John N. Lavis

John Lavis is relied on by governments and stakeholders in many countries to organize and evaluate dialogues that bring together stakeholders to work through a health challenge, options for addressing it, and implementation considerations. His principal research interests include knowledge transfer and exchange in public policymaking environments and the politics of health systems. He led the creation and oversees the continuous updating of Health Systems Evidence (www.healthsystemsevidence.org), the world’s most comprehensive, free access point for high-quality evidence about how to strengthen or reform health systems, or how to get cost-effective programs, services and drugs to those who need them. He teaches a week-long module on ‘Promoting the use of research-based evidence in healthcare organizations’ for Canada’s Executive Training for Research Application (EXTRA) program and runs one-day and two-day workshops on using research evidence for governments and international agencies. He is Co-Chair of the World Health Organization (WHO)-sponsored Evidence-Informed Policy Network (EVIPNet) Global Steering Group, President of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Advisory Committee on Health Research, and a member of the WHO Advisory Committee on Health Research.

He holds an MD from Queen's University, an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics, and a PhD from Harvard University.