Paul Farmer

Infobox_Scientist
name = Paul Farmer


image_width =
caption =
birth_date = birth date and age|1959|10|26
birth_place = North Adams, Massachusetts
death_date =
death_place =
residence = Rwanda
USA
nationality = American
field = Medical Anthropology
work_institution = Harvard University
alma_mater = Duke University
prizes = Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, MacArthur Foundation Genius Award
religion = Roman Catholic
footnotes =

Paul Farmer (born October 26, 1959) is an American anthropologist and physician, the Presley Professor of Medical Anthropology in the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard University and an attending physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He currently resides in Cambridge, MA. His medical specialty is infectious diseases. Farmer is one of the founders of Partners In Health (PIH), an international health and social justice organization. His work is the subject of Tracy Kidder's 2003 book "".

Education

Based on a recommendation from a high school teacher, Paul Farmer pursued his undergraduate studies at Duke University, graduating in 1982 with a Bachelor's Degree in anthropology. He received his MD from Harvard Medical School and his Ph.D in medical anthropology in 1990 from Harvard University.cite web|accessdate=2007-07-01
url=http://www.jayweisscenter.org/x64.xml
title=Paul Farmer, MD, PhD
publisher=The Jay Weiss Center for Social Medicine and Health Equity, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine]

International work

In 1987, Farmer, along with Ophelia Dahl, Jim Yong Kim, Thomas J. White and Todd McCormack, co-founded Partners In Health. PIH began in Cange in the Central Plateau Of Haiti and has developed into a worldwide health organization. The PIH hospital in Haiti provides free treatment to patients. PIH helps patients living in poverty to obtain effective drugs to treat tuberculosis and AIDS.

In addition to his hospital in Haiti, Farmer oversees projects in Russia, Rwanda, Lesotho, Malawi and Peru. His approach has its basis in ethnographic analysis and real world practicality.

"Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World" by Tracy Kidder details Farmer's work in Haiti, Peru, and Russia, as well as his efforts to balance clinical and academic responsibilities with having a family of his own. The book narrates the interactions and conflicts Farmer faces as he attempts to secure healthcare for the poor in third world countries.

Dr. Farmer is a co-founder and Board Member of the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti [http://www.ijdh.org/board.htm]

Honors

Farmer has won multiple honors including:cite news|accessdate=2007-07-01
url=http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/blog/2007/02/paul_farmer_win_1.html
date=February 28, 2007
title=Paul Farmer wins $100,000 Austin College award
work=White Coat Notes
publisher=Boston.com]
* A "genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation (1993)
* Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize ($1.5 million),
* American Medical Association's International Physician Award
* 2007 Austin College Leadership Award ($100,000), which he will donate to Partners in Health.

In 2004, Farmer delivered the Lewis Henry Morgan Lecture at the University of Rochester, considered by many to be the most important annual lecture series in the field of Anthropology. [http://www.thecrimson.com/printerfriendly.aspx?ref=524051]

Farmer received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Emory University on May 14, 2007, where he delivered the keynote address for the university's 162nd commencement ceremony.cite web|url=http://www.emory.edu/COMMENCEMENT/hdks.html
title= Commencement Speaker and Recipients of Honorary Degrees
work=Commencement 2007
publisher=Emory University
accessdate=2007-04-09]

He also received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Notre Dame on May 20, 2007, where he also was a speaker at the Notre Dame forum in September 2006.cite web|url=http://newsinfo.nd.edu/content.cfm?topicid=21967
title=Nine distinguished figures to join Immelt as honorary degree recipients
author=Brown, Dennis
date=April 2, 2007
publisher=University of Notre Dame
accessdate=2007-05-29] cite web
url=http://newsinfo.nd.edu/content.cfm?topicid=18922
title=Jeffrey Sachs, Paul Farmer to participate in Notre Dame Forum on global health crisis
author=Brown, Dennis|date=August 31, 2006
publisher=University of Notre Dame
accessdate=2007-05-29]

Dr. Paul Farmer was the invited keynote speaker for the 57th Annual Convention of the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) held in Washington DC. (March 2007)

He was the guest speaker for the first Jonathan Mann Health and Human Rights Memorial Lecture, sponsored by the Drexel University School of Public Health, held on the 20th of November, 2007.

On May 4th, 2008, CBS 60 Minutes did a segment on Dr. Farmer and Partners in Health.

In 2008, he was named a "Social Entrepreneur of the Year" by the Skoll Foundation (www.skollfoundation.org).

