Dear Members of the HMS and HSDM Community:
It is with great pleasure that I announce the appointment of Dr. Vikram Patel, the Pershing Square Professor of Global Health and a celebrated expert in global mental health, as the next chair of the HMS Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, effective September 1.
He will succeed Dr. Paul Farmer, who led the department until his untimely death in February 2022. Vikram is both a worthy successor and uniquely prepared to carry the torch. A venerable and charismatic educator, Vikram was recruited to HMS in 2017 by Paul himself, and he shares Paul’s philosophy that academic engagement is key to delivering quality and equitable health care to all.
Vikram’s appointment comes at a time of increasing awareness of a growing mental health crisis around the world. His energy, determination, and drive to find solutions will be invaluable as the HMS community responds to the crisis and acts on the goals outlined in the department’s new strategic plan. Moreover, he is committed to further integrating social sciences research, including in areas not traditionally funded by the NIH, with on-the-ground care delivery. His deep knowledge of the complexities of mental health complements our community’s strength in neuroscience and neurobiology.
Vikram launched his highly regarded EMPOWER curriculum to equip front-line health workers with training and support to deliver psychosocial interventions needed to effectively address mental health issues in their communities. An ambitious new HMS program supported by the Manton Foundation is also adapting this approach to provide adolescents with greater access to mental health care.
Locally, Vikram heads the Global Mental Health initiative, an interdisciplinary program at Harvard, as well as the Mental Health for All Lab, housed within the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine. Globally, he has served on several World Health Organization advisory committees and has led multiple Lancet commissions on global mental health, including, most recently, the Lancet-World Psychiatric Association Commission on Depression. He is also co-leading the ongoing LancetCommission on Reimagining India’s Health Care System. In 2015, he was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of the year and, in 2019, he was awarded the John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award, which is considered the most prestigious global health prize.
In Vikram’s work, we feel the reverberations of Paul’s vision, as well as the long arc of the department’s historic emphasis on global mental health. The aspirations that were integral to the department under Paul’s leadership will remain essential under Vikram’s savvy stewardship, though he will undoubtedly contribute his own inimitable style of generous mentorship and service to our community.
I would also like to extend my deepest appreciation to Dr. Allan Brandt, the Amalie Moses Kass Professor of the History of Medicine at HMS, for his service as interim chair since Paul’s passing. Allan was integral in planning Paul’s memorial program and inaugural symposium at Harvard in October 2022, and he was a crucial driver of the department’s strategic planning process. He has seen the department through a difficult period, and I commend him for his exceptional contributions.
Please join me in congratulating Vikram on his new role. I am certain the department will continue to thrive under his leadership.
Sincerely,
George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University