Global health is a field that was born out of colonialism. Even today, it is neither diverse nor truly global. Every aspect of global health is dominated by individuals and institutions in high-income countries. So if global health has to be reimagined, people that typically hold power and privilege must master the art of allyship, where they see their primary role as allies or accomplices rather than leaders.  Dr. Pai recommends that participants read in advance the article Disrupting Global Health:  From Allyship to Collective Liberation which is available to download here.

Madhukar Pai, MD, PhD, FCAHS is a Canada Research Chair in Epidemiology & Global Health at McGill University, Montreal. He is the Associate Director of the McGill International TB Centre.

Dr. Pai did his medical training and community medicine residency in Vellore, India. He completed his PhD in epidemiology at UC Berkeley, and a postdoctoral fellowship at the UCSF.

He serves on the WHO Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for TB in the South-East Asia Region, and the WHO Advisory group on Tuberculosis Diagnostics and Laboratory. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of FIND, Geneva. He serves as the Chair of the Public-Private Mix (PPM) Working Group of the Stop TB Partnership and on the editorial boards of Lancet Infectious Diseases, PLoS Medicine, and BMJ Global Health, among others. He is currently the Editor-In-Chief of PLOS Global Public Health.

Dr. Pai’s research focuses on improving the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis, especially in high-burden countries like India and South Africa. His research is supported by grant funding from the Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada, and Canadian Institutes of Health Research. He has more than 350 publications. He is recipient of the Union Scientific Prize, Chanchlani Global Health Research Award, Haile T. Debas Prize, and David Johnston Faculty & Staff Award. He is a member of the Royal Society of Canada, and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

Email: madhukar.pai@mcgill.ca