Thursday Brown Bag Series

The Department of Global Health and Population’s Thursday Brown Bag Series is a weekly seminar series featuring current research of faculty, affiliates, and guests of the department. The intent is to educate and raise awareness of our community and beyond. This series is held from 1 to 2 pm in Building 1, Room 1208. Questions regarding the series can be directed to Kim Ploeg.

Harvard Chan School hosts a diverse array of speakers, invited to share both scholarly research and personal perspectives. They do not speak for the School, and hosting them does not imply endorsement of their views, organizations, or employers.

Visit our event archives for past Brown Bag seminars.

Fall ’26 Seminars

Seminars are held from 1 to 2 pm in Building 1, Room 1208.

September 10, 2026
AI and humanitarian data: Evidence on reliability, limits, and human oversight
Patrick Vinck, Research Director, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

September 17, 2026
Jeff Imai-Eaton, Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Associate Director of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics (CCDD), Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

September 24, 2026
Measuring health in daily life: Methods and applications of digital phenotyping
JP Onnela, Chair and Professor of Biostatistics, Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

October 1, 2026
What makes care possible? Protection, trust, and solidarity in global health
Christos Christou, Former International President, Médecins Sans Frontières; Visiting Scientist, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

October 8, 2026
Bethany-Rose (BR) Daubman, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

October 15, 2026
Collective organisation as crisis infrastructure: Evidence from the Self-Employed Women’s Association during COVID-19 in India
Satchit Balsari, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Kartikeya Bhatotia, Climate Fellow, Mittal South Asia Institute, Harvard University

October 22, 2026
Beyond survival: To what extent does Australian disaster and emergency management policy consider population health?
Claire Leppold, Senior Research Fellow, Disaster, Climate & Adversity Unit, University of Melbourne; Takemi Fellow in International Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Kate Brady, Senior Research Fellow, HowWeSurvive Initiative, University of New South Wales

October 29, 2026
Vanessa Kerry, Co-Founder and CEO, Seed Global Health; Director, Global Health and Climate Policy Program, Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

November 5, 2026 – Held in collaboration with the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies (Pop Center)
Heather Randell, Associate Professor, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota

November 12, 2026 – Held in collaboration with the Pop Center
Gabrielle Oliveira, Jorge Paulo Lemann Associate Professor of Education and of Brazil Studies, Harvard Graduate School of Education

November 19, 2026
Emmilie Aveling, Lecturer on Health Research and Qualitative Methods, Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

December 3, 2026
Katherine Semrau, Deputy Director, Ariadne Labs; Director, BetterBirth Program, Ariadne Labs

December 10, 2026
Ummu Markwei, Senior Lecturer in Applied Sociology and Head, Department of Business Administration, University of Professional Studies, Accra; Takemi Fellow in International Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health