Rifat Atun, MBBS, MBA, FRCP, FRCGP, FFPH

Biography

Global Public Health – Professor Rifat Atun, MBBS MBA DIC FRCGP FFPH FRCP

Dr. Rifat Atun, MD, MBA, is Professor of Global Health Systems at Harvard University and the Faculty Chair for the Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program. He was the senior advisor to the G20 Presidency last year and introduced VBHC to G20 as a priority and its inclusion in the Ministerial and The Heads of State Declarations. In 2008-12, he served as a member of the Executive Management Team of the Global Fund as Director of Strategy, Performance and Evaluation where he chaired the panel that oversaw annual investments of ~$4 billion USD each year.

Professor Atun’s research focuses on health systems performance, design, and innovation. He has published more than 450 articles in leading journals including NEJM, Nature Medicine, Lancet Oncology, JAMA, and Academy of Management Journal. He has led and participated in 15 Lancet Commissions. In 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 he was recognized by Web of Science/Clarivate as one of the World’s Most Highly Cited Researchers. In 2024 he was identified as one of the Stanford University/Elsevier World’s Most Influential Scientists with most impact in their field: Ranked for Health Policy in world's top 1% most-cited scientists (top 0.07%)

Dr. Atun has advised many governments on health system reforms, the World Bank, WHO and leading health and life science companies. He was a member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine Committee on Health Systems, and the Advisory Boards of WHO Research Centre for Health Development in Japan the Norwegian Research Council’s Program for Global Health Research and the UK Medical Research Council’s Global Health Group.

Professor Atun studied medicine at the University of London as a Commonwealth Scholar. He subsequently completed his postgraduate training in family medicine and public health in London. He obtained an MBA at 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.

Upcoming Courses