Photo of Dr. Paul Farmer courtesy of Partners in Health
The FXB Center is deeply saddened by the untimely death of Dr. Paul Farmer, a visionary global health leader, anthropologist, physician, and Harvard professor. Paul was a close colleague and dear friend to many in the FXB family and served as editor-in-chief of the FXB Center’s flagship publication, the Health and Human Rights Journal, since 2008.
In the first issue as editor-in-chief, he wrote: “HHR is dedicated to changing the world through rights-oriented action. Of course, many of our scientific and medical colleagues continue to worry that good science and activism don’t mix. We will attempt to show in the journal’s pages not only that this is not the case, but that the opposite may be true — that, at least in the case of public health, the best science springs from and is guided by an activist commitment to work with disadvantaged communities in realizing their economic and social rights.”
Dr. Farmer’s vision and commitment to social justice and scholar-activism has inspired a generation of public health researchers and practitioners across the world. His contributions will continue to inspire the work of the FXB Center, founded and endowed by Albina du Boisrouvray in 1993, furthering the vision of founding director Jonathan Mann.
While Dr. Farmer’s legacy lives on through the thousands of students, colleagues, and patients whose lives he touched, his presence will be truly missed. Our deepest condolences go to Dr. Farmer’s family: his wife Didi Bertrand Farmer and their three children.
Read his New York Times obituary here.