Global health: what should we care about?

Intervention prioritisation helps make Effective Altruism effective. Ways of measuring competing issues bear huge influence over what problems are investigated and which interventions are promoted. But what should we care about in global health? Must saving lives be our highest priority? Or should we think more about human wellbeing? Can we ensure new charities truly address an issue? How can we approach an emerging, potentially impactful cause area?

Join us for informal talks and a Global Health social near Queen’s Park. Go beyond theory and engage with 5 experts from three organisations discussing real life applications of cause prioritisation frameworks. This will be followed with time for meeting others interested in global development.

Speakers

We are delighted to be joined by the following speakers:

Akhil Bansal, Charity Entrepreneurship

Akhil is a clinical doctor who has completed a degree in neuroscience and a Doctor of Medicine. He is part of the research team at Charity Entrepreneurship, helping to identify evidence-based and cost-effective interventions for new charities to start. Before this, Akhil was working in health consulting and policy, particularly regarding health system resilience and preparedness, at both Stanford Existential Risk Initiative and at Oxford Pharmagenesis. He is a clinical lecturer in medical education at the University of Sydney, and has co-founded an organisation called High-Impact Medicine.

Michael Plant, Happier Lives Institute

Whilst studying for his PhD in moral philosophy at the University of Oxford, Michael realised there was a pressing need for more research on the most cost-effective, evidence-based ways to improve global happiness – he founded the Happier Lives Institute in 2019 as a result. As well as directing HLI, Michael is also a Research Fellow at Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre. Before that, he was a research assistant to Peter Singer, a researcher for the Rt Hon Sir Michael Fallon MP, and founded Hippo, a happiness-tracking app.

Tom Hird, Aisling Leow and Jenny Kudymowa, Rethink Priorities

A core part of the Global Health and Development research team at Rethink Priorities. Tom is Senior Research Manager, formerly he was a research lead for the Stopping Tobacco Organizations and Products (STOP) Partnership, Research Fellow at the University of Bath, and postdoctoral fellow at Monash University. Aisling is a Senior Researcher, previously she was the Head of Analytics at the Against Malaria Foundation. Jenny is a Researcher with a background in economics with a specialization in global health, development, and impact evaluation. Before coming to RP, she worked as a policy evaluation consultant for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Schedule

6.30-7.00 PM: Doors open: grab some snacks and meet new people

7.00-8.30 PM: Talks with Q&As

8.30-9.30 PM: Discussions & social time