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{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Atul Gawande
| name = Atul Gawande
| image = Atul_Gawande,_USAID_Assistant_Administrator.jpg
| image = Atul Gawande, USAID Assistant Administrator.jpg
| birth_name = Atul Atmaram Gawande
| birth_name = Atul Atmaram Gawande
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1965|11|5}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1965|11|5}}
| birth_place = New York City, U.S.
| birth_place = [[New York City]], U.S.
| nationality = American
| nationality = American
| occupation = Surgeon, writer, public health researcher, government official
| occupation = Surgeon, writer, public health researcher, government official
| known_for = ''The Checklist Manifesto'', ''Being Mortal'', public health systems innovation
| known_for = ''The Checklist Manifesto'', ''Being Mortal'', ''Complications'', ''Better''; surgical safety advocacy; global health leadership
| education = Harvard University (MD, MPH)
| education = [[Harvard University]] (MD, MPH)<br />[[Balliol College, Oxford]] (MA)<br />[[Stanford University]] (BA, BS)
| employer = Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
| employer = [[Brigham and Women's Hospital]]<br />[[Harvard Medical School]]<br />[[Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health]]
| title = Samuel O. Thier Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School
| title = Samuel O. Thier Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School; Professor, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
| awards = MacArthur Fellowship, ''Time'' 100 Most Influential People
| awards = [[MacArthur Fellowship]] (2006)
| website = {{URL|atulgawande.com}}
| website = {{URL|atulgawande.com}}
}}
}}


'''Atul Atmaram Gawande''' (born November 5, 1965) is an American surgeon, writer, and public health researcher whose work has shaped contemporary discourse on surgical safety, healthcare delivery, and end-of-life care. A practicing general and endocrine surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, Gawande holds dual professorships as the Samuel O. Thier Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and as a professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.<ref name="harvard_chan">{{cite web |title=Global health after USAID: A conversation with Atul Gawande |url=https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/global-health-after-usaid-a-conversation-with-atul-gawande/ |publisher=Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health |date=May 5, 2025 |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> He is the author of four books, including ''Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science'', ''Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance'', ''The Checklist Manifesto'', and ''Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End'', all of which examine the complexities and human dimensions of modern medicine. Beyond his clinical and academic career, Gawande has held prominent roles in public health leadership, including serving as chairman of Ariadne Labs, a joint center for health systems innovation, and chairman of Lifebox, a nonprofit organization focused on reducing surgical deaths globally. In 2018, he was named CEO of Haven Healthcare, a joint venture of Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase. He later served in the Biden administration, first as a member of the COVID-19 Advisory Board in 2020 and then as the Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for Global Health from January 2022 to January 2025.<ref name="gazette_devastating">{{cite web |title='Devastating' global health void, Gawande says |url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/04/devastating-global-health-void-gawande-says/ |publisher=Harvard Gazette |date=April 30, 2025 |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
'''Atul Atmaram Gawande''' (born November 5, 1965) is an American surgeon, writer, and public health researcher whose career has spanned the operating room, the printed page, and the corridors of government. A practicing general and endocrine surgeon at [[Brigham and Women's Hospital]] in [[Boston, Massachusetts]], he holds appointments as the Samuel O. Thier Professor of Surgery at [[Harvard Medical School]] and as a professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the [[Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health]].<ref name="harvard_chan">{{cite web |title=Global health after USAID: A conversation with Atul Gawande |url=https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/global-health-after-usaid-a-conversation-with-atul-gawande/ |publisher=Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health |date=May 5, 2025 |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> Gawande is the author of four books — ''Complications'', ''Better'', ''The Checklist Manifesto'', and ''Being Mortal'' — that have examined the complexities and failures of modern medicine and reached broad popular audiences.<ref name="nyt_mortal">{{cite news |title=Review: Atul Gawande, 'Being Mortal' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/books/review/atul-gawande-being-mortal-review.html |work=The New York Times |date=November 9, 2014 |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> His public health work has included chairing [[Ariadne Labs]], a joint center for health systems innovation, and serving as chairman of [[Lifebox]], a nonprofit organization focused on reducing surgical deaths globally. In the policy arena, he served as a member of President-elect [[Joe Biden]]'s COVID-19 Advisory Board in 2020 and was subsequently confirmed as Assistant Administrator of the [[United States Agency for International Development]] (USAID) for Global Health, a position he held from January 2022 to January 2025.<ref name="devex">{{cite news |last= |first= |date=November 4, 2025 |title='You cannot fight an invisible problem': Atul Gawande on US aid cuts |url=https://www.devex.com/news/you-cannot-fight-an-invisible-problem-atul-gawande-on-us-aid-cuts-111249 |work=Devex |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> A recipient of a [[MacArthur Fellowship]], Gawande has been recognized by ''[[Foreign Policy]]'' magazine as one of the world's top 100 global thinkers and by ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine for his influence on health care discourse.<ref name="macarthur">{{cite web |title=Atul Gawande — MacArthur Fellows Program |url=https://www.macfound.org/fellows/779/ |publisher=John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation |date= |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref><ref name="fp100">{{cite news |title=The FP Top 100 Global Thinkers |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/11/29/the_fp_top_100_global_thinkers |work=Foreign Policy |date=November 29, 2010 |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>


== Early Life ==
== Early Life ==


Atul Atmaram Gawande was born on November 5, 1965, in New York City. His parents were immigrants from India who both pursued careers in medicine, providing a household environment steeped in the values of science and public service. Growing up, Gawande was exposed to the practice of medicine through his parents' work, which influenced his decision to pursue a career that combined clinical practice with broader questions about how healthcare systems function and how they can be improved.
Atul Atmaram Gawande was born on November 5, 1965, in [[New York City]].<ref name="stanford_alumni">{{cite web |title=Accomplished Alumni |url=http://humsci.stanford.edu/about/accomplished_alumni |publisher=Stanford University School of Humanities and Sciences |date= |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> He is of Indian descent; both of his parents were physicians who emigrated from India to the United States. Growing up in a household shaped by medicine, Gawande was exposed from an early age to the practical realities of health care delivery. His family eventually settled in [[Athens, Ohio]], where his parents practiced medicine in a small-town setting, an experience that would later inform his writing about the challenges facing health care systems in communities of varying sizes and resources.


