Brown Bag Seminar: Measuring out-of-pocket health spending using household-reported survey data
Chunling Lu studied international relations (BA) and political science (MA) at Fudan University in Shanghai, China, and sociology (MA) and applied statistics (MS) at Syracuse University, where she also received her PhD in economics. She received postdoctoral training on health care policy analysis at the Harvard Medical School’s Department of Health Care Policy, and joined the School’s Department of Global Health and Social Medicine in 2008 after three-years work at the Harvard Institute for Global Health as a senior research associate.
Speaker Information
Chunling Lu
Organizers
Brown Bag Seminar: Combating the health effects of extreme heat and air pollution in urban India
Amruta Nori-Sarma is an assistant professor of environmental health and population sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. As an environmental epidemiologist, Nori-Sarma studies the relationship between environmental exposures associated with climate change and health outcomes in vulnerable communities. Nori-Sarma aims to understand the impacts of interrelated extreme weather events on mental health across the US utilizing large claims datasets and also has an interest in evaluating the success of policies put in place to reduce the health impacts of climate change.
Additionally, Nori-Sarma serves as one of the leads of the CAFE RCC, the research coordinating center of the NIH Climate Change and Health Initiative. CAFE, a joint effort with the BU School of Public Health, aims to bring together and amplify the work of a more diverse community of practice in climate and health.
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Organizers
Nourishing Humanity in the Age of Climate Change
20th Annual Stare-Hegsted Lecture
Dr. Jessica Fanzo, Professor of Climate and Food and Director of the Food for Humanity Initiative at Columbia University’s Climate School, serves as the distinguished speaker for the 20th Annual Stare-Hegsted Lecture.
Hosted by the Department of Nutrition, Dr. Fanzo’s talk on “Nourishing Humanity in the Age of Climate Change” will take place in Kresge G2 and via Zoom on October 20, 2025 at 4:00pm. This event is free and open to the public.
This annual lecture honors Drs. Fredrick Stare and Mark Hegsted, who were the founders of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 1942, which was the first department of nutrition in any medical center or school of public health in the U.S.
If you are not an HUID holder or need the Zoom link, please fill out this form in advance and our team will be in touch with further information.
Speaker Information
Dr. Jessica Fanzo
Organizers
Brown Bag Seminar: Mental health and psychosocial support for male former Yazidi child soldiers in northern Iraq: Gaps in humanitarian response and legal obligations
Serhat Yildirim, MD, MMSc, obtained his medical degree from Ghent University in Belgium and completed his master of medical sciences in global health delivery at Harvard Medical School as a Fulbright and Fayat Scholar. His research, under Theresa Betancourt, focused on mental health services for former Yazidi child soldiers in northern Iraq.
Yildirim is currently a research associate at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, working on reparations as a public health intervention, healthcare delivery in conflict zones, and immigration health. He has also participated in humanitarian missions in the Middle East and North Africa and is dedicated to advancing equity and the rights of vulnerable communities worldwide.
If you require a visitor’s pass and are not an HUID holder, please reach out to kploeg@hsph.harvard.edu.
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Organizers
At the Interface of Epidemiology and Health Decision Science: Jointly Shaping Cancer Screening Strategies
Join us on Wednesday, October 15th for the Epidemiology Seminar Series, featuring Dr. Uwe Siebert discussing “At the Interface of Epidemiology and Health Decision Science: Jointly Shaping Cancer Screening Strategies“.
Abstract: Epidemiologic analyses provide essential evidence for decision-analytic models guiding cancer screening policy. This presentation highlights how such data are generated, transformed, and linked to inform clinical guidelines, health technology assessments, and citizen information, with case examples from colorectal cancer screening in the U.S. and Europe. Decision-analytic models rely on epidemiologic inputs –-such as disease prevalence, test performance, prognosis, and treatment effectiveness – to compare strategies that differ in age limits, intervals, test modalities, and risk-based algorithms. These models quantify trade-offs between benefits (reduced morbidity/mortality) and harms (false positives, complications, overdiagnosis). To ensure reliable guidance, cross-disciplinary understanding is critical: epidemiologists must recognize how their estimates influence model outputs, while decision scientists must understand the assumptions, limitations, and causal interpretations of those estimates. By fostering collaboration across biostatistics, epidemiology, global health and decision science, we can strengthen the evidence base for cancer screening and ensure strategies appropriately balance benefits and harms.
