide a critical conversation on the intersections of business responsibility and equity in global health.
The Ethics of Priority Setting in Global Health
The Harvard Global Health Institute’s Global Health Research and Innovation Speaker Series showcases the latest scholarly and scientific advancements in global health across Harvard and beyond, to make cutting-edge research accessible to a diverse global audience, and to spark innovative solutions in the pursuit of health equity and improved health outcomes worldwide. The public series takes place virtually on the second Tuesday of each month from 12:00 to 12:45 pm ET. Each session will include a presentation by a featured speaker showcasing their innovative research in global health, followed by a moderated Q&A.
Global Health as a Moral Imperative: The U.S. Role in Advancing Equity and Partnership
The Global Health Coffee Sessions is a virtual series of timely conversations on wide-ranging topics at the intersection of health, policy, and global cooperation. Held on the last Friday of each month from 9:00–10:00 AM ET, this series brings together global health experts, policymakers, and practitioners from Harvard and beyond for dynamic, forward-looking discussions.