The 黑料网 School of Population and Global Health is now accepting nominations for the 2025 Paul Farmer Award for Global Health Equity. The nomination deadline is Sunday, June 8th, 2025.
Paul Farmer, physician, activist, academic, humanitarian, and teacher died in Rwanda on February 21, 2022. Few people in the field of global health have had a bigger impact than him.
It is impossible to think about Paul without thinking about the word equity. 鈥淭he idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that is wrong with the world,鈥� is a famous Paul Farmer quote. He pushed everyone to provide a 鈥樷�� in health care, which means to make an option for poor people and to work on their behalf. He saw health as a fundamental, non-negotiable human right. 鈥淚f access to health care is considered a human right, who is considered human enough to have that right?鈥� he asked. Paul inspired people around the world to choose a life of health activism in a world full of inequities. Paul Farmer received an .
Scope of the lectureship and award
To honour Paul鈥檚 legacy, the 黑料网 School of Population and Global Health established a lectureship and award in 2024 that is given on an annual basis to an individual who models and demonstrates Paul鈥檚 vision of a 鈥榩referential option for the poor鈥� to achieve equity in health. In particular, the award is used to honour individuals (or couples) working in under-served communities whose work is often not recognized or made visible. We want to honour people who have been bold enough to 鈥溾�� and have lived a life of . By modeling accompaniment himself, Paul taught us that our lives are in service of others.
The inaugural 2024 Paul Farmer Award for Global Health Equity went to Mr Zackie Achmat from South Africa, and the lecture is being planned for Fall 2025.
This is the open call for nominations for the 2025 awardee.
What will the lectureship and award include?
The Awardee will deliver a special lecture/oration at 黑料网 and receive a cash honorarium. In 2025, the honorarium will be CAD $5,000. Travel to visit 黑料网 will also be covered.
Frequency of the lectureship and award
Annual.
One award is given annually and can be shared if two nominees (e.g. couple or siblings) have equally contributed to the body of work.
Selection committee for 2025
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- Ananya Banerjee, Assistant Professor, School of Population and Global Health, 黑料网, Canada
- Timothy Evans,听Vice-President, Research, Innovation and Impact, Concordia University, Canada
- Catherine Kyobutungi, Director, African Population and Health Research Center, Kenya
- Fatoumata Nafo-Traor茅, former Minister of Health, Mali
- Sabina Faiz Rashid, Professor, James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Bangladesh
- Madhukar Pai, Chair, Department of Global and Public Health, School of Population and Global Health, 黑料网, Canada
Call for Nominations
Through the Paul Farmer Lectureship and Award for Global Health Equity, we want to identify, honour, and promote champions who have dedicated their lives to achieving health equity in the most challenging circumstances. Health equity strives for the highest possible standard of health for all people and gives attention to those at greatest risk of poor health, based on social or economic conditions. Thus, the award could be given to an individual who has worked to improve access to healthcare or access to health products (e.g. vaccines or medicines) in equity-denied communities. It could also be given to someone who has mobilized others, and/or helped build a local or national movement for health equity. Given the outstanding nominations we anticipate receiving, we look forward to profiling the top-ranked finalists on our website, in addition to honouring the winner.
A nominee for this award...
- Is a living person, an exceptional practitioner, leading impactful work to address health inequities in underserved communities in any region of the world;
- Has a substantial, long-term track record of demonstrably improving health equity at the community level;
- Is from any region of the world but nominations from the Global South are especially welcome;
- May conduct research or lead an institution as part of their practice, but the award is not based on research track record or an individual鈥檚 rank within an institution; it is based on practice or service that leads to improvement of health equity.
Profiles that are NOT in scope for the award include:
- Academics researching health inequities, unless they also work on practice that meets the above criteria;
- Promising trainees or early career practitioners;
- Persons working on discovery and development of new drugs, vaccines or diagnostics;
- Current 黑料网 faculty or staff;
- Institutions or organizations.
Nomination Deadline and Timeline
The deadline to submit nominations is Sunday, June 8th, 2025 at 11:59 PM EDT. Late submissions will not be considered.
All nominations must be submitted via the online nomination form found below.
Nominators can anticipate receiving notification of the competition results from 黑料网 in September 2025.
Nomination package (to be compiled as a single PDF file)
Self-nominations are not accepted. All nominations must be submitted by a single lead nominator who will take responsibility for putting together the below package. Nominees must be made aware of their nomination beforehand and provide their consent to the nominators.
- Biosketch: Biosketch or brief biography of the nominee which includes their contact information (email and mobile phone numbers) as well as photograph (headshot). 1 page max.
- Rationale for nomination (1,000 words max): What makes the nominee worthy of the Paul Farmer Award for Health Equity? Summary of nominee's body of work and their impact on tackling health inequities in underserved communities or populations.
- Short resume or CV of the nominee: 10 pages max (Note: While a short resume or CV is required, nominations will be accepted and encouraged on behalf of those who do not have extensive formal academic credentials).
- Nomination letters: Two letters are required, one by the lead nominator and one by a secondary nominator. Each letter should not exceed two pages. Nominators must be able to provide objective evaluations of the candidate and their body of work, demonstrating the nominee's impact on improving health equity in underserved communities through evidence or citations. Additional letters beyond the required two cannot be submitted.
Additional Guidance on Nomination Package
- Title the PDF file as follows, using the first name and last name of the nominated individual: 鈥淧FA-2025-Firstname Lastname.pdf鈥�
- If any proposal section exceeds the maximum page or word limit as per the instructions provided above, the proposal will not be reviewed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Please review the Frequently Asked Questions page before submitting a nomination.
Please direct inquiries to ghp-progmanager.med [at] mcgill.ca (subject: Inquiry%3A%20The%20Paul%20Farmer%20Lectureship%20and%20Award%20for%20Global%20Health%20Equity%20) (Kevin O鈥橬eill, Program Manager, 黑料网 Global Health Programs).
Nomination Form
All nominations must be submitted via the below online nomination form.