Heather E. Lanthorn, ScD, MPH (@HLanthorn) is a social and behavioral scientist improving health systems toward dignity. She is Program Co-Director for the Mercury Project at the Social Science Research Council.
Heather works with teams and clients around the world to drive feasible, evidence-informed policy improvements. She focuses on answering practical questions to strengthen health systems. Heather digs deep on the details of programs and policies: to understand what’s working, what’s not, why not, and where to best allocate resources.
She was an Associate Director at IDinsight, advising global development leaders in Asia and Africa. Heather is an affiliate at the Busara Center for Behavioral Economics and researcher with The Dignity Project. She has worked with International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) and Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA). She was a Fulbright Fellow at the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation (MDRF).
Heather E. Lanthorn received her Doctorate of Science (ScD) in Global Health and Population from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She earned her Master of Public Health (MPH) in Health Behavior and Health Education from the University of Michigan. She has a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Anthropology from Wake Forest University.
Heather enjoys history podcasts, scuba diving, and endless pots of tea.
Heather’s research and work focuses on
- Behavioral science
- Evidence-informed decision-making
- Stakeholder mapping and analysis
- Organizational learning
- Implementation research
- Health systems
- Communications
Heather E. Lanthorn 