Details about his upbringing and formative years have been recounted in various interviews over the course of his career. Gawande has spoken publicly about the influence of his parents' experiences as immigrant physicians on his understanding of the obligations of the medical profession and the complexities of healthcare in the United States and globally.<ref name="guernica">{{cite web |title=Humane Endeavor |url=https://www.guernicamag.com/interviews/humane-endeavor/ |publisher=Guernica Magazine |date= |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
Gawande's upbringing in a medical family instilled in him a deep awareness of both the possibilities and limitations of clinical practice. His parents' careers as immigrant physicians navigating the American health care system provided formative experiences that he would later draw upon in his work as both a surgeon and a public health researcher. These early influences shaped what would become a career-long preoccupation with how systems — not just individual talent or technology — determine health outcomes.


== Education ==
== Education ==


Gawande pursued an extensive and interdisciplinary education. He attended Stanford University, where he earned both a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science degree.<ref name="stanford">{{cite web |title=Accomplished Alumni |url=http://humsci.stanford.edu/about/accomplished_alumni |publisher=Stanford University, School of Humanities and Sciences |date= |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> He then attended Balliol College, Oxford, where he earned a Master of Arts degree as a Rhodes Scholar. He subsequently returned to the United States to attend Harvard, where he earned his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1995 and a Master of Public Health degree in 1999 from what is now the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.<ref name="harvard_chan" /> This combination of training in surgery, political philosophy, and public health equipped Gawande with a distinctive perspective that would inform both his clinical work and his writing career.
Gawande pursued his undergraduate studies at [[Stanford University]], where he earned both a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science degree.<ref name="stanford_alumni" /> He then attended [[Balliol College, Oxford]], as a [[Rhodes Scholar]], where he earned a Master of Arts degree.<ref name="nyt_oxford">{{cite news |title=Rhodes Scholars |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/30/news/30iht-uo.html |work=The New York Times |date=May 30, 1994 |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> He returned to the United States to attend [[Harvard Medical School]], from which he received his Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree in 1995. He subsequently earned a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from the [[Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health]] in 1999.<ref name="harvard_chan" /> This combination of training in the humanities, medicine, and public health policy provided the interdisciplinary foundation that would distinguish his subsequent career. His time at Oxford, in particular, exposed him to the study of philosophy and political science, disciplines that informed his later writing on medical ethics, end-of-life care, and the design of health systems.


== Career ==
== Career ==


=== Clinical Practice and Academic Medicine ===
=== Surgery and Academic Medicine ===


Gawande has maintained a clinical practice in general and endocrine surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, one of Harvard Medical School's principal teaching hospitals. He holds the title of Samuel O. Thier Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and serves as a professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.<ref name="harvard_chan" /> His dual appointment reflects his career-long commitment to bridging the gap between the practice of surgery and the systematic study of how healthcare is delivered.
Gawande established his surgical career at [[Brigham and Women's Hospital]] in Boston, where he practices general and endocrine surgery. He holds the title of Samuel O. Thier Professor of Surgery at [[Harvard Medical School]], one of the institution's named professorships.<ref name="harvard_chan" /> In parallel with his clinical work, he serves as a professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the [[Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health]], reflecting his dual commitment to hands-on surgical practice and the broader study of health care systems and policy.<ref name="harvard_chan" />


In his academic role, Gawande has published research on a wide range of topics, including surgical technique, patient safety, healthcare costs, and the design of health systems. His research has focused in particular on the problem of failures in complex systems—how errors occur in operating rooms, hospitals, and health systems, and what organizational and procedural changes can reduce those errors.
His clinical and academic work has focused on improving the reliability and outcomes of surgical care. This interest led him to found and chair [[Ariadne Labs]], a joint center for health systems innovation affiliated with Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Ariadne Labs develops practical solutions to improve health care delivery at scale, with projects addressing surgical safety, primary care redesign, childbirth safety, and end-of-life care. Gawande also served as chairman of [[Lifebox]], a nonprofit organization dedicated to making surgery safer in low-resource settings around the world, with a particular focus on providing pulse oximeters to operating rooms in developing countries.


=== Writing Career ===
=== Writing Career ===


Gawande is among the most prominent physician-writers of his generation. He has been a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' magazine, where he has published widely read articles on medicine, public health, and healthcare policy. His long-form journalism for the magazine has been recognized for its clarity, narrative skill, and ability to translate complex medical and policy issues for a general audience.
Gawande is among the most prominent physician-writers in contemporary American letters. He has been a staff writer for ''[[The New Yorker]]'', where his long-form articles on medicine, surgery, and health policy have reached wide audiences and influenced public debate. His writing career has produced four major books, each examining different facets of medical practice and the health care system.


His first book, ''Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science'', explored the realities of surgical practice, including the inevitability of error and the ways in which medicine is as much art as science. The book drew on his own experiences in training and practice to examine how doctors learn, how mistakes happen, and how the medical profession grapples with uncertainty.
His first book, ''Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science'', explored the uncertainties, errors, and mysteries that pervade even the most routine aspects of surgical care. The book drew on his experiences as a surgical resident to offer an unflinching look at how doctors learn, how mistakes happen, and how medicine contends with its own fallibility.


His second book, ''Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance'', examined what distinguishes adequate medical care from outstanding care, focusing on the efforts of individual physicians and health systems to improve outcomes.
His second book, ''Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance'', examined the question of what separates adequate medical care from excellent care, investigating the factors — diligence, ingenuity, and systematic thinking — that enable some practitioners and institutions to achieve markedly better outcomes than others.


