--- title: Paul E. Farmer Symposium description: Join the 2026 Paul E. Farmer Symposium on Global Health Equity, exploring how social justice movements can confront inequities in global health systems. image: https://act.pih.org/hubfs/PFS26_Social-Share_1080x1080%20(1).jpg --- [Skip to content](https://act.pih.org/symposium#main-content) [![Partners in Health](https://act.pih.org/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Partners%20in%20Health/images/logos/PIH_Logo_Primary--Orange.png)](https://pih.org/) Injustice has a cure [Donate Now](https://act.pih.org/?form=donate&hsLang=en) ![PFS26\_Web-Banner\_3000x1500 (1)](https://act.pih.org/hs-fs/hubfs/PFS26_Web-Banner_3000x1500%20(1).jpg?width=2000&height=1000&name=PFS26_Web-Banner_3000x1500%20(1).jpg "PFS26_Web-Banner_3000x1500 (1)") Date: Tuesday, November 17, 2026 Time: 1:30 - 4:30 p.m. ET; Reception to follow Location: The Joseph B. Martin Conference Center, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA Health inequities are not accidental—they are the result of historical injustice, structural inequality, and political choices about whose lives are valued. Dr. Paul E. Farmer devoted his life to confronting these injustices and demonstrating that health care is a fundamental human right.  The 2026 Paul E. Farmer Symposium on Global Health Equity will explore the deep connections between social justice and health equity, examining how systems of inequality shape who becomes ill, who receives care, and whose suffering is ignored.  Through a keynote address and two dynamic panel discussions, this year’s symposium will examine how movements for justice—across health, law, policy, and community organizing—can confront structural inequities and build a more just and humane global health system.  ## Waitlist Please submit your information below to join the in-person waitlist. To register for the livestream, please visit this link: [act.pih.org/symposium-livestream](https://act.pih.org/symposium-livestream?hsLang=en) ## Schedule 1:00 p.m. Doors Open 1:30 p.m.  Welcome 1:45 p.m.  Panel: Structural Drivers of Health Disparities 2:35 p.m.  Panel: Justice, Solidarity, and Social Movements for Health 3:30 p.m.  Keynote delivered by Bryan Stevenson  4:30 p.m.  Reception *\* Times subject to change* ## Program **Panel 1: Structural Drivers of Health Disparities**   Health disparities persist across the world—not because solutions do not exist, but because systems of inequality shape who has access to care and resources. From racial injustice and economic inequality to colonial legacies and discriminatory policies, structural forces determine health outcomes long before patients enter a clinic.  This panel will examine the root causes of health inequities and highlight how clinicians, researchers, and community leaders are working to dismantle these barriers. Panelists will discuss how confronting structural injustice is essential to building health systems that deliver dignity, equity, and care for all.    Moderator: Dr. David Jones Panelists: Dr. Joseph Gone, Dr. Bisola Ojikutu, Mathemba Radebe **Panel 2: Justice, Solidarity, and Social Movements for Health**    Health equity has never been achieved through medicine alone. Throughout history, transformative health gains have been driven by movements for justice led by communities, advocates, lawyers, and organizers demanding dignity, accountability, and systemic change.  This panel will explore how movements for social justice, from civil rights to global health activism, have reshaped public health and expanded access to care. Panelists will discuss how solidarity across sectors—including law, policy, medicine, and community organizing—can confront injustice and create the political will needed to build equitable health systems. The conversation will also reflect on how achieving health equity requires not only technical solutions, but moral imagination and sustained commitment to justice.    Moderator: Dr. Gene Bukhman Panelists: Dr. Mary T. Bassett, Dr. Marshall Ganz, Dr. Gregg Gonsalves, Dr. Joia Mukherjee **Keynote Address: Bryan Stevenson *Founder and Executive Director, Equal Justice Initiative; Author of Just Mercy; Aronson Family Professor of Criminal Justice, New York University School of Law***   Bryan Stevenson is one of the world’s most influential voices on justice, human dignity, and structural inequality. In his keynote address, Stevenson will remind us that social justice is not an abstract ideal, but a practiced commitment rooted in proximity, sustained by hope and enacted through continually challenging what the world has come to accept. Drawing on his decades of work confronting injustice in the U.S. legal system, Stevenson will challenge the audience to consider what it truly means to build societies where dignity, equity, and care are universal values.    ## Speakers **![Headshots for Symposium\_Mary Bassett](https://act.pih.