Dr. Laurel Hatt is a senior program director for Results for Development. She brings over 20 years of professional experience in health economics and financing, health systems strengthening, and evaluation research. Currently, she leads R4D’s Sustainable and Equitable Health Financing practice, facilitating technical assistance around the globe to promote strategic health purchasing, improved financial protection, effective primary health care (PHC) financing, and the use of financing analytics for decision-making.
Dr. Hatt served as Technical Director for the USAID Health Systems Strengthening Accelerator, a global initiative to improve how health systems strengthening is done locally and globally. She led R4D’s portfolio in Indonesia through the USAID-funded Indonesia Health Financing Activity, the TB Private Sector program, and the Health Finance and Governance project. Previously, Dr. Hatt was R4D’s senior director for the Primary Health Care Performance Initiative (PHCPI), a Gates-funded partnership that catalyzed and accelerated PHC improvements through better measurement, knowledge-sharing, and advocacy. Dr. Hatt has provided technical leadership and rigorous quality assurance to multiple health financing programs, including within the global USAID Medicines, Technologies and Pharmaceutical Services (MTAPS) program, the global USAID Local Health Systems Sustainability (LHSS) program, the Ethiopia Health Financing Improvement Program (HFIP), and the Gates-funded Strategic Purchasing Africa Resource Center (SPARC).
Before joining R4D, she was health finance lead for the $200 million USAID-funded Health Finance and Governance (HFG) project at Abt Associates. Dr. Hatt authored the 2015 seminal review of the Impact of Health Systems Strengthening on Health and convened an expert review process to estimate the effects of health systems strategies where evidence is still minimal. Previously, Dr. Hatt evaluated health finance programs in Nigeria, Ghana, Nicaragua, Bangladesh and Mali using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Her doctoral dissertation research analyzed risk factors for catastrophic health expenditures in Peru and measured their long-term effects on families.
Dr. Hatt has a PhD in international health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, an MPH from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health and a BA in politics from Oberlin College.
