Health Services Research Center 2025–2026 Distinguished Speakers: Leading Change, Redefining Possibility, Transforming Healthcare
August 07, 2025
UH Research & Education Institute
The University Hospitals Health Services Research Center (UH HSRC) has recently unveiled the 2025–2026 cohort of the Distinguished Speaker Series, featuring a notable group of internationally acclaimed leaders who are advancing the fields of health services research, population health and public health in truly meaningful ways. Every Distinguished Speaker is a pioneer, chosen for their enduring contributions, innovations, real-world impact and ability to inspire our community.
The programming, led by Samudragupta Bora, PhD, Founding Director of the UH HSRC, is rigorously grounded in the Center's mission to foster scholarly dialogue and innovation in healthcare delivery science. “We see the Distinguished Speaker Series as a platform to highlight transformative voices from around the world, changing the narrative of healthcare delivery,” says Dr. Bora. “Our focus is on leaders with real-world impact in health and wellbeing, not just those from the Global North or with the most citations in scholarly publications.”
The 2025–2026 cohort of the Distinguished Speaker Series features experts who have made extraordinary scientific discoveries and pioneered breakthroughs in healthcare delivery, health policy and health equity. From July 2025 to July 2026, each of the speakers will present a lecture focused on their area of expertise on the first Tuesday of each month from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. U.S. EST in a free virtual event open to the public, designed to engage both academic and community members.
2025–2026 Distinguished Speakers (in alphabetical order):
- Amber E. Barnato, MD, MS, MPH, John E. Wennberg Distinguished Professor & Director of The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Dartmouth College
- Ann C. McKee, MD, William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor & Director of Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Center, Boston University
- Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH, Professor & Dean of School of Public Health, Brown University
- Bruce M. Biccard, MBChB, MMedSci, PhD, Professor and Second Chair, University of Cape Town & Nuffield Professor, Oxford University
- Dilan B. Ellegala, MD, Professor & Co-Director of Barrow Global, Barrow Neurological Institute
- Dixon Chibanda, MD, PhD, Founder of Friendship Bench & Professor, University of Zimbabwe and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
- Jon Fielder, MD, Co-Founder and Chief Executive, African Mission Healthcare
- M. Daniele Fallin, PhD, Professor & James W. Curran Dean of Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University
- Megan L. Ranney, MD, MPH, C.-E. A. Winslow Professor & Dean of School of Public Health, Yale University
- Rainu Kaushal, MD, MPH, Nanette Laitman Distinguished Professor & Senior Associate Dean of Clinical Research, Weill Cornell Medical College
- Richard Platt, MD, MSc, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute Distinguished Professor of Population Medicine & Director of Division of Therapeutics Research and Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Harvard University
- Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, Eugene S. and Constance Kahn Distinguished Professor & Margaret C. Ryan Dean of School of Public Health, Washington University in St. Louis
- Sheila Davis, MSN, DNP, Chief Executive Officer, Partners in Health
The full schedule is available from the UH HSRC website: https://weightlossreport.today/uh-research/for-researchers/health-services-research/speaker-series/distinguished-speaker-series%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Platform to Spotlight Transformative Voices Changing the Narrative of Healthcare Delivery
Programming for the Distinguished Speaker Series begins in early January with the curation of a series of focus areas, followed by the creation of a list of 60 leaders in health and medicine identified through screening of major news outlets, awardees and nominees for some of the most prestigious awards, recent National Academy of Medicine inductees, groundbreaking scientific publications and TIME Magazine's list of influential people. Thereafter, the UH HSRC team spends eight to 12 weeks reading their works and watching publicly available presentations to learn about their perspectives on pressing issues, pioneering research and emerging trends shaping the future of healthcare delivery, to narrow the list from 60 to 25 potential speakers.
“That's the most enjoyable part of the process because we get to hear about so many fascinating aspects of these leaders performing extraordinary work, looking far and wide for the world's most authoritative voices,” says Dr. Bora. “More specifically, the selection process is like completing a large jigsaw puzzle, as the entire show must fit together in terms of content, context, relevance to a diverse audience and schedule.”
Once the speakers are chosen, the programming team, which consists of six dedicated members, begins negotiating scheduling with the speakers, followed by the development of print and digital promotional materials and news releases. “All of this is happening as we close out the previous year's speaker series,” notes Dr. Bora. “We have a very tight schedule as we prepare to announce the whole speaker lineup in early June. It's hard to believe that it takes a village to get the show off the ground, but that's the case, and we have the best team.”