''The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right'', published in 2009, became one of Gawande's most influential works. The book argued that simple checklists could dramatically reduce errors and improve outcomes in surgery and other complex endeavors. It debuted on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list for hardcover nonfiction.<ref>{{cite web |title=Best Sellers: Hardcover Nonfiction |url=https://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2010-03-07/hardcover-nonfiction/list.html |work=The New York Times |date=March 7, 2010 |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> The book's influence extended well beyond medicine, prompting adoption of checklist-based protocols in aviation, construction, and other industries. Gawande discussed the book's themes in numerous public appearances, including on ''The Daily Show''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Atul Gawande |url=http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-february-3-2010/atul-gawande |publisher=The Daily Show |date=February 3, 2010 |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
''The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right'', published in 2009, became one of Gawande's most influential works. The book argued that simple checklists could dramatically reduce errors and improve outcomes in surgery and other complex fields. It drew on research Gawande conducted in collaboration with the [[World Health Organization]]'s Safe Surgery Saves Lives initiative, which demonstrated that a basic surgical safety checklist could significantly reduce complications and deaths in operating rooms worldwide. ''The Checklist Manifesto'' reached the ''New York Times'' Best Sellers list for hardcover nonfiction.<ref name="nyt_bestseller">{{cite news |title=Best Sellers: Hardcover Nonfiction |url=https://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2010-03-07/hardcover-nonfiction/list.html |work=The New York Times |date=March 7, 2010 |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> In early 2010, Gawande discussed the book and its arguments on ''[[The Daily Show]]'' with [[Jon Stewart]].<ref name="dailyshow">{{cite web |title=Atul Gawande — The Daily Show |url=http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-february-3-2010/atul-gawande |publisher=The Daily Show |date=February 3, 2010 |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>


''Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End'', published in 2014, addressed the treatment of aging and dying in modern medicine. The book argued that the medical profession's focus on prolonging life often comes at the expense of patients' quality of life and autonomy, particularly at the end of life. It examined how conversations between doctors and patients about goals of care could lead to better outcomes and greater dignity for the dying. ''The New York Times'' published a review of the book noting its impact on discussions about end-of-life care.<ref>{{cite news |last= |first= |date=November 9, 2014 |title=Being Mortal review |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/books/review/atul-gawande-being-mortal-review.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
His fourth book, ''Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End'' (2014), addressed the medicalization of aging and death, arguing that the medical profession often fails patients at the end of life by pursuing aggressive treatment at the expense of quality of life, dignity, and patient autonomy. The book was widely reviewed; a review in ''The New York Times'' examined its arguments about how medicine might better serve the dying.<ref name="nyt_mortal" /> In 2014, the [[BBC]] invited Gawande to deliver the prestigious [[Reith Lectures]], in which he explored themes from ''Being Mortal'' and his broader work on the future of medicine.<ref name="bbc_reith">{{cite web |title=Dr Atul Gawande — 2014 Reith Lectures |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/6F2X8TpsxrJpnsq82hggHW/dr-atul-gawande-2014-reith-lectures |publisher=BBC |date= |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref><ref name="bbc_reith2">{{cite web |title=Reith Lectures 2014 — Atul Gawande |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04bsgvm |publisher=BBC |date= |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>


Gawande has also been a featured speaker at TED conferences, where he has presented talks on healthcare improvement and surgical safety.<ref>{{cite web |title=Atul Gawande |url=https://www.ted.com/speakers/atul_gawande_1 |publisher=TED |date= |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
Gawande has also been a featured speaker at [[TED (conference)|TED]] conferences, where he has presented on topics including surgical safety and health care improvement.<ref name="ted">{{cite web |title=Atul Gawande — TED Speaker |url=https://www.ted.com/speakers/atul_gawande_1 |publisher=TED |date= |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>


=== BBC Reith Lectures ===
=== Health Policy and Political Engagement ===


In 2014, Gawande was invited to deliver the BBC Reith Lectures, a prestigious annual series of radio lectures commissioned by the BBC. His lectures, titled "The Future of Medicine," examined the challenges facing modern healthcare, including the problem of overtreatment, the limits of medical knowledge, and the need for systemic approaches to improving care. The lectures were broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and reached a wide international audience.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dr Atul Gawande — 2014 Reith Lectures |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/6F2X8TpsxrJpnsq82hggHW/dr-atul-gawande-2014-reith-lectures |publisher=BBC |date= |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Reith Lectures 2014 |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04bsgvm |publisher=BBC |date= |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
Gawande's work has engaged directly with national health policy debates. His writing on the cost of health care in the United States attracted significant attention during the debate over the [[Affordable Care Act]]. In 2009, ''The New York Times'' reported that President [[Barack Obama]] had cited Gawande's ''New Yorker'' article on health care costs in [[McAllen, Texas]], as required reading for members of his administration, describing it as an essential document in understanding why American health care was so expensive.<ref name="nyt_obama">{{cite news |title=Obama's Health Adviser |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/09/us/politics/09health.html |work=The New York Times |date=June 9, 2009 |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> The article examined why McAllen had some of the highest per-capita health care spending in the country and attributed the disparity not to patient demographics or quality of care but to a culture of overtreatment and profit-driven medical practice.


=== Ariadne Labs and Lifebox ===
In January 2010, Gawande discussed health reform and the realities of the American health care system on ''[[Democracy Now!]]''.<ref name="democracynow2010">{{cite web |title=Dr. Atul Gawande on Real Health Reform |url=http://www.democracynow.org/2010/1/5/dr_atul_gawande_on_real_health |publisher=Democracy Now! |date=January 5, 2010 |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
 
Gawande served as chairman of Ariadne Labs, a joint center for health systems innovation affiliated with Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The organization focuses on developing scalable solutions to improve healthcare delivery, including the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist, which grew out of Gawande's work on checklists and has been adopted in operating rooms around the world.
 
He also served as chairman of Lifebox, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing deaths in surgery globally. Lifebox works primarily in low- and middle-income countries, providing pulse oximeters and training to improve the safety of anesthesia and surgery.


