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Gavin Mark Yamey

Hymowitz Family Professor of the Practice in Global Health
Duke Global Health Institute

Overview


Gavin Yamey, MD, MPH, trained in clinical medicine at Oxford University and University College London, medical journalism and editing at the BMJ and public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He was Deputy Editor of the Western Journal of Medicine, Assistant Editor at the BMJ, a founding Senior Editor of PLOS Medicine, and the Principal Investigator on a $1.1 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support the launch of PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. In 2009, he was awarded a Kaiser Family Mini-Media Fellowship in Global Health Reporting to examine the barriers to scaling up low cost, low tech health tools in Sudan, Uganda and Kenya.

Dr. Yamey serves on two international health commissions, the Lancet Commission on Investing in Health and the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery. He has been an External Advisor to the WHO and to TDR, the Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases. Dr. Yamey has published extensively on global health, neglected diseases, health policy, and disparities in health and has been a frequent commentator on National Public Radio.

Before joining Duke, Dr. Yamey led the Evidence-to-Policy Initiative in the Global Health Group at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and was an Associate Professor of Epidemiology & Biostatics at the UCSF School of Medicine.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Hymowitz Family Professor of the Practice in Global Health · 2022 - Present Duke Global Health Institute, University Institutes and Centers
Professor of the Practice of Global Health · 2015 - Present Duke Global Health Institute, University Institutes and Centers
Professor of the Practice in the Sanford School of Public Policy · 2015 - Present Sanford School of Public Policy
Associate of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society · 2017 - Present Duke Science & Society, University Initiatives & Academic Support Units
Affiliate of the Duke Center for International Development · 2023 - Present Duke Center for International Development, Sanford School of Public Policy
Core Faculty Member, Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy · 2024 - Present Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy, University Institutes and Centers

In the News


Published October 13, 2025
Intersecting Perspectives
Published February 24, 2025
How a Club of Countries Can Help Prevent a Pandemic
Published February 10, 2025
Global Health Experts Discuss Impact of US Foreign Aid Freeze

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Recent Publications


How can middle-income countries successfully transition away from international health aid?

Journal Article PLoS medicine · November 2025 Recent research has examined factors contributing to the successful transition of middle-income countries away from international health aid. Three factors are especially important: effective leadership, using domestic resources to close the financing gap ... Full text Cite

Vaccine value profile for schistosomiasis.

Journal Article Vaccine · October 2025 Schistosomiasis is caused by parasitic flatworms (Schistosoma). The disease in humans can be caused by seven different species of Schistosoma: S. mansoni, S. japonicum, S. haematobium, S. malayensis, S. mekongi, S. guineensis and S. intercalatum, as well a ... Full text Cite
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Recent Grants


Can we achieve a 50% reduction in global under-five mortality by 2050?

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation · 2025 - 2026

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Education, Training & Certifications


London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (United Kingdom) · 2010 M.P.H.
University College London (United Kingdom) · 1994 M.B.B.S.