Departmental Affiliations
Center & Institute Affiliations
Sara Bennett, PhD, MPhil, examines health policy and systems in low- and middle-income countries with a focus on institutional capacity, sustainability, and systems governance.
Contact Info
Research Interests
health systems; ; evidence-to-policy; policy networks; governance; aid effectiveness and sustainability; multisectoral collaboration
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Experiences & Accomplishments
My background is in politics and economics, and I have a broad interest in health systems having previously studied issues in health financing, the role of the private sector, health worker motivation, changing roles of government and the impact of global health initiatives on health systems.
Currently I am interested in understanding and addressing some of the institutional challenges in promoting stronger governance for health. For example, my interests encompass:-
• How alternative institutional arrangements support (or undermine) the use of evidence in policy and decision-making
• How to strengthen multisectoral collaboration for health
• The nature of donor/country government relations in health and in particular issues of donor transition
• Enhancing accountabilities for health, in particular understanding approaches and challenges to institutionalizing accountability mechanisms.
I enjoy working in multi-disciplinary teams, and many of the projects I am involved in use mixed-methods approaches. I am particularly interested in the application of political science to health systems, as this is too often neglected.
I am currently the CEO of the Future Health Systems consortium, and the former chair of Health Systems Global, I also Chair the Joint Health Systems Resarch Committee (Wellcome Trust/MRC/DFID/ESRC). I currently direct the DrPH program at Johns Hopkins.
Follow me on Twitter: @saracbennett
Select Publications
Selected recent publications
Fryatt B, Bennett S, and Soucat A (2017) Health Sector Governance: Should we be investing more? BMJ Global Health DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2017-000343
Zakumumpa H*, Bennett S, Ssengooba F, (2017) Modifications to ART service delivery models by health facilities in Uganda in promotion of intervention sustainability: A mixed-methods study Implementation Science 12:45 10.1186/s13012-017-0578-8
Rasanathan K, Bennett S, Atkins V, Beschel R, Carrasquilla G, Charles J, Dasgupta R, Emerson K, Glandon D, Kanchanachitra C, Kingsley P, Matheson D, Mbabu RM, Mwansambo C, Paul J, Radebe T, Smith J, Solar O, Soucat A, Ssennyonjo A, Wismar M, Zaidi S. (2017) Governing Multisectoral Action for Health in Low- and Middle-income Countries Plos Medicine 14(4) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002285
Rodriguez D., Whiteside A., and Bennett S. (2017) Creating and Sustaining Political Commitment for Key Populations during Donor Transitions. Bull World Health Organ 2017;95:121–127. doi: 10.2471/BLT.16.179861.
Jessani N.* Kennedy C. and Bennett S. (2016) The human capital of knowledge brokers: An analysis of attributes, capacities and skills of academic faculty at Kenyan Schools of Public Health Health Research Policy and Systems 14:58 DOI: 10.1186/s12961-016-0133-0