=== Haven Healthcare ===
=== Haven Healthcare ===


On June 20, 2018, Gawande was named the chief executive officer of Haven Healthcare (initially unnamed), a healthcare venture jointly owned by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase. The venture was established with the goal of improving healthcare outcomes and reducing costs for the employees of the three companies. Gawande stepped down as CEO in May 2020, remaining as executive chairman while the organization sought a new chief executive. Haven ultimately dissolved in early 2021 without achieving its stated goals, reflecting the difficulty of transforming the American healthcare system even with substantial corporate backing.
On June 20, 2018, Gawande was named CEO of Haven Healthcare (originally known as Haven), a health care venture jointly owned by [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]], [[Berkshire Hathaway]], and [[JPMorgan Chase]]. The venture was created with the stated goal of improving health care outcomes and reducing costs for the companies' combined workforce of over one million employees. Gawande stepped down as CEO of Haven in May 2020, remaining as executive chairman while the organization sought a new chief executive. Haven ultimately ceased operations in early 2021, having struggled to achieve its ambitious goals of transforming employer-sponsored health care.


=== Biden Administration: COVID-19 Advisory Board ===
=== COVID-19 Advisory Board ===


In November 2020, Gawande was named a member of President-elect Joe Biden's COVID-19 Advisory Board, alongside co-chairs David A. Kessler, Vivek Murthy, and Marcella Nunez-Smith. The advisory board was established to provide guidance on the incoming administration's pandemic response, including vaccine distribution, testing, and public health communications. The board operated from November 9, 2020, through January 20, 2021, when its functions were absorbed into the formal structures of the new administration.<ref name="democracy_now_2010">{{cite web |title=Dr. Atul Gawande on Real Health Care Reform |url=http://www.democracynow.org/2010/1/5/dr_atul_gawande_on_real_health |publisher=Democracy Now! |date=January 5, 2010 |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
In November 2020, President-elect [[Joe Biden]] named Gawande as a member of his COVID-19 Advisory Board, a panel assembled to advise the incoming administration on its response to the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United States|COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref name="devex" /> The board was co-chaired by [[David A. Kessler]], [[Vivek Murthy]], and [[Marcella Nunez-Smith]]. Gawande served on the advisory board from November 9, 2020, until January 20, 2021, when the position was abolished upon the inauguration of the Biden administration and the transition to formal government pandemic response structures.


=== USAID Assistant Administrator for Global Health ===
=== USAID Assistant Administrator ===


On December 17, 2021, the United States Senate confirmed Gawande as the Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for Global Health. He was sworn in on January 4, 2022, under President Joe Biden. In this role, Gawande oversaw USAID's global health programs, which included initiatives addressing HIV/AIDS through PEPFAR, malaria, tuberculosis, maternal and child health, nutrition, and pandemic preparedness.<ref name="gazette_devastating" />
On December 17, 2021, the [[United States Senate]] confirmed Gawande as Assistant Administrator of USAID for Global Health. He was sworn in on January 4, 2022.<ref name="devex" /> In this role, Gawande oversaw USAID's global health programs, which represented one of the largest portfolios of international health assistance in the world, encompassing programs to combat [[HIV/AIDS]], [[malaria]], [[tuberculosis]], and maternal and child mortality, as well as efforts to strengthen health systems in developing countries.


Gawande served in the position until January 20, 2025, when the second presidential term of Donald Trump began. After leaving USAID, Gawande became an outspoken critic of the Trump administration's subsequent dismantling of USAID and the cuts to global health funding. In an April 2025 appearance at Harvard, Gawande described the impact of the aid cuts as "devastating," providing what the Harvard Gazette characterized as "a close-up account of the damage inflicted by the Trump administration's dismantling of the US" foreign aid apparatus.<ref name="gazette_devastating" />
Gawande served in this position until January 20, 2025, when [[Donald Trump]] began his second presidential term.<ref name="devex" /> Following his departure from USAID, Gawande became a vocal critic of the Trump administration's subsequent dismantling of USAID and its global health programs. In an April 2025 appearance at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, he described the impact of the administration's actions on global health as "devastating," providing a detailed account of the damage inflicted by the withdrawal of U.S. foreign health assistance.<ref name="harvard_gazette_april">{{cite news |date=April 30, 2025 |title='Devastating' global health void, Gawande says |url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/04/devastating-global-health-void-gawande-says/ |work=Harvard Gazette |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>


In a May 2025 conversation at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Gawande discussed the implications of the closure of USAID programs for global health, particularly in areas such as childhood nutrition and infectious disease control.<ref name="harvard_chan" /> He continued to speak publicly about the consequences of the aid cuts throughout 2025. In a November 2025 interview with Democracy Now!, Gawande stated that "hundreds of thousands have already died" as a result of the closure of USAID programs, asserting, "We had the cure for death from malnutrition, and we took it away."<ref name="democracy_now_2025">{{cite web |title=Dr. Atul Gawande: Hundreds of Thousands Have Already Died Since Trump Closed USAID |url=https://www.democracynow.org/2025/11/13/usaid |publisher=Democracy Now! |date=November 13, 2025 |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
In November 2025, Gawande continued to draw attention to the consequences of the aid cuts, stating in an interview with ''Democracy Now!'' that hundreds of thousands of people had already died as a result of the closure of USAID programs, declaring, "We had the cure for death from malnutrition, and we took it away."<ref name="democracynow2025">{{cite news |date=November 13, 2025 |title=Dr. Atul Gawande: Hundreds of Thousands Have Already Died Since Trump Closed USAID |url=https://www.democracynow.org/2025/11/13/usaid |work=Democracy Now! |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> He also discussed these issues in a documentary project titled ''Rovina's Choice'', which sought to expose the human toll of the foreign aid cuts.<ref name="devex" /> In a November 2025 profile in the ''Harvard Gazette'', Gawande was described as growing "more determined" in his advocacy in the face of what he characterized as a global health crisis created by the withdrawal of American assistance.<ref name="harvard_gazette_nov">{{cite news |date=November 21, 2025 |title=In the grip of 'horror and anger,' Gawande grows more determined |url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/11/in-the-grip-of-horror-and-anger-gawande-grows-more-determined/ |work=Harvard Gazette |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>


