Patricia L. Hibberd, MD, PhD

Chair and Professor, Boston University School of Public Health

Biography

Dr. Patricia Hibberd, MD, PhD is the Chair of Global Health in the Boston University School of Public Health. Dr. Hibberd is also a professor of Global Health for the BUSPH and professor of Medicine in Infectious Diseases for the BUSM. Prior to her positions at Boston University, Dr. Hibberd was professor of Global Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, and served as director of the Division of Global Health in the Department of Pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital. She received a BSc (honors) from King’s College, London, and a PhD degree in information science/epidemiology from Leicester University in 1978. She came to the US in 1980 as an epidemiologist researcher and obtained an MD from Harvard Medical School in 1986. Dr. Hibberd trained in internal medicine and infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. She has had leadership roles in infectious diseases, epidemiology, clinical research, and global health at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Tufts Medical Center/Tufts University School of Medicine. She was also a General Clinical Research Center program director while she was at Tufts.

Dr. Hibberd is a practicing infectious disease consultant who also leads a clinical and translational research program focusing on the prevention and treatment of childhood pneumonia, neonatal sepsis, and diarrhea—the leading killers of children under age 5 worldwide. She has worked in India for 20 years, and her research in India has been funded by NIH/NICHD’s Global Network for Women’s and Children’s Health Research since 2008. She is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Malawi and by Saving Lives at Birth in Pakistan for the development of novel point of care diagnostics for pneumonia in young children. One of her passions is mentorship and fostering the development of the next generation of global health leaders—these include undergraduate, public health, and medical students, residents, fellows, and junior faculty. Dr. Hibberd is also a Paul G. Rogers Society Ambassador for Global Health Research and is currently chair of the Data and Safety Monitoring Board for the CDC’s STRIVE Trial, testing one of the vaccines (rVSV-ZEBOV) to prevent Ebola in Sierra Leone. She has published more than 300 articles, chapters, and books and serves on advisory boards to many US and international organizations.

Publications

  • Published 6/1/2026

    Aghai ZH, Kavi A, Thorsten VR, Somannavar MS, Bhat R, McClure EM, Babineau DC, Patel AB, Saleem S, Dhaded SM, Ramdurg UY, Wylie BJ, Mazariegos M, Tshefu AK, Carlo WA, Krebs NF, Petri WA, Hibberd PL, Asturias EJ, Bucher SL, Patterson JK, Bauserman MS, Esamai F, Goldenberg RL, Boelig RC, Goudar SS, Derman RJ. Risk factors and mortality in infants who received bag and mask ventilation at birth: a secondary analysis from the global network maternal newborn health registry. J Perinatol. 2026 Jun 01. PMID: 42225924.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 5/14/2026

    Ramani M, Carlo WA, Mwenechanya M, Chomba E, Goudar SS, Derman RJ, Metgud MC, Kavi A, Bauserman