Stanford University

Global Health

African mother and child sharing a laugh
Global Health
Stanford Health Policy researchers tackle the world’s most urgent health challenges—from how nations deliver and finance care to how lifesaving technologies spread across borders. Their work spans global infectious threats, bioterrorism preparedness, racial and ethnic inequities in care, and strategies to expand access for disadvantaged communities worldwide.

Video: Global Health

Explore Stanford Health Policy’s global health research as it confronts everything from deadly pathogens to the public-health crises driven by a warming planet, war, and human exploitation. From protecting children in conflict zones to harnessing technology to improve population health, the goal is simple: to save and strengthen lives.

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2026 Rosenkranz Global Health Policy Symposium: Global Health at a Crossroads

Global health is undergoing a transformative shift. Development agencies such as USAID are being dismantled or pulling back, and growing isolationism is forcing a rethinking of global health partnerships, all in the shadow of the pandemic. The 5th annual Rosenkranz Global Health Policy Symposium began with a keynote featuring Secretary Condoleezza Rice in conversation with Drs. Eran Bendavid and Jennifer Kates, exploring the current landscape and future directions for global health, followed by a panel discussion among global health leaders.

VIDEO: A keynote conversation with Secretary Condoleezza Rice, the Tad and Dianne Taube Director of the Hoover Institution; Jennifer Kates, senior vice president and director of the Global and Public Health Policy Program at KFF; and moderator Eran Bendavid, professor of health and of health policy at Stanford Medicine.

There’s been a bit of an earthquake over the last year, so now with the pieces that fall in front of us, the question is how they get restructured.
Secretary Condoleezza Rice
The Tad and Dianne Taube Director of the Hoover Institution and 66th U.S. Secretary of State
Technological progress in health has probably been the single-most important factor in population health improvement around the world.
Grant Miller
Professor of Medicine

Video: Paul Wise

Paul Wise, the Richard E. Behrman Professor of Child Health and Society and professor of pediatrics and of health policy, talks about his work in global hotspots in an effort to protect children in conflict.

Paul Wise

Publication: Documenting Child Malnutrition in Gaza

Paul Wise, MD, writes in a new commentary in The Lancet that the world's political bodies have a moral obligation to urgently protect the starving children of Gaza: “It is now well established that the children of Gaza are starving and require immediate and sustained humanitarian assistance.”
Go To The Lancet Commentary

Publication: A Global Analysis of Within-Country Health Inequalities

SHP’s Eran Bendavid and Grant Miller examine how health inequalities in the United States compare with other countries, conducting a cross-sectional study using an index of health inequality across 181 countries and territories. Their study in JAMA Health Forum found that inequality in life expectancy at birth has been declining globally, as well as in the United States, since at least 1960. Despite this long-term decline, inequality in life expectancy has been improving less in the U.S. in comparison with other high-income countries—and in recent years it has even been rising in absolute terms in the United States. They determined that the largest contributor to inequality in life expectancy at birth is infant and child mortality.
Go To JAMA Health Forum Study

How Foreign Aid Sanctions Affect Global Health and Security

In this World Class Podcast, Ruth Gibson shares sobering new data with Michael McFaul about the adverse impact the cessation of foreign aid can have, especially on women and children.

Video: Sir Peter Piot

The world-renowned virologist who helped fight the global AIDS pandemic and discovered the Ebola virus, tells a Stanford audience that “serendipity” led him to a career hunting down deadly viruses—and encourages young scientists to embrace the unknown.

Sir Peter Piot

2024 Rosenkranz Symposium Keynote: Mark Dybul

The Honorable Mark Dybul, MD, talks about the great strides in international health systems over the last 25 years—but calls on next generation to disrupt a system that has become stagnant. Dybul worked on HIV and public health for more than 25 years as a clinician, scientist, teacher, and administrator. He helped create and led the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and was, most recently, the Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

2023 Rosenkranz Global Health Symposium Keynote: Sheila Tlou

2023 Rosenkranz Global Health Symposium Keynote: Sheila Tlou

Sheila Tlou, a nurse and chancellor of Botswana Open University, was the minister of health for Botswana at the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In her talk, she focuses on her personal experiences in translating and applying evidence-based decision-making to global health policy in the areas of gender, health, and HIV/AIDS.

The Dalai Lama

Piya Sorcar on meeting with the Dalai Lama: "He reminded me that service is a privilege, transforming a life’s path into one of meaning and contribution beyond the self. That reality filled me with a renewed sense of purpose and strength. He held my hand throughout our conversation, as if sensing the conflict within me. That simple gesture—his presence, his calmness—was profoundly healing."