Nurturing research ‘seeds’ into policy

Patricia García, former minister of health of Peru, recently spoke about translating research into policy for the Voices in Leadership series at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She currently serves at the School as a Menschel Senior Leadership Fellow.

García’s efforts as health minister included rolling out a labeling policy for processed foods, expanding electronic health records in hospitals, and improving access to syphilis testing.

Justin Kaplan, MPH ’19, wrote about García’s September 6, 2018 talk for the Voices in Leadership student blog.

He wrote that García described the process of translating research into policy as gradual and requiring a great deal of patience. “Things take time,” she said. “It’s like nurturing a little plant. When you put [in] a seed, things will grow, and eventually, you will have what you need.”

Read the blog post: Translating Research for Better Policy: Advice from Dr. Patricia García, Former Minister of Health of Peru

Kaplan was a summer fellow at WBUR, covering science and health for CommonHealth. Read his post The Doctors Without MDs: What Makes Osteopathic Medicine Different? and other articles.