Thomas J. Bossert is a senior lecturer and the director of the International Health Systems Program of the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. He has many years of experience in international health in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and Central and Eastern Europe. His specialties include health reform, decentralization, sustainability and implementation science, social capital, policy analysis, organizational and institutional analysis, human resources policy, public/private relations, community development and project design and evaluation.
Dr. Bossert’s innovative “decision space” approach to decentralization of health systems has appeared in many peer-reviewed journals, including Social Science and Medicine, Health Policy and Planning, WHO Bulletin, The Lancet and recently in an edited book on decentralization. Many other researchers are using his decision space approach. His pioneering work on sustainability of donor funded projects was published in Social Science and Medicine in 1990 and has influenced the field since. He also has directed a tool for WHO on strategic planning of human resources for health and other publications on the topic. He teaches courses, does research and evaluation, and provides technical assistance on health system reform, decentralization and human resources for Harvard, World Bank, USAID and other donors.
He is currently supporting the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health participation in the Biden/Harris Partnership for Central America.
Dr. Bossert earned his AB from the School of Public and International Affairs (formerly Woodrow Wilson School) at Princeton University and MA and PhD in political science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He is fluent in Spanish and has a working knowledge of French.
Publications
Bossert T. “Analyzing the Decentralization of Health Systems in Developing Countries: Decision Space, Innovation and Performance,” Social Science and Medicine, Vol. 47, No. 10 (November 1998) pp. 1513-1527.
Bossert, T. and Larrañaga O, Giedion U, Arbelaez J, and Bowser D. “Decentralization and Equity of Resource Allocation: Evidence from Colombia and Chile.” Bulletin of World Health Organization, 2003, 81 (2) pp. 95-100.
Bossert T. “Can They Get Along without Us? Sustainability of Donor-Supported Health Projects in Central America and Africa.” Social Science and Medicine 1990;30(9):1015-1023.
Bossert T., Bärnighausen T, Mitchell A. and Bowser D. Assessing Financing, Education and Management for Strategic Planning for Human Resources in Health. Geneva: World Health Organization 2007.