In November 2025, Gawande was reported to be continuing clinical and advocacy work. The Harvard Gazette profiled his activities, noting that he was working at Clinic 7, a medical center serving patients, and described him as being "in the grip of 'horror and anger'" over the dismantling of global health programs while growing "more determined" to respond.<ref name="gazette_horror">{{cite news |last= |first= |date=November 21, 2025 |title=In the grip of 'horror and anger,' Gawande grows more determined |url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/11/in-the-grip-of-horror-and-anger-gawande-grows-more-determined/ |work=Harvard Gazette |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> He also published or contributed to a project titled "Rovina's Choice," which Devex described as an effort to expose "the human toll of the Trump administration's foreign aid cuts."<ref name="devex">{{cite news |last= |first= |date=November 4, 2025 |title='You cannot fight an invisible problem': Atul Gawande on US aid cuts |url=https://www.devex.com/news/you-cannot-fight-an-invisible-problem-atul-gawande-on-us-aid-cuts-111249 |work=Devex |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
In June 2025, Gawande delivered the keynote address at Harvard Alumni Day.<ref name="harvard_alumni">{{cite web |title=Harvard Alumni Day 2025 Keynote Address |url=https://alumni.harvard.edu/community/stories/harvard-alumni-day-2025-keynote-address |publisher=Harvard Alumni |date=June 6, 2025 |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
 
=== Post-Government Public Engagement ===
 
After leaving USAID, Gawande returned to his academic and clinical positions at Harvard and Brigham and Women's Hospital. He has continued to engage in public discourse on healthcare and global health through writing, public speaking, and media appearances. In June 2025, he delivered the keynote address at Harvard Alumni Day 2025.<ref>{{cite web |title=Harvard Alumni Day 2025 Keynote Address |url=https://alumni.harvard.edu/community/stories/harvard-alumni-day-2025-keynote-address |publisher=Harvard Alumni |date=June 6, 2025 |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> He has appeared on programs including ''The Bulwark'' to discuss COVID-related myths, the collapse of USAID, and threats to American public health infrastructure.<ref>{{cite web |title=Health in the Time of MAGA (w/ Atul Gawande) |url=https://www.thebulwark.com/p/health-in-the-time-of-maga-w-atul |publisher=The Bulwark |date= |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> He has also been interviewed by Yascha Mounk for the publication ''Persuasion'' on topics including medicine and mortality.<ref>{{cite web |title=Atul Gawande on Medicine and Mortality |url=https://www.persuasion.community/p/atul-gawande |publisher=Persuasion |date= |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>


== Personal Life ==
== Personal Life ==


Gawande resides in the Boston, Massachusetts area. He has maintained a relatively private personal life while sustaining an active public profile through his writing, speaking, and policy work. He has spoken in interviews and in his books about how his experiences as a surgeon and as the child of immigrant physicians have shaped his approach to medicine and public health.<ref name="guernica" />
Gawande resides in the Boston area. He has maintained connections to both the academic and clinical worlds throughout his career, continuing to practice surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital while holding his academic appointments at Harvard. Details of his family life remain largely private, consistent with his preference for focusing public attention on his professional and policy work rather than personal matters.


== Recognition ==
== Recognition ==


Gawande has received numerous awards and honors for his contributions to medicine, public health, and writing. In 2006, he was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, commonly known as the "genius grant," from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, in recognition of his work combining surgical practice with research and writing on healthcare systems.<ref>{{cite web |title=Atul Gawande — MacArthur Fellow |url=https://www.macfound.org/fellows/779/ |publisher=MacArthur Foundation |date= |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
Gawande has received numerous awards and honors for his contributions to medicine, public health, and writing. In 2006, the [[John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation]] awarded him a [[MacArthur Fellowship]], often referred to as a "genius grant," in recognition of his work in surgery and health policy.<ref name="macarthur" />


In 2010, he was named to the ''Time'' 100, the magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.<ref>{{cite web |title=The 2010 TIME 100 |url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1984685_1984745_1984936,00.html |work=Time |date=2010 |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref> That same year, he was included in ''Foreign Policy'' magazine's list of the Top 100 Global Thinkers.<ref>{{cite web |title=The FP Top 100 Global Thinkers |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/11/29/the_fp_top_100_global_thinkers |work=Foreign Policy |date=November 29, 2010 |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
In 2010, ''Foreign Policy'' magazine named Gawande to its list of the Top 100 Global Thinkers, citing his influence on international discussions of health care delivery and reform.<ref name="fp100" /> ''Time'' magazine has also recognized him for his contributions to health care discourse.<ref name="time">{{cite web |title=Time 100 |url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1984685_1984745_1984936,00.html |publisher=Time |date= |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>


Gawande has been recognized by Stanford University as one of the accomplished alumni of its School of Humanities and Sciences.<ref name="stanford" /> He has also received recognition from Mass Humanities, the state-based humanities council for Massachusetts.<ref>{{cite web |title=Benefit Dinner |url=http://masshumanities.org/programs/benefit-dinner/ |publisher=Mass Humanities |date= |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
Stanford University has listed Gawande among its accomplished alumni from the School of Humanities and Sciences.<ref name="stanford_alumni" />


His selection to deliver the 2014 BBC Reith Lectures, one of the most distinguished public lecture series in the world, further confirmed his standing as a leading voice in discussions about healthcare and medicine on a global stage.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dr Atul Gawande — 2014 Reith Lectures |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/6F2X8TpsxrJpnsq82hggHW/dr-atul-gawande-2014-reith-lectures |publisher=BBC |date= |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
Gawande's selection to deliver the 2014 BBC Reith Lectures placed him in the company of a distinguished lineage of public intellectuals invited to address broad audiences on matters of contemporary significance.<ref name="bbc_reith" /><ref name="bbc_reith2" />


His articles and books have been recognized for their influence on healthcare policy, notably a 2009 ''New Yorker'' article on healthcare costs that reportedly drew the attention of President Barack Obama and contributed to the policy discussion surrounding the Affordable Care Act.<ref>{{cite news |last= |first= |date=June 9, 2009 |title=Obama cites article in health care push |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/09/us/politics/09health.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
He has also been recognized by the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities.<ref name="masshumanities">{{cite web |title=Benefit Dinner |url=http://masshumanities.org/programs/benefit-dinner/ |publisher=Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities |date= |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>
 
