Crossroads in Global Health Pragmatic Solutions in a Complex World

Introduction  1.  Doing Good in an Imperfect World 2.  Global Health in Flux: History, Hurdles, and Hope 3.  Seeing the World As It Is 4.  The Shifting Landscape of Global Health: Discrete Missions in a Changing Era 5.  The Dark Side of Doing Good 6.  The Efficiency Imperative: Professionalizing Medical Aid at Scale 7.  Global Philanthropic Medicine as a Marketplace 8.  Making the Invisible Visible: How to Build a Map and a Marketplace for Global Philanthropic Medicine 9.  Why We Help and Who We Become

Biography

Ebby Elahi is an oculofacial surgeon and Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology, and Environmental Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Having grown up and lived on three continents, he developed an early familiarity with differing cultures, health systems, and institutional structures that would later inform his professional path. He completed his residency in ophthalmology and subspecialty training in oculofacial surgery at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. After beginning his career in academic medicine, he went on to build an enduring clinical practice as Director of Fifth Avenue Associates in New York City while continuing his academic commitments. He also holds an MBA from Columbia University.

For more than three decades, Dr. Elahi has been involved in global health initiatives across multiple regions, working alongside local physicians, institutions, and community partners in sustained collaborations. His engagement has been continuous and field-based. He has published widely in the field, including the compendium, Insights in Global Health, offering analysis shaped by significant experience in direct service delivery and institutional partnership.

He maintains that expanding the availability and sharing of knowledge can strengthen both the quantity and the quality of international participation in global health. Greater visibility into areas of concentrated need, together with clearer understanding of both responsibilities and opportunities for service, can encourage thoughtful engagement in parts of the world where significant needs remain insufficiently seen.

Crossroads in Global Health reflects this perspective. The book presents a constructive outlook for those who seek to participate responsibly in direct service delivery and global philanthropic medicine, affirming that informed, sustained involvement continues to have the capacity to make a meaningful difference where it is needed most.

Joan LaRovere is a pediatric cardiac intensivist at Boston Children's Hospital and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. She currently serves as Senior Vice President and Interim Chief Medical Officer at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Her career has spanned academic medical systems in both the United States and the United Kingdom, shaping her perspective on how healthcare systems organize care and respond to complex challenges. She trained at Boston Children’s Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, and was Chief of the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at the Royal Brompton Hospital and Imperial College London, where she held an academic appointment. She served as a trustee of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and on committees advising the Chief Medical Officer for England.

Dr. LaRovere has long been involved in global health, participating in international medical missions and caring for children who traveled to the UK from Africa and Asia through charitable foundations seeking specialized treatment. These experiences fostered a sustained interest in the shared challenges that shape the experience of illness and care across countries and cultures.

She is Co-Founder and President of Virtue Foundation, working with clinicians, institutions, and national health systems to expand access to medical and surgical care. Through the foundation’s Actionable Data Initiative, she has helped develop data-driven approaches to identify gaps in healthcare access and improve coordination of medical resources.

Crossroads in Global Health reflects a long-standing collaboration with Dr. Ebby Elahi. Drawing on decades of clinical engagement and partnership, the book reflects on how clearer information and stronger networks can make unmet medical need more visible and better connect existing medical capacity with underserved communities.