Bio: Uwe Siebert, MPH, MSc, ScD, is a physician by training and Professor of Public Health, Medical Decision Making and Health Technology Assessment (HTA), Chair of the Department of Public Health, Health Services Research and HTA at UMIT TIROL – University for Health Sciences and Technology in Austria, and Director of the International Continuing Education Program in HTA and Decision Science (htads.org). He is also Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology and Health Policy & Management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Uwe is the current President- of ISPOR – The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research and former President of the Society for Medical Decision Making (SMDM).
His research interests include applying evidence-based quantitative and translational methods in the framework of health care policy advice and HTA as well as in the clinical context of routine health care, public health policies and patient guidance. He has worked with several HTA Agencies in Europe, Brazil, US and Canada and he advises public and government agencies, academic institutions and industry regarding the conduction of HTAs and their impact on policy and reimbursement decisions. He has authored more than 500 publications and is an Editor of the European Journal of Epidemiology and editorial board member of several scientific journals.
Speaker Information
Uwe Siebert, MD, MPH, MSc, ScD
Organizers
Herbert Sherman Memorial Lecture: Micky Tripathi, Mayo Clinic
The Department of Health Policy and Management invites you to join the bi-annual Herbert Sherman Memorial Lecture, featuring Dr. Micky Tripathi, Chief Artificial Intelligence Implementation Officer at the Mayo Clinic. The event will include an in-person lecture by Dr. Tripathi, who will be speaking about AI applications to health care delivery, followed by a reception. Further details about the event and Dr. Tripathi’s lecture will be posted here as the date approaches.
This event has now passed. Click below to watch a recording of the lecture.
Herbert Sherman Memorial Lecture, featuring Dr. Micky Tripathi, Mayo Clinic
Friday, October 17th, 2025
Lecture: 3:00-4:00PM, Kresge 502
Reception: 4:00-5:00PM, Kresge Atrium
In-person only
All questions can be directed to Rachel Levitt (rlevitt@hsph.harvard.edu). Please note: Speakers’ remarks are based on their own scholarship and experiences. They do not speak for Harvard.
About the Lecture
“The Digital Transformation of Health Care“
The publication of the Institute of Medicine’s landmark studies “To Err is Human” and “Crossing the Quality Chasm” brought national attention to the question of how to harness information technology to advance the quality, safety and efficiency of our health care system. Two decades of hard work by the public and private sectors has transformed the largest and most complex sector of the US economy from paper to digital. As is now clear, that investment was just the prelude to the AI future that we’re now building. This lecture will reflect on the lessons learned from the creation of this digital foundation, and the opportunities and challenges ahead in the AI era.
About the Herbert Sherman Memorial Lecture Series
The Herbert Sherman Memorial Lecture is a bi-annual lecture series in honor of Dr. Herbert Sherman, who was an electrical engineer on the faculty at MIT and the Draper Labs who became interested in health care delivery and moved to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He was particularly interested in healthcare IT, quality of care, operations research, and technology assessment. Dr. Sherman brought multidisciplinary and creative solutions to the problems of health care delivery. This lecture series features experts in the field of health policy or management who reflect Dr. Sherman’s legacy of bringing multidisciplinary and creative solutions to the problems of health care delivery.
Speaker Information
Micky Tripathi, PhD
Micky Tripathi, Ph.D., is Mayo Clinic’s chief artificial intelligence implementation officer. With a focus on oversight and ongoing monitoring of artificial intelligence (AI) across the Mayo Clinic enterprise, Dr. Tripathi drives AI adoption and establishes streamlined pathways to integrate safe and effective AI into the clinical practice.
With over three decades of healthcare leadership experience, Dr. Tripathi’s expertise spans public and private sectors in strategy, product development and operations with a proven track record in leading large-scale health information technology (IT) projects and fostering collaborations. He served as a top federal official at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where he oversaw clinical data standards, health IT policies, interoperability and health AI regulations. His work established nationwide data and interoperability standards across all HHS divisions and more than 500 electronic health record (EHR) products, impacting 97% of hospitals and 78% of physician offices across the nation. As the HHS’s chief AI officer, he developed AI transparency and risk management regulations for more than 900 certified EHR developers. He also vetted and approved all AI applications.
Before joining HHS, Dr. Tripathi served as chief alliance officer at Arcadia. In that role, he was responsible for developing and executing inorganic growth strategies ranging from enterprise partnerships to mergers and acquisitions. Further, he served as the president and CEO of Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative, providing health IT and data analytics services to healthcare customers across the U.S.
