The Fine Line Between Research and Impact: Reimagining “Foreign Aid” for Global Health

The field of global health is focused on maximizing the societal impact of medical and scientific breakthroughs across the world. It was traditionally associated with unilateral transfer and dissemination of financial support, clinical technologies, and medications from the “developed world” to the many low and middle income countries (LMICs) that face disproportionately high disease burdens. However, as disease burdens shift and expand to include many non-communicable diseases, high-income countries can no longer claim to have ready-to-export solutions to complex clinical challenges, such as delivering cardiac or cancer care affordably and accessibly.

This epidemiological shift may necessitate redesigning approaches to global healthcare delivery, such as identifying, studying, and replicating successful public and private sector organizations that address modern healthcare challenges. Do we have enough research tools and creativity to study health systems in a way that lets us shift our aid dollars from buying bednets to analyzing business models? How will this feed back into fixing the American healthcare system?

Please join us for a discussion with Manisha Bhattacharya, an MD/MBA joint degree candidate at the Duke University School of Medicine and the Fuqua School of Business. Manisha is interested in interdisciplinary approaches to designing health systems that make cancer care accessible and affordable around the world. Manisha’s work has included analysis of pharmaceutical R&D investment patterns, the impact of intellectual property policy on access to medicines, and the innovation ecosystem supporting healthcare infrastructure in developing countries. Her research is concentrated in India, where she recently conducted work studying the provider perspective on how patients are affected by cancer care costs and infrastructure in both public and private settings. Manisha holds a BA in Molecular and Cell Biology and Economics from Cornell University’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Suggested readings:

• Dieleman, Murray, et al. 2014. “Global Health Development Assistance Remained Steady in 2013 But Did Not Align with Recipients’ Disease Burden.” Available here.
• Richman, Udayakumar, Mitchell, and Schulman. 2008. “A Tale of Two Heart Hospitals.” Available here.
• Love, Richard R. 2008. “Defining a Global Research Agenda for Breast Cancer.” Available here.