Rifat Atun is a British physician and academic who, as of January 2024, serves as the Professor of Global Health Systems and Director of the Health System Innovation Lab at Harvard University. He is one of the most important figures in the contemporary study of comparative

health systems Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

and healthcare innovation and has made substantial contributions to health systems theory, health systems reform, and innovation in health systems.

Career

Atun served as the

Faculty Faculty may refer to: * Faculty (academic staff), the academic staff of a university (North American usage) * Faculty (division), a division within a university (usage outside of the United States) * Faculty (instrument) A faculty is a legal in ...

Chair for the Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program from 2015 to 2022. He was a member of the Executive Management Team of the Global Fund from 2008 to 2012, where he held the position of Director of Strategy, Performance, and Evaluation. From 2006 to 2013, Atun was a Professor of International Health Management at Imperial College London and Head of the Health Management Group. In addition to his academic work, Atun has advised governments on health system reforms, the World Bank, WHO, and leading health and life science companies. He served as a senior advisor to the G20 Presidency from 2019 to 2020 and co-chaired the T20 Health Track and the Task Force on Global Health Security and COVID-19 for the G20 Indonesian Presidency. He is a member of the Longitude Prize Committee and the founding Board Chair of Movement Health Foundation, a Swiss foundation that supports innovations aimed at solving major global health challenges through digital solutions. He is also the Founding President of the Global Surgery Foundation based in Geneva.

Research and publications

Atun's research focuses on health systems performance, design, and innovation. He has published more than 450 articles in leading journals, including ''

NEJM ''The New England Journal of Medicine'' (''NEJM'') is a weekly medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It is among the most prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals as well as the oldest continuously published one. Hist ...

'', '' Nature Medicine'', '' Lancet'', ''

Lancet Oncology ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823. The journal publishes original research articles, ...

'', ''JAMA'', and ''

Academy of Management Journal The ''Academy of Management Journal'' (''AMJ'') a is peer-reviewed academic journal covering all aspects of management. It is published by the Academy of Management and was established in 1958 as the ''Journal of the Academy of Management'', obtai ...

''. He has also led and participated in 15 Lancet Commissions. In 2020, 2021, and 2022, he was recognized by Web of Science as one of the World's Most Highly Cited Researchers.

Education and honors

Atun studied medicine at the University of London as a

Commonwealth Scholar The Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP) is an international programme under which Commonwealth governments offer scholarships and fellowships to citizens of other Commonwealth countries. History The plan was originally proposed ...

and later completed his clinical training in

family medicine Family medicine is a medical specialty within primary care that provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family across all ages, genders, diseases, and parts of the body. The specialist, who is usually a primary ...

. He also obtained an MBA from Imperial College London. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, the Faculty of Public Health, and the Royal College of General Practitioners in the UK.

Awards and memberships

Rifat Atun has been awarded many prestigious awards for his excellence works in healthcare researches in the healthcare fields. * College Teaching Award - 2007 * Longitude Prize Committee

References

External links

Official website

Transforming Cardiovascular Health through Strategic Public-Private Partnerships – World Economic Forum
'
AI, Health Systems and the Innovation Challenge

From the Heart: Transforming healthcare systems

World Oncology Forum 2017 – Interview with Professor Rifat Atun

Rifat Atun of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and malaria on healthcare policy

Coronavirus Pandemic: Rifat Atun, Harvard University

Research series: Closing the cancer divide

Financial Times: It is time to transform healthcare delivery
{{Authority control Living people 21st-century British medical doctors Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health faculty Academics of Imperial College London Alumni of the University of London Alumni of Imperial College London Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Fellows of the Faculty of Public Health Fellows of the Royal College of General Practitioners Year of birth missing (living people)