Partners In Health announced that its founder, Paul Farmer, MD, PhD, unexpectedly passed away on February 21 in Rwanda from an acute cardiac event. He was 62 years old.
Dr. Farmer was the Kolokotrones University Professor and Chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Chief of the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and Co-Founder and Chief Strategist of Partners In Health.
Paul Farmer, MD, PhD
Dr. Farmer and his colleagues pioneered novel, community-based treatment strategies that demonstrated the delivery of high-quality health care in resource-poor settings. He wrote extensively on health, human rights, and the consequences of social inequality. Dr. Farmer was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, from which he was the recipient of the 2018 Public Welfare Medal.
He authored multiple books, including In the Company of the Poor: Conversations with Dr. Paul Farmer and Fr. Gustavo Gutiérrez; Reimagining Global Health: An Introduction; and To Repair the World: Paul Farmer Speaks to the Next Generation. His most recent book was released in November 2020: Fevers, Feuds, and Diamonds: Ebola and the Ravages of History.
He is survived by his wife, Didi Bertrand Farmer, and their three children.
