Startups, set-backs and social movements: creating global impact for health
Speaker
Dr Alessandro Demaio
Postdoctoral Fellow in Global Health and NCDs at Harvard Medical School and Assistant Professor at the Copenhagen School of Global Health
A public health degree can take you anywhere - just ask Dr Demaio. At 29, he is an Assistant Professor in Global Health at the Copenhagen School of Global Health, blogger for PLOS and The Conversation, and a Global Health Fellow at Harvard Medical School.
Dr Demaio trained and worked as a medical doctor in Melbourne. While working as a doctor at The Alfred Hospital, he completed a Masters in Public Health including field work in Cambodia. In 2010, he relocated to Denmark and completed a PhD fellowship in Global Health with the University of Copenhagen, focusing on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). His PhD research was based in Mongolia, working with the Ministry of Health, UN and other local and international partners. He designed and led a national survey to inform current and future public health and policy responses to the growing burden of NCDs.
In 2013, frustrated by the slow pace of global action on NCDs, Dr Demaio co-founded NCDFREE - a global social movement against NCDs. Launched through crowdfunding and raising $60,000 in 30 days online, NCDFREE reached more than 2.5 million people in its first 18 months and made five short films around the globe including two with the World Health Organization. It has since established a YouTube channel, run Innovation Bootcamps in three cities and launched a global crowdsourced campaign.
Dr Demaio has worked on four continents across the science, academic, business and philanthropy sectors and is passionate about challenging the role of clinicians, academics and public health. Currently, he holds a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard Medical School and continues a part-time role as Assistant Professor at the Copenhagen School of Global Health. He also serves on the Advisory Board of EAT: the global, multi-stakeholder platform for food, health and environmental sustainability.
Join Dr Demaio as he explains his journey in global health - from medical student, to a Mongolian yurt, to Harvard Fellow and beyond.