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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 Initiatives & Academic Support Units

In the News


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
Published November 6, 2024
Every Country Can Cut Premature Deaths by Half, Researchers Say

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Recent Publications


Barriers and facilitators to implementing comprehensive sex education in Texas public schools: A qualitative study.

Journal Article PloS one · January 2025 IntroductionIn Texas, the adolescent birth rate is higher than the national average and STIs have steadily increased over the last decade. Sex education is not mandated in Texas and the majority of public schools provide an abstinence-based sex ed ... Full text Cite

Correction: Barriers and facilitators to implementing comprehensive sex education in Texas public schools: A qualitative study.

Journal Article PloS one · January 2025 [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0316329.]. ... Full text Cite

Halving premature death and improving quality of life at all ages: cross-country analyses of past trends and future directions.

Journal Article Lancet (London, England) · December 2024 BackgroundAlthough death in old age is unavoidable, premature death-defined here as death before age 70 years-is not. To assess whether halving premature mortality by 2050 is feasible, we examined the large variation in premature death rates befor ... Full text Cite
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Recent Grants


Global Health 2050: Translating Analysis Into Policy

ResearchInvestigator · Awarded by New Venture Fund · 2024 - 2025

Lancet Commission on Investing in Health - CIH 3.0

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation · 2023 - 2025

Evidence generation for R&D ecosystem shifts

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation · 2023 - 2024

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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.