Executive Director, Center for Global Health, Massachusetts General Hospital
For two decades, Louise Ivers has translated her clinical expertise into public health programs that have improved the lives of some of the poorest patients in the world—people with HIV, tuberculosis, and neglected tropical diseases, among other conditions. Dr. Ivers has been leading public health efforts in rural Haiti for more than 15 years, conducting groundbreaking research in clinical HIV medicine and building an HIV treatment and prevention program with the nonprofit Partners In Health that now serves more than 15,000 patients. She is also director of a major public health program to provide treatment for and eliminate transmission of cholera. In addition, she led a major humanitarian and public health response to the devastating 2010 earthquake, which she herself survived; conducted innovative work on the links between food insecurity and treatment outcomes among those living with chronic infectious disease; and responded to Zika virus and diphtheria outbreaks—all of which have contributed substantially to building the Haitian health system. The impact of her work spreads far beyond Haiti. Dr. Ivers is a leader who bridges the gap between research and policy, leveraging her field epidemiology work to inform institutional public health guidelines at local, national, and international levels. A role model and a mentor, she has devoted her career to raising the standard of care for some of the poorest and sickest people in the Western Hemisphere. She has conducted much of her work in the face of adversity—political unrest, complex humanitarian disasters, and, in the context of Haiti, a country in extreme poverty. Her immense contributions to global public health and clinical medicine have earned her numerous honors and awards. Through her public health leadership, Louise Ivers has improved the lives of millions of people and has had a profound influence on global public health policy.