His profile as a public intellectual has also been shaped by major interview appearances, including on ''The Daily Show''<ref name="dailyshow" /> and ''Democracy Now!''<ref name="democracynow2010" />, as well as talks at TED conferences.<ref name="ted" /> A 2008 interview in ''Guernica'' magazine explored his views on the intersection of medicine, ethics, and humanistic inquiry.<ref name="guernica">{{cite web |title=Humane Endeavor |url=https://www.guernicamag.com/interviews/humane-endeavor/ |publisher=Guernica |date= |access-date=2026-02-23}}</ref>


== Legacy ==
== Legacy ==


Gawande's career has spanned clinical medicine, academic research, public health leadership, bestselling authorship, and senior government service, making him one of the most multi-faceted figures in American medicine and public health in the early 21st century. His books have been translated into numerous languages and have influenced how physicians, patients, and policymakers think about surgical safety, healthcare quality, and the experience of dying.
Gawande's influence extends across several domains. In surgery and patient safety, his advocacy for the use of checklists — based on research demonstrating their effectiveness in reducing surgical complications — has been adopted by hospitals and health systems worldwide. The WHO Surgical Safety Checklist, which his work helped develop and promote, represents one of the most concrete contributions to patient safety in modern surgical practice.


''The Checklist Manifesto'' in particular has had a lasting impact on patient safety practices worldwide. The WHO Surgical Safety Checklist, which Gawande helped develop through his work with Ariadne Labs, has been implemented in hospitals across the globe and has been credited with reducing surgical complications and deaths. The concept of using simple checklists to manage complex processes has been adopted in fields beyond medicine.
In health policy, his ''New Yorker'' article on health care costs in McAllen, Texas, became a touchstone document in the national debate over health care reform during the Obama administration, demonstrating the power of long-form journalism to influence policy at the highest levels.<ref name="nyt_obama" />


''Being Mortal'' reshaped public and professional conversations about end-of-life care, encouraging physicians to engage patients in discussions about their goals and preferences rather than defaulting to aggressive treatment. The book has been widely adopted in medical education and has been the subject of documentary films and public health campaigns.
Through ''Being Mortal'', Gawande contributed to a broader cultural conversation about aging, dying, and the limits of medical intervention, challenging the medical profession to reconsider its approach to end-of-life care and encouraging patients and families to engage more openly with questions of mortality and quality of life.<ref name="nyt_mortal" />


His tenure at USAID placed him at the center of global health policy during a period of significant challenge, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the need to maintain and expand programs addressing HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and maternal and child health. His subsequent advocacy regarding the consequences of the dismantling of USAID's global health programs has drawn significant public attention to the role of American foreign aid in global health security.<ref name="gazette_devastating" /><ref name="democracy_now_2025" /><ref name="devex" />
His tenure at USAID placed him at the center of American global health efforts during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and his subsequent advocacy against the dismantling of those programs has positioned him as a prominent voice in debates over the role of the United States in international health and development.<ref name="harvard_gazette_april" /><ref name="democracynow2025" /><ref name="harvard_gazette_nov" />


Through his writing, public speaking, and institutional leadership, Gawande has contributed to a body of work that connects the daily realities of clinical medicine with the large-scale challenges of health systems design and global public health.
Gawande's career — spanning clinical surgery, academic research, popular writing, nonprofit leadership, corporate health ventures, and government service — represents an unusually broad engagement with the challenges of modern health care. His work has consistently returned to the question of how complex systems can be designed and managed to produce better outcomes for patients, whether in an operating room in Boston or a clinic in sub-Saharan Africa.


== References ==
== References ==
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Latest revision as of 04:19, 24 February 2026


Atul Gawande
Atul Gawande
BornAtul Atmaram Gawande
5 11, 1965
BirthplaceNew York City, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationSurgeon, writer, public health researcher, government official
TitleSamuel O. Thier Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School; Professor, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
EmployerBrigham and Women's Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Known forThe Checklist Manifesto, Being Mortal, Complications, Better; surgical safety advocacy; global health leadership
EducationHarvard University (MD, MPH)
Balliol College, Oxford (MA)
Stanford University (BA, BS)
AwardsMacArthur Fellowship (2006)
Website[[atulgawande.com atulgawande.com] Official site]

Atul Atmaram Gawande (born November 5, 1965) is an American surgeon, writer, and public health researcher whose career has spanned the operating room, the printed page, and the corridors of government. A practicing general and endocrine surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, he holds appointments as the Samuel O. Thier Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and as a professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.[1] Gawande is the author of four books — Complications, Better, The Checklist Manifesto, and Being Mortal — that have examined the complexities and failures of modern medicine and reached broad popular audiences.[2] His public health work has included chairing Ariadne Labs, a joint center for health systems innovation, and serving as chairman of Lifebox, a nonprofit organization focused on reducing surgical deaths globally. In the policy arena, he served as a member of President-elect Joe Biden's COVID-19 Advisory Board in 2020 and was subsequently confirmed as Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for Global Health, a position he held from January 2022 to January 2025.[3] A recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, Gawande has been recognized by Foreign Policy magazine as one of the world's top 100 global thinkers and by Time magazine for his influence on health care discourse.[4][5]

Early Life

Atul Atmaram Gawande was born on November 5, 1965, in New York City.[6] He is of Indian descent; both of his parents were physicians who emigrated from India to the United States. Growing up in a household shaped by medicine, Gawande was exposed from an early age to the practical realities of health care delivery. His family eventually settled in Athens, Ohio, where his parents practiced medicine in a small-town setting, an experience that would later inform his writing about the challenges facing health care systems in communities of varying sizes and resources.

Gawande's upbringing in a medical family instilled in him a deep awareness of both the possibilities and limitations of clinical practice. His parents' careers as immigrant physicians navigating the American health care system provided formative experiences that he would later draw upon in his work as both a surgeon and a public health researcher. These early influences shaped what would become a career-long preoccupation with how systems — not just individual talent or technology — determine health outcomes.