Dr. Tripathi received his undergraduate studies at Vassar College, earned his master’s degree from Harvard University and completed his Doctor of Philosophy degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Recognized for his visionary yet practical leadership, Dr. Tripathi has served on numerous boards, and he excels in managing complex initiatives at the intersection of health, technology, business and regulation.
The Role of Plumbing Biofilms in Healthcare Acquired Infections
Title Talk
The Role of Plumbing Biofilms in Healthcare Acquired Infections
THIS SPEAKER WILL BE IN PERSON IN FXB 301.
The event will be hybrid.
Speaker Information
Plumbing systems provide ideal growth conditions for polymicrobial biofilms that often contain health-relevant microorganisms. In hospitals, where 1 in 31 patients contracts a healthcare acquired infection, biofilm control is of the utmost importance for infection prevention. In this seminar, Hannah Greenwald Healy, Assistant Professor of Environmental Health and Exposure Science, will present research from several sampling campaigns at Yale New Haven Hospital. Using a combination of metagenomic and culture-based methods, she and her team investigated plumbing biofilms throughout water systems, with broad implications for infection prevention and wastewater surveillance.
What on Earth is “Pluralism” for American Life Today?
You are invited to the What on Earth is “Pluralism” for American Life Today? Co-sponsored by the Center for Bioethics (HMS), the Office for Community and Belonging (HSPH), and Office of Dental Education (HSDM).
Diana L. Eck is a Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies Emerita at Harvard University and Frederic Wertham Research Professor of Law and Psychiatry in Society. She is also founder and Director of the Pluralism Project, which for nearly 30 years has studied the changing religious landscape of America and its significance for American society. As a scholar of India, she has published Banaras, City of Light, Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in India, and India: A Sacred Geography. With the Pluralism Project, she turned her attention to the U.S. and has produced an extensive web-based resource for understanding multi-religious and multi-cultural America. On the subject of pluralism she has written Encountering God: A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banaras and A New Religious America: How A ‘Christian’ Country Has Become the World’s Most Religiously Diverse Nation. In 1998, she received the National Humanities Medal from President Clinton for her work on religious pluralism in America and in 2011 she delivered the Gifford Lectures in Edinburgh on “The Age of Pluralism.”
Speaker Information
Diana Eck
Organizers
Virtues for Well-being: A Seminar with Dr. Emiliana Simon-Thomas
On Wednesday, March 11th, 2026, from 1-1:50 PM in FXB G13 and online, all are welcome to join us for the fifth installment in our Virtues for Well-being seminar series.
Speaker Biography
Emiliana R. Simon-Thomas, Ph.D., is the science director of the Greater Good Science Center, where she directs the GGSC’s research fellowship program, is a co-instructor of its Science of Happiness and Science of Happiness at Work online courses and runs key study initiatives like Expanding the Science and Practice of Gratitude. Emiliana is a leading expert on the neuroscience and psychology of compassion, kindness, gratitude, and other prosocial skills that bolster human happiness. She earned her doctorate in Cognition Brain and Behavior at UC Berkeley, where her dissertation used behavioral and neuroscience methods to examine how unpleasant emotions influence thinking and decision-making. During her postdoc, Emiliana shifted to studying the origins and effects of prosocial states like love of humanity, compassion, and awe. Before joining GGSC in 2010, Emiliana served as Associate Director/Senior Scientist at CCARE (the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University), focusing on how compassion benefits health, well-being, and psychosocial functioning.
Today, Emiliana’s work spotlights the science that connects health and happiness to social affiliation, caregiving, and collaborative relationships, as she continues to examine the potential for – as well as the benefits of – living a more meaningful life.
Speaker Information
Dr. Emiliana Simon-Thomas
Organizers
On Thin Ice: stories of trust (and mistrust) in Arctic research and policy
The Office of Field Education and Practice is pleased to host the first Community Engaged Learning Seminar with colleagues from the Harvard Arctic Initiative.
Moderated by Sappho Gilbert, postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard Chan School and research fellow at the Arctic Initiative, this panel will explore the role of trust in research and policy with Arctic communities, focusing on how it is built, sustained, and at times lost and rebuilt. Drawing on examples from knowledge co-production and community engagement, governance, health care, food systems, and infrastructure, panelists will detail the risks of broken trust and the potential of lockstep, community-centered partnerships. Panelists include Harvard Chan student and Rose Service Learning Fellow, Kenzo Kimura and Fulbright Scholars at the Arctic Initiative, Alexandra Middleton, Hans Peder Kirkegaard and Juho Kähkönen.
Register for the in-person event here.
Attend via Zoom