The Women and Health Initiative is led by Prof Ana Langer, a physician specializing in pediatrics and neonatology, and a reproductive health expert. She joined the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health in July 2010 as a Professor of the Practice of Public Health in the Department of Global Health and Population. Prof. Langer is respected worldwide as a leader in reproductive and maternal health, the translation of evidence into policies and programs, the improvement of quality of health care for women and families. For more than 30 years, she has been a leading researcher, programmer and advocate for the improvement of women’s health.

Prof Langer has published extensively on maternal mortality; technical and interpersonal quality of maternal health care; unsafe abortion; contraception; the introduction of evidence-based practices in maternal health services; and strategies to strengthen women’s reproductive rights. In 2015, in collaboration with experts from all over the world, Prof Langer published the comprehensive report Women and Health: A key to sustainable development in The Lancet. The paper lays out the foundations of the women and health framework which analyzes women’s health along the life cycle and its connections with social determinants of health and global transitions, and provides the evidence to fully demonstrate the critical roles women play as health care givers, and the development of communities and nations.