Education

Gawande pursued his undergraduate studies at Stanford University, where he earned both a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science degree.[6] He then attended Balliol College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar, where he earned a Master of Arts degree.[7] He returned to the United States to attend Harvard Medical School, from which he received his Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree in 1995. He subsequently earned a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 1999.[1] This combination of training in the humanities, medicine, and public health policy provided the interdisciplinary foundation that would distinguish his subsequent career. His time at Oxford, in particular, exposed him to the study of philosophy and political science, disciplines that informed his later writing on medical ethics, end-of-life care, and the design of health systems.

Career

Surgery and Academic Medicine

Gawande established his surgical career at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, where he practices general and endocrine surgery. He holds the title of Samuel O. Thier Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, one of the institution's named professorships.[1] In parallel with his clinical work, he serves as a professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, reflecting his dual commitment to hands-on surgical practice and the broader study of health care systems and policy.[1]

His clinical and academic work has focused on improving the reliability and outcomes of surgical care. This interest led him to found and chair Ariadne Labs, a joint center for health systems innovation affiliated with Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Ariadne Labs develops practical solutions to improve health care delivery at scale, with projects addressing surgical safety, primary care redesign, childbirth safety, and end-of-life care. Gawande also served as chairman of Lifebox, a nonprofit organization dedicated to making surgery safer in low-resource settings around the world, with a particular focus on providing pulse oximeters to operating rooms in developing countries.

Writing Career

Gawande is among the most prominent physician-writers in contemporary American letters. He has been a staff writer for The New Yorker, where his long-form articles on medicine, surgery, and health policy have reached wide audiences and influenced public debate. His writing career has produced four major books, each examining different facets of medical practice and the health care system.

His first book, Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science, explored the uncertainties, errors, and mysteries that pervade even the most routine aspects of surgical care. The book drew on his experiences as a surgical resident to offer an unflinching look at how doctors learn, how mistakes happen, and how medicine contends with its own fallibility.

His second book, Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance, examined the question of what separates adequate medical care from excellent care, investigating the factors — diligence, ingenuity, and systematic thinking — that enable some practitioners and institutions to achieve markedly better outcomes than others.

The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, published in 2009, became one of Gawande's most influential works. The book argued that simple checklists could dramatically reduce errors and improve outcomes in surgery and other complex fields. It drew on research Gawande conducted in collaboration with the World Health Organization's Safe Surgery Saves Lives initiative, which demonstrated that a basic surgical safety checklist could significantly reduce complications and deaths in operating rooms worldwide. The Checklist Manifesto reached the New York Times Best Sellers list for hardcover nonfiction.[8] In early 2010, Gawande discussed the book and its arguments on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.[9]

His fourth book, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End (2014), addressed the medicalization of aging and death, arguing that the medical profession often fails patients at the end of life by pursuing aggressive treatment at the expense of quality of life, dignity, and patient autonomy. The book was widely reviewed; a review in The New York Times examined its arguments about how medicine might better serve the dying.[2] In 2014, the BBC invited Gawande to deliver the prestigious Reith Lectures, in which he explored themes from Being Mortal and his broader work on the future of medicine.[10][11]

Gawande has also been a featured speaker at TED conferences, where he has presented on topics including surgical safety and health care improvement.[12]

Health Policy and Political Engagement

Gawande's work has engaged directly with national health policy debates. His writing on the cost of health care in the United States attracted significant attention during the debate over the Affordable Care Act. In 2009, The New York Times reported that President Barack Obama had cited Gawande's New Yorker article on health care costs in McAllen, Texas, as required reading for members of his administration, describing it as an essential document in understanding why American health care was so expensive.[13] The article examined why McAllen had some of the highest per-capita health care spending in the country and attributed the disparity not to patient demographics or quality of care but to a culture of overtreatment and profit-driven medical practice.

In January 2010, Gawande discussed health reform and the realities of the American health care system on Democracy Now!.[14]

Haven Healthcare

On June 20, 2018, Gawande was named CEO of Haven Healthcare (originally known as Haven), a health care venture jointly owned by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase. The venture was created with the stated goal of improving health care outcomes and reducing costs for the companies' combined workforce of over one million employees. Gawande stepped down as CEO of Haven in May 2020, remaining as executive chairman while the organization sought a new chief executive. Haven ultimately ceased operations in early 2021, having struggled to achieve its ambitious goals of transforming employer-sponsored health care.

COVID-19 Advisory Board

In November 2020, President-elect Joe Biden named Gawande as a member of his COVID-19 Advisory Board, a panel assembled to advise the incoming administration on its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] The board was co-chaired by David A. Kessler, Vivek Murthy, and Marcella Nunez-Smith. Gawande served on the advisory board from November 9, 2020, until January 20, 2021, when the position was abolished upon the inauguration of the Biden administration and the transition to formal government pandemic response structures.

USAID Assistant Administrator

On December 17, 2021, the United States Senate confirmed Gawande as Assistant Administrator of USAID for Global Health. He was sworn in on January 4, 2022.[3] In this role, Gawande oversaw USAID's global health programs, which represented one of the largest portfolios of international health assistance in the world, encompassing programs to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and maternal and child mortality, as well as efforts to strengthen health systems in developing countries.

Gawande served in this position until January 20, 2025, when Donald Trump began his second presidential term.[3] Following his departure from USAID, Gawande became a vocal critic of the Trump administration's subsequent dismantling of USAID and its global health programs. In an April 2025 appearance at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, he described the impact of the administration's actions on global health as "devastating," providing a detailed account of the damage inflicted by the withdrawal of U.S. foreign health assistance.[15]

In November 2025, Gawande continued to draw attention to the consequences of the aid cuts, stating in an interview with Democracy Now! that hundreds of thousands of people had already died as a result of the closure of USAID programs, declaring, "We had the cure for death from malnutrition, and we took it away."[16] He also discussed these issues in a documentary project titled Rovina's Choice, which sought to expose the human toll of the foreign aid cuts.[3] In a November 2025 profile in the Harvard Gazette, Gawande was described as growing "more determined" in his advocacy in the face of what he characterized as a global health crisis created by the withdrawal of American assistance.[17]

In June 2025, Gawande delivered the keynote address at Harvard Alumni Day.[18]

Personal Life

Gawande resides in the Boston area. He has maintained connections to both the academic and clinical worlds throughout his career, continuing to practice surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital while holding his academic appointments at Harvard. Details of his family life remain largely private, consistent with his preference for focusing public attention on his professional and policy work rather than personal matters.

