Denizhan Duran has been selected as the first Harvard Ministerial Doctoral Fellow. A graduate of Middlebury College, Denizhan is currently enrolled as a Doctor of Public Health student at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Through previous positions at the World Bank, World Health Organization, Clinton Health Access Initiative, and the Center for Global Development, Denizhan has experience working in Côte D’Ivoire, Ghana, Ethiopia and Malawi. For the purpose of this Fellowship, Denizhan will work with the Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program and the Côte D’Ivoire Ministries of Health and Finance to conduct research to develop policy recommendations on how Côte D’Ivoire can increase fiscal space for health through budget reprioritization and taxation analyses.
Learning of the Award, Denizhan said, “I am very excited to have been selected as a Ministerial Leadership Fellow.” The Fellowship will enable him to research opportunities for Côte d’Ivoire to achieve a higher threshold in public health financing. Denizhan added, “Côte d’Ivoire has a critically low-level of annual health expenditure. I hope my work can inform more effective use of existing budget and identify sources of potential additional revenue for health to help increase access and improve standards of public health care.”
On the value of the fellowship, the Harvard Chan School’s, Rifat Atun, Professor of Global Health Systems, said, “Student engagement in the Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program is extremely valuable for all concerned. It provides a unique educational, research, and personal growth opportunity for students in assisting government ministers to pursue ambitious goals in health and education, and contribute to sustainable development.”