Paul Farmer

Paul Farmer
Born	(1959-10-26) October 26, 1959 (age 52) North Adams, Massachusetts
Residence	Rwanda USA Cange, Haiti
Nationality	American
Fields	Internal Medicine Infectious Disease Medical Anthropology
Institutions	Harvard University
Alma mater	Duke University (BA) Harvard University (MD, PhD)
Notable awards	Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, MacArthur Foundation Genius Award

Paul Edward Farmer (born October 26, 1959) is an American anthropologist and physician. He is currently the Kolokotrones University Professor at Harvard University, formerly the Presley Professor of Medical Anthropology in the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, an attending physician and Chief of the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. In May 2009 he was named chairman of Harvard Medical School's Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, succeeding his longtime friend and collaborator Jim Kim. On Friday, December 17, 2010, Harvard University's President, Drew Gilpin Faust, and the President and Fellows of Harvard College, named him a Kolokotrones University Professor of Harvard University, the highest honor that the University can bestow on one of its faculty members.^[1]

He currently resides in Kigali, Rwanda. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Disease. Farmer is one of the founders of Partners In Health (PIH), an international health and social justice organization. His work is the subject of Tracy Kidder's 2003 book Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World. He is editor-in-chief of Health and Human Rights Journal. In May 2009, Farmer was named to head the U.S. Agency for International Development,^[2] but the nomination was withdrawn.^[3] In August 2009, Paul Farmer was named United Nations Deputy Special Envoy to Haiti to assist in improving the economic and social conditions of the Caribbean nation.^[4]

Personal life and education

Farmer was born in North Adams, Massachusetts and raised in Weeki Wachee, Florida. He is a graduate of Hernando High School in Brooksville, Florida and was president of his senior class.^[5] He went on to attend Duke University on a full scholarship, graduating summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in medical anthropology.^[5][6] He then attended Harvard University, earning an MD and a PhD in medical anthropology.^[6]

He and his wife Didi have two daughters, Catherine and Elizabeth, and one son, Sebastian. He currently lives in Kigali, Rwanda with his family.^[7] His younger brother, Jeff Farmer, also known as the nWo Sting, is a well-known athlete, competing on the professional wrestling circuit.^[8]

International work

In 1987, Farmer, along with Ophelia Dahl, Jim Yong Kim, Thomas J. White and Todd McCormack, co-founded Partners In Health. PIH began in Cange in the Central Plateau of Haiti and has developed into a worldwide health organization. The PIH hospital in Haiti provides free treatment to patients. PIH helps patients living in poverty to obtain effective drugs to treat tuberculosis and AIDS.

In addition to his hospital in Haiti, Farmer oversees projects in Russia, Rwanda, Lesotho, Malawi and Peru. His approach has its basis in ethnographic analysis and real world practicality.^[9]

Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder details Farmer's work in Haiti, Peru, and Russia, as well as his efforts to balance clinical and academic responsibilities with having a family of his own. The book narrates the interactions and conflicts Farmer faces as he attempts to secure healthcare for the poor in Haiti.

Paul Farmer sits on the board of the Aristide Foundation for democracy and is a co-founder and Board Member of the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti.^[10] He is also a member of the Advisory Board of Incentives for Global Health, the NGO focused on developing the Health Impact Fund.^{[citation needed]}

Farmer was appointed as the Deputy UN Special Envoy for Haiti, by former US President Bill Clinton, UN Special Envoy for Haiti, on August 11, 2009.^{[citation needed]} In this role, Dr. Farmer will support Clinton and assist in advancing their work on a day-to-day basis.^{[citation needed]}

Farmer is a board member of Kageno Worldwide, Inc., a community development agency that has worked in Kenya and Rwanda.

