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Paul Farmer

Chief Strategist and Co-Founder, Partners In Health

Kolokotrones University Professor, Harvard University

Medical anthropologist and physician Paul Farmer has dedicated his life to improving health care for the world's poorest people. He is Co-Founder and Chief Strategist of Partners In Health, an international non-profit organization that since 1987 has provided direct health care services and undertaken research and advocacy activities on behalf of those who are sick and living in poverty. Dr. Farmer and his colleagues have pioneered novel community-based treatment strategies that demonstrate the delivery of high-quality health care in resource-poor settings.

Dr. Farmer holds an MD and PhD from Harvard University, where he is the Kolokotrones University Professor and the Chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School; he is also Chief of the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Additionally, Dr. Farmer serves as the United Nations Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Community-Based Medicine.

Dr. Farmer has written extensively on health, human rights, and the consequences of social inequality. He is the recipient of numerous honors, including the 2018 Public Welfare Medal from the National Academy of Sciences.

Baidoa, Somalia

Makeshift, temporary shelter made of plastic and clothing at a refugee center in Baidoa, Somalia.