John G. Meara

Dr. John G. Meara serves as Plastic Surgeon-in-Chief at Boston Children's Hospital and holds significant academic leadership positions at Harvard Medical School. He is Director of the Program in Global Surgery and Social Change within the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, and Co-Director of the Paul Farmer Global Surgery Fellowship program in collaboration with Partners In Health.

Dr. Meara's research spans craniofacial surgery, global surgery, healthcare policy, and surgical economics. With over 80 peer-reviewed manuscripts on cleft lip and palate and craniofacial anomalies, he has established himself as a leading expert in these fields. His work extends to global health systems strengthening, where he has contributed significantly to national surgical planning efforts worldwide. Dr. Meara previously chaired The Lancet Commission on Global Surgery, which has directly influenced health care policy at the World Health Organization, United Nations, and major funding agencies.

His recent publications reveal a strong focus on surgical systems strengthening in low-resource settings, with emphasis on national surgical planning, measuring surgical outcomes, and addressing health disparities in surgical care. His work spans continents, with research in Latin America, Africa, and South Asia, examining how to improve access to safe, timely, and affordable surgical care.

Dr. Meara has demonstrated leadership in developing standardized outcome measures for cleft care through his role as Project Leader of the International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement Cleft Lip and Palate Working Group. His research integrates clinical expertise with health policy and economics, particularly through collaborations with Harvard Business School on time-driven activity-based costing methodology applied to pediatric healthcare delivery.