Publications

* "AIDS and Accusation: Haiti and the Geography of Blame", Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992, 1993, 2006 edition: ISBN 978-0-520-08343-1
* "The Uses of Haiti", Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press, 1994, 2003, 2005 edition: ISBN 978-1-56751-242-7
* "¿Haití para qué?", Hondarribia, Spain: HIRU Argitaletxea, 1994
* "Sida en Haїti: La Victime accusée", Paris: Editions Karthala, 1996
* "Infections and Inequalities: The Modern Plagues", Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999, revised 2001 edition: ISBN 978-0-520-22913-6
* "Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor", Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003, 2005 edition: ISBN 978-0-520-24326-2
* "Women, Poverty & AIDS: Sex, Drugs and Structural Violence (Series in Health and Social Justice)", with coauthor Margaret Connors, Common Courage Press; Reprint edition (September 1996), ISBN 978-1-56751-074-4
* [http://www.lrb.co.uk/v26/n08/farm01_.html Who removed Aristide?] , London Review of Books, ISSN 0260-9592, April 15 2004. Retrieved on 2007-11-19.

Personal

Farmer was born in North Adams, Massachusetts and raised in Weeki Wachee, Florida. He and his wife Didi have two daughters, Catherine and Elizabeth, and one son, Sebastian.cite web
url= http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/articles/2008/04/13/in_rwanda_visionary_doctor_is_moving_mountains_again/?page=2
title= In Rwanda, visionary doctor is moving mountains again
author= English, Bella
date=April 13, 2008
work=The Boston Globe
accessdate=2008-04-13] His younger brother, Jeff Farmer, also known as the nWo Sting, is a well known athlete, competing on the professional wrestling circuit.cite web
accessdate=2007-05-29
author=Remnick, David
title=The Wanderer: Bill Clinton’s quest to save the world, reclaim his legacy—and elect his wife
work=The New Yorker |date=September 18, 2006
url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/09/18/060918fa_fact1?currentPage=all]

Notes

References

* cite web|url=http://www.hms.harvard.edu/dsm/WorkFiles/html/people/faculty/PaulFarmer.html
title= Faculty: Paul Farmer, MD, PhD
publisher=Department of Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School
accessdate=2006-12-16
* cite web|accessdate=2007-07-01
url=http://www.brighamandwomens.org/socialmedicine/aboutfarmer.aspx
title=About Paul Farmer
work=Social Medicine & Health Inequalities
publisher=Brigham and Women's Hospital
month=August | year=2003
*

External links

* [http://www.democracynow.org/2008/5/28/dr_paul_farmer_challenges_profit_driven Dr. Paul Farmer Challenges Profit-Driven Medical System While Bringing Healthcare to Poor Communities Worldwide,] Democracy Now, May 28, 2008. Interview with Amy Goodman. Transcript, audio and video.
* [http://www.pih.org/index.html Partners In Health]
* [http://www.uwtv.org/programs/displayevent.aspx?rID=9142 Video] of Building a Community-based Health Care Movement, Dr. Paul Farmer's speech at University of Washington, by [http://www.uwtv.org/ UWTV] , November 13, 2006
* [http://www.cctvcambridge.org/node/752 Video] of Paul Farmer and Tracy Kidder presenting the book "Mountains Beyond Mountains", by [http://www.cctvcambridge.org/ Cambridge Community Television] , October 20, 2006
* [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-klempner/a-conversation-with-tracy_b_91799.html/ A Conversation with Tracy Kidder about "Mountains Beyond Mountains"] by Mark Klempner, 2008.
* [http://www.virginia.edu/uvanewsmakers/video/farmer.ram Video] of Reinvigorating the Struggle: A Clinical and Social Justice Perspective on International Health, Dr. Paul Farmer's speech at the University of Virginia, by [http://www.virginia.edu/uvanewsmakers/ UVA NewsMakers] , (RealPlayer required)
* [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1472188 Audio] reading of a book about Farmer's work in Haiti, by [http://www.npr.org/ NPR]
* [http://www.calvin.edu/january/2006/farmer.htm Audio] of Speech by Farmer as part of the 2006 Calvin College January series
* [http://www.calvin.edu/january/2005/farmer.htm Audio] of Speech by Farmer as part of the 2005 Calvin College January series
* [http://www.theconnection.org/shows/2005/07/20050725_a_main.asp Audio] of Interview of Farmer rebroadcast by WBUR Boston
* [http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2003/10/20031003_a_main.asp Audio] of 10/03/2003 episode of "On Point" which includes an interview of Farmer
* [http://web.mit.edu/hemisphere/events/haiti.shtml Audio] of a talk at MIT where Farmer and Noam Chomsky speak about Haiti and Farmer's book "The Uses of Haiti" - the link is near the bottom of the page.
*Featured in the documentary "Aristide and the Endless Revolution" by Nicolas Rossier [http://www.aristidethefilm.com]