Professor Karl Blanchet is the Director of the Geneva Centre of Humanitarian Studies and Professor in Humanitarian Public Health at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva.
Before joining the University of Geneva, Professor Blanchet worked in health systems research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine since 2010 and was the co-founder and co-director of the Health in Humanitarian Crises Centre.
Professor Blanchet’s research focuses on system resilience and health systems issues in global health, specifically in post-conflict and conflict-affected countries. He has developed innovative research approaches based on complexity science and system thinking and focuses on Women, adolescents and Child Health in humanitarian settings. Karl is also developing a priority package of essential health services for countries like Afghanistan and, more generally, for humanitarian crises. Karl Blanchet was one of the coPI of the Lancet Series on Women’s and Children’s Health in Conflict Settings.
Professor Blanchet is also the Academic Director of InZone, a University of Geneva academic project offering university courses for refugee populations.
Prof Blanchet is also a member of the technical working group on Research on Global Health Emergencies at the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. He is also a core member of the UHC2030 Technical Working Group to support countries with fragile or challenging operating environments. He is also a member of the WHO technical working group on Health Systems Assessment and the WHO technical working group on SRH in emergencies.
In early 2021 Prof. Blanchet was nominated to represent the University of Geneva in the Steering Committee of the Geneva Hub for Education in Emergencies, a new initiative of the Swiss Government.
Professor Blanchet also gave an LSHTM TED Talk on health systems and complexity. His 2020 Professor inaugural lecture on evidence in humanitarian public health can be found here.
Fields of interest
Karl is particularly interested in understanding the resilience of local health systems by introducing notions of system dynamics and complexity science.
Karl is currently working on several studies:
- The development of the Integrated Package of Essential Health Services in Afghanistan (Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation).
- The Researching Impact of Attacks on Health (RIAH) (Funded by the UK FCDO)
- Using Computer Modelling to Optimise the Design of Health System Programmes (COSMIC Study) in Tanzania and Zambia Funded by the UK Medical Research Council.
- The resilience of health systems during conflicts and disease outbreaks.
- Sexual and reproductive health innovations in humanitarian crises (funded by ELRHA).
- Management of diabetes and hypertension patients in Afghanistan (Funded by Novo Nordisk)
Professor Blanchet is a member of the editorial board of the BMC journal Health Research Policy and Systemsand BMCConflict and Health. He is also a member of the Scientific Committee of the journal Humanitarian Alternatives and a reviewer for several scientific journals: The Lancet; BMJ; Health Policy and Planning, BMC Health Services; BMC Medicine; Social Science and Medicine; PLoS Medicine; Plos NTDs; BMC Health and Conflict; Medicine, Conflict and Survival; Disability and Rehabilitation.