Aimed at developing promising health care policy researchers and practitioners in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, the Harkness fellowships provide a unique opportunity to spend up to 12 months in the United States, conduct a policy-oriented research study, gain firsthand exposure to managed care and other models of health care delivery, enhance methodological skills, and work with leading health policy experts. Selection committees in each country interview candidates and recommend fellows. Nicole Lurie, M.D., senior natural scientist and Paul O'Neill Alcoa Professor of Health Policy at the RAND Corporation, serves as the Fund's senior fellowships advisor.
Harkness Fellows in Health Care Policy continue to generate articles based on their fellowship work. For example, U.K. Harkness Fellow Panos Kanavos (2001-02) coauthored the lead article
(2) in the May/June 2003 issue of
Health Affairs, on reference drug pricing, with Uwe Reinhardt, Princeton health economist and chair of the Fund's international coordinating committee. In the same issue, an article
(3) by Canadian Harkness Associate Steven Morgan (2001-02) assessed prescription drug coverage for seniors in Canada, and a paper
(4) coauthored by U.K. fellows Martin Marshall, M.D., and Huw T. O. Davies (1998-99) surveyed the status of quality reporting in the U.S. and the U.K. An article
(5) by New Zealand fellow and journalist Rae Lamb (2001-02) on hospital practices in disclosing medical errors appeared in
Health Affairs just prior to a vote in the House of Representatives on legislation to cap medical malpractice awards, providing timely evidence to inform the debate. Australian fellow Jane Pirkis (2001-02) was lead author of a paper,
(6) prepared with U.S. mentors Charles Irwin and Claire Brindis, on counseling for suicidal adolescents that appeared in
Journal of Adolescent Health. Another Australian fellow, Russell Gruen, M.B., B.S. (2002-03), coauthored the American College of Surgeons Code of Professional Practice,
(7) published in the
Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
Fellows who have returned to their home countries continue to receive national recognition and assume influential posts in health care policy. In the United Kingdom, Nicholas Steele, M.B., Ch.B. (2002-03), received the U.K. National Primary Care Researcher Development Award; and Ronald Gray, M.B., Ch.B. (2002-03) was promoted to senior clinical research fellow in epidemiology at Oxford University. In Australia, Alan Cass, M.B., B.S., FRACP (2002-03) received the Medical Journal of Australia - Wyeth Award for the best article of the year; and, in New Zealand, Colin Tukuitonga, D.S.M. (2000-01), director of public health, was named director of global research on obesity at the World Health Organization in Geneva, and Sue Crengle, M.B., Ch.B., FRNZCGP (1999-00) was made Maori health adviser to the New Zealand National Health Committee.