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Headshots%20for%20Symposium_Mary%20Bassett.png?width=157&height=157&name=Headshots%20for%20Symposium_Mary%20Bassett.png)Dr. Mary T. Bassett Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health** Mary T. Bassett is the Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. With more than 30 years of experience in public health, Dr. Bassett has dedicated her career to advancing health equity. She previously directed the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights and served for four years as commissioner of health for New York City, working to ensure the health of all its residents and close gaps in population health across the city. **![Headshots for Symposium\_Gene Bukhman](https://act.pih.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Headshots%20for%20Symposium_Gene%20Bukhman.png?width=157&height=157&name=Headshots%20for%20Symposium_Gene%20Bukhman.png)Dr. Gene Bukhman Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Director, Center for Integration Science in Global Health Equity, Mass General Brigham; Co-chair, NCDI Poverty Network** Gene Bukhman is a cardiologist and cultural anthropologist who directs the Center for Integration Science at Mass General Brigham. He is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He led the 2015-20 Lancet Commission on Reframing Noncommunicable Diseases for the Poorest Billion. He now co-chairs the 29-country NCDI Poverty Network designed to implement the Commission's recommendations. He believes that integrated delivery models powered by integrated social movements can lead to greater health equity. **![Headshots for Symposium\_Marshall Ganz-1](https://act.pih.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Headshots%20for%20Symposium_Marshall%20Ganz-1.png?width=157&height=157&name=Headshots%20for%20Symposium_Marshall%20Ganz-1.png)** **Dr. Marshall Ganz Rita E. Hauser Senior Lecturer in Leadership, Organizing, and Civil Society, Center for Public Leadership, Harvard Kennedy School** Marshall Ganz is the Rita E. Hauser Senior Lecturer in Leadership, Organizing, and Civil Society at Harvard Kennedy School. He teaches, researches, and writes on leadership, narrative, strategy, and organization in social movements, civic associations, and politics. Raised in Bakersfield, California, he left Harvard College to volunteer with the 1964 Mississippi Summer Project and later organized California farm workers for 16 years with the United Farm Workers. He is the author of *Why David Sometimes Wins* and *People, Power, Change: Organizing for Democratic Renewal*. **![Headshots for Symposium\_Joseph Gone](https://act.pih.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Headshots%20for%20Symposium_Joseph%20Gone.png?width=160&height=160&name=Headshots%20for%20Symposium_Joseph%20Gone.png)Dr. Joseph Gone Professor of Anthropology and of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard University; Faculty Director, Harvard University Native American Program** An international expert in the psychology and mental health of American Indians and other Indigenous Peoples, Joseph P. Gone, Ph.D., has collaborated with tribal communities for over 30 years to harness traditional culture and spirituality for advancing Indigenous well-being. As a clinical-community psychologist, he has published 130 scientific articles and received recognition in his fields through more than 25 fellowships and career awards. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. **![Headshots for Symposium\_Gregg Gonsalves](https://act.pih.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Headshots%20for%20Symposium_Gregg%20Gonsalves.png?width=157&height=157&name=Headshots%20for%20Symposium_Gregg%20Gonsalves.png)Dr. Gregg Gonsalves Professor of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases), Yale School of Public Health; Associate Professor of Law (adjunct), Yale Law School** Gregg Gonsalves is a Professor of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases) at the Yale School of Public Health and an Associate Professor of Law (adjunct) at the Yale Law School. He has a long history of AIDS and global health activism spanning over 35 years, first in New York, with organizations including the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power and with the AIDS and Rights Alliance of Southern Africa in Cape Town. He is a 2018 MacArthur Foundation Fellow. **![Headshots for Hubspot\_David Jones](https://act.pih.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Headshots%20for%20Hubspot_David%20Jones.png?width=157&height=157&name=Headshots%20for%20Hubspot_David%20Jones.png)Dr. David Jones  A. Bernard Ackerman Professor of the Culture of Medicine, Harvard University; Chair, Chair, Department of the History of Science, Harvard University** Trained in psychiatry and history of science, David Jones teaches history of medicine, medical ethics, and social medicine at Harvard University. His research has ranged from the history of epidemics to heart disease, cardiac therapeutics, race, air pollution, and the health effects of the climate crisis. His teaching at Harvard College and Harvard Medical School explores the history of medicine, medical ethics, and social medicine. **![Headshots for Hubspot-2](https://act.pih.