Awards

Farmer has won honors including:^[11]

• A MacArthur Fellowship, 1993^[12]
• The 9th Annual Heinz Award in the Human Condition, 2003^[13]
• Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize for Partners in Health ($1.5 million), 2005^{[citation needed]}
• International Human Rights Award by Global Exchange.^[14]
• American Medical Association's Dr. Nathan Davis International Award in Medicine^{[citation needed]}
• 2007 Austin College Leadership Award ($100,000), which he donated to Partners in Health.^{[citation needed]}
• 2007 Sandor Teszler Award for Moral Courage and Service to Mankind and an honorary doctorate from Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC.^[15]
• Member of the Institute of Medicine of The National Academies (U.S.).
• 2008 Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award presented to Farmer and Partners in Health.^{[citation needed]}
• 2011, named by Foreign Policy magazine to its list of top global thinkers. ^[16]

Publications

• AIDS and Accusation: Haiti and the Geography of Blame, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992, 1993, 2006 edition: ISBN 978-0-520-08343-1
• The Uses of Haiti, Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press, 1994, 2003, 2005 edition: ISBN 978-1-56751-242-7
• ¿Haití para qué?, Hondarribia, Spain: HIRU Argitaletxea, 1994
• Sida en Haїti: La Victime accusée, Paris: Editions Karthala, 1996
• Infections and Inequalities: The Modern Plagues, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999, revised 2001 edition: ISBN 978-0-520-22913-6
• Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003, 2005 edition: ISBN 978-0-520-24326-2
• Global Health in Times of Violence, co-edited with Barbara Rylko-Bauer and Linda Whiteford, School for Advanced Research Press, 2009 edition: ISBN 978-1-934691-14-4
• Women, Poverty & AIDS: Sex, Drugs and Structural Violence (Series in Health and Social Justice), with coauthor Margaret Connors, Common Courage Press; Reprint edition (September 1996), ISBN 978-1-56751-074-4
• "Who removed Aristide?", London Review of Books, ISSN 0260-9592, April 15, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-11-19.
• Haiti After the Earthquake, Public Affairs July 12, 2011 ISBN 978-1-58648-973-1

References

Bibliography

• "Faculty: Paul Farmer, MD, PhD". Department of Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School. http://ghsm.hms.harvard.edu/people/faculty/farmer/. Retrieved 2006-12-16. 
• "About Paul Farmer". Social Medicine & Health Inequalities. Brigham and Women's Hospital. August 2003. http://www.brighamandwomens.org/socialmedicine/aboutfarmer.aspx. Retrieved 2007-07-01. 
• Kidder, Tracy (2003). Mountains Beyond Mountains. New York: Random House Publishing Group. pp. 1–300. ISBN 0-8129-7301-1. http://books.google.com/?id=XifdzgU9ilsC&pg=PP1. Retrieved 2011-03-17. 

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Paul Farmer

• Partners In Health
• Dr. Paul Farmer Challenges Profit-Driven Medical System While Bringing Healthcare to Poor Communities Worldwide, Democracy Now, May 28, 2008. Interview with Amy Goodman. Transcript, audio and video.
• Video of Building a Community-based Health Care Movement, Dr. Paul Farmer's speech at University of Washington, by UWTV, November 13, 2006
• Video of Paul Farmer and Tracy Kidder presenting the book Mountains Beyond Mountains, by Cambridge Community Television, October 20, 2006
• Video of Reinvigorating the Struggle: A Clinical and Social Justice Perspective on International Health, Dr. Paul Farmer's speech at the University of Virginia, by UVA NewsMakers, (RealPlayer required)
• Audio reading of a book about Farmer's work in Haiti, by NPR
• Audio of Speech by Farmer as part of the 2006 Calvin College January series
• Audio of Speech by Farmer as part of the 2005 Calvin College January series
• Audio of Interview of Farmer rebroadcast by WBUR Boston
• Audio of 10/03/2003 episode of "On Point" which includes an interview of Farmer
• Audio of a talk at MIT where Farmer and Noam Chomsky speak about Haiti and Farmer's book "The Uses of Haiti" – the link is near the bottom of the page.
• Featured in the documentary "Aristide and the Endless Revolution" by Nicolas Rossier
• Video Featured in the documentary Pin of Hope, currently in production^[when?]
• Dr. Paul Farmer on Haiti’s Challenges Following Catastrophic Earthquake – video report by Democracy Now!