Recognition

Gawande has received numerous awards and honors for his contributions to medicine, public health, and writing. In 2006, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation awarded him a MacArthur Fellowship, often referred to as a "genius grant," in recognition of his work in surgery and health policy.[4]

In 2010, Foreign Policy magazine named Gawande to its list of the Top 100 Global Thinkers, citing his influence on international discussions of health care delivery and reform.[5] Time magazine has also recognized him for his contributions to health care discourse.[19]

Stanford University has listed Gawande among its accomplished alumni from the School of Humanities and Sciences.[6]

Gawande's selection to deliver the 2014 BBC Reith Lectures placed him in the company of a distinguished lineage of public intellectuals invited to address broad audiences on matters of contemporary significance.[10][11]

He has also been recognized by the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities.[20]

His profile as a public intellectual has also been shaped by major interview appearances, including on The Daily Show[9] and Democracy Now![14], as well as talks at TED conferences.[12] A 2008 interview in Guernica magazine explored his views on the intersection of medicine, ethics, and humanistic inquiry.[21]

Legacy

Gawande's influence extends across several domains. In surgery and patient safety, his advocacy for the use of checklists — based on research demonstrating their effectiveness in reducing surgical complications — has been adopted by hospitals and health systems worldwide. The WHO Surgical Safety Checklist, which his work helped develop and promote, represents one of the most concrete contributions to patient safety in modern surgical practice.

In health policy, his New Yorker article on health care costs in McAllen, Texas, became a touchstone document in the national debate over health care reform during the Obama administration, demonstrating the power of long-form journalism to influence policy at the highest levels.[13]

Through Being Mortal, Gawande contributed to a broader cultural conversation about aging, dying, and the limits of medical intervention, challenging the medical profession to reconsider its approach to end-of-life care and encouraging patients and families to engage more openly with questions of mortality and quality of life.[2]

His tenure at USAID placed him at the center of American global health efforts during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and his subsequent advocacy against the dismantling of those programs has positioned him as a prominent voice in debates over the role of the United States in international health and development.[15][16][17]

Gawande's career — spanning clinical surgery, academic research, popular writing, nonprofit leadership, corporate health ventures, and government service — represents an unusually broad engagement with the challenges of modern health care. His work has consistently returned to the question of how complex systems can be designed and managed to produce better outcomes for patients, whether in an operating room in Boston or a clinic in sub-Saharan Africa.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Global health after USAID: A conversation with Atul Gawande".Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.May 5, 2025.https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/global-health-after-usaid-a-conversation-with-atul-gawande/.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Review: Atul Gawande, 'Being Mortal'".The New York Times.November 9, 2014.https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/books/review/atul-gawande-being-mortal-review.html.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "'You cannot fight an invisible problem': Atul Gawande on US aid cuts".Devex.November 4, 2025.https://www.devex.com/news/you-cannot-fight-an-invisible-problem-atul-gawande-on-us-aid-cuts-111249.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Atul Gawande — MacArthur Fellows Program".John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.https://www.macfound.org/fellows/779/.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "The FP Top 100 Global Thinkers".Foreign Policy.November 29, 2010.https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/11/29/the_fp_top_100_global_thinkers.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Accomplished Alumni".Stanford University School of Humanities and Sciences.http://humsci.stanford.edu/about/accomplished_alumni.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  7. ↑ "Rhodes Scholars".The New York Times.May 30, 1994.https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/30/news/30iht-uo.html.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  8. ↑ "Best Sellers: Hardcover Nonfiction".The New York Times.March 7, 2010.https://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2010-03-07/hardcover-nonfiction/list.html.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Atul Gawande — The Daily Show".The Daily Show.February 3, 2010.http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-february-3-2010/atul-gawande.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Dr Atul Gawande — 2014 Reith Lectures".BBC.http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/6F2X8TpsxrJpnsq82hggHW/dr-atul-gawande-2014-reith-lectures.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Reith Lectures 2014 — Atul Gawande".BBC.http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04bsgvm.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Atul Gawande — TED Speaker".TED.https://www.ted.com/speakers/atul_gawande_1.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Obama's Health Adviser".The New York Times.June 9, 2009.https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/09/us/politics/09health.html.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Dr. Atul Gawande on Real Health Reform".Democracy Now!.January 5, 2010.http://www.democracynow.org/2010/1/5/dr_atul_gawande_on_real_health.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "'Devastating' global health void, Gawande says".Harvard Gazette.April 30, 2025.https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/04/devastating-global-health-void-gawande-says/.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Dr. Atul Gawande: Hundreds of Thousands Have Already Died Since Trump Closed USAID".Democracy Now!.November 13, 2025.https://www.democracynow.org/2025/11/13/usaid.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "In the grip of 'horror and anger,' Gawande grows more determined".Harvard Gazette.November 21, 2025.https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/11/in-the-grip-of-horror-and-anger-gawande-grows-more-determined/.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  18. ↑ "Harvard Alumni Day 2025 Keynote Address".Harvard Alumni.June 6, 2025.https://alumni.harvard.edu/community/stories/harvard-alumni-day-2025-keynote-address.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  19. ↑ "Time 100".Time.http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1984685_1984745_1984936,00.html.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  20. ↑ "Benefit Dinner".Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities.http://masshumanities.org/programs/benefit-dinner/.Retrieved 2026-02-23.
  21. ↑ "Humane Endeavor".Guernica.https://www.guernicamag.com/interviews/humane-endeavor/.Retrieved 2026-02-23.

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