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Headshots%20for%20Hubspot-2.png?width=157&height=157&name=Headshots%20for%20Hubspot-2.png)Dr. Joia Mukherjee Director of Global Health Delivery and Advisory Dean, Harvard Medical School; Associate Professor, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Senior Academic and Clinical Advisor, Partners In Health** Dr. Joia Mukherjee is an infectious disease physician, internist, pediatrician, public health specialist, and human rights advocate. At Harvard Medical School, she directs the master’s program in Global Health Delivery and is director and advisory dean of the F.W. Peabody Society. She is senior academic and clinical advisor at Partners In Health, where she served as chief medical officer for 25 years, and author of *An Introduction to Global Health Delivery: Practice, Equity, Human Rights*. **![Headshots for Symposium\_Bisola Ojikutu-1](https://act.pih.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Headshots%20for%20Symposium_Bisola%20Ojikutu-1.png?width=157&height=157&name=Headshots%20for%20Symposium_Bisola%20Ojikutu-1.png)Dr. Bisola Ojikutu Commissioner of Public Health, City of Boston; Executive Director, Boston Public Health Commission**  Bisola Ojikutu, MD, MPH, is Commissioner of Public Health for the City of Boston and Executive Director of the Boston Public Health Commission, advising the Mayor on residents’ health and well-being. A physician and infectious disease expert, she leads with a focus on health equity and addressing racism as a public health crisis. She is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, a faculty member at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and a practicing clinician at Massachusetts General Hospital. She is a Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and a recipient of the Massachusetts Public Health Association’s Catalyst for Justice Award. **![Headshots for Symposium\_Mathemba Radebe](https://act.pih.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Headshots%20for%20Symposium_Mathemba%20Radebe.png?width=157&height=157&name=Headshots%20for%20Symposium_Mathemba%20Radebe.png)Mathemba Radebe Executive Director, Partners In Health Lesotho**  Mathemba Radebe (Retsepile Tlali) is the Executive Director of Partners In Health Lesotho, overseeing vision execution, organizational growth, and operational excellence. A seasoned pharmacist and global health leader with over 15 years of experience, she champions equity through inclusive and evidence‑based healthcare. She holds master’s degrees in Global Health Delivery (UGHE, Rwanda) and Pharmacy Practice (North‑West University, South Africa) and serves on the OnePIH Leadership Council.  **![Headshots for Symposium\_Bryan Stevenson](https://act.pih.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Headshots%20for%20Symposium_Bryan%20Stevenson.png?width=157&height=157&name=Headshots%20for%20Symposium_Bryan%20Stevenson.png)Bryan Stevenson Founder and Executive Director, Equal Justice Initiative; Author of *Just Mercy*; Aronson Family Professor of Criminal Justice, New York University School of Law** Bryan Stevenson is a widely acclaimed public interest lawyer and author who has dedicated his career to helping the poor, the incarcerated, and the condemned. He is the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama. Under his leadership, EJI has won major legal challenges eliminating excessive and unfair sentencing, exonerating innocent death row prisoners, confronting abuse of the incarcerated and the mentally ill, and aiding children prosecuted as adults. ## Hosted By The Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, the Harvard Global Health Institute, the Mass General Brigham Division of Global Health Equity, and Partners In Health ![symposium-hosts](https://act.pih.org/hs-fs/hubfs/symposium-hosts.png?width=2000&height=452&name=symposium-hosts.png "symposium-hosts") For questions or accommodation requests, please email [symposium@pih.org](mailto:symposium@pih.org) ![Logo](https://act.pih.org/hs-fs/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Partners%20in%20Health/images/logos/PIH_Logo_Primary--Orange.png?width=180&height=54&name=PIH_Logo_Primary--Orange.png) 800 Boylston Street, Suite 300 Boston, MA 02199 1-857-880-5100 [info@pih.org](mailto:info@pih.org) Please send donations to: Partners In Health PO Box 996 Frederick, MD 21705-0996 ###### About Us - [Annual Reports](https://www.pih.org/annual-report) - [Financials](https://www.pih.org/annual-report) - [Our Approach](https://www.pih.org/our-approach) - [Our Impact](https://www.pih.org/our-impact) - [Our Sites](https://www.pih.org/countries) ###### Take Action - [Donate to PIH®](https://www.pih.org/donate) - [Legacy Giving](https://legacy.pih.org/) - [Advocate](https://www.pih.org/advocate) - [Events](https://www.pih.org/pih-webinars) - [PIH Canada](https://pihcanada.org/) ###### Explore - [News & Stories](https://www.pih.org/news) - [Press Releases](https://www.pih.org/press) - [Careers](https://www.pih.org/employment) - [FAQs](https://www.pih.org/faqs) ###### Information - [Contact Us](https://www.pih.org/contact) - [Legal](https://www.pih.org/legal) - [Cookie Policy](https://www.pih.org/cookie-policy) - [Report Misconduct](https://secure.ethicspoint.com/domain/media/en/gui/83583/index.html) ### Stay Connected © 2009–2026 Partners In Health. 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