Welcome to the SPHERE Program
The Social Policies for Health Equity Research (SPHERE) program, led by Dr. Rita Hamad, is a research group that focuses on evaluating the health effects of social and economic policies. SPHERE is currently based at the University of California San Francisco, but will be moving in July 2023 to the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard School of Public Health.
The research conducted at SPHERE helps us to understand the role of social and economic factors—like poverty, education, and structural racism—in influencing racial and socioeconomic disparities in health. It also helps to provide evidence on specific policies to inform policymaking to attain health equity.
Our Mission:
The mission of the Social Policies for Health Equity Research Program is to foster evidence-informed policymaking with the goal of achieving health equity. We do this by conducting quality research on the effects of social and economic policies on racial and socioeconomic disparities in health; by disseminating our findings to policymakers, key stakeholders, and the public; and by supporting the training of the next generation of health equity researchers.
