Dr. Jody Heymann

Biography

Jody Heymann, MD, PhD, is the founding director of the WORLD Policy Analysis Center and served as dean of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health from 2013 to 2018. She leads an unprecedented effort to improve the availability and quality of comparative policy data for policymakers and researchers worldwide. The WORLD Policy Analysis Center examines health and social policies across 193 UN countries, aiming to strengthen equal opportunities globally through effective public sector approaches. In 2023, WORLD is launching new policy data to accelerate progress toward achieving gender equality across various topics. Heymann previously held the Canada Research Chair in Global Health and Social Policy at McGill University and was the founding director of the Institute for Health and Social Policy. She has been a faculty member at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health and founded the Project on Global Working Families. She has received numerous honors, including election to the U.S. National Academy of Medicine in 2013 and to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2012. Heymann has authored or edited over 500 publications and 19 books, contributing significantly to the fields of health policy and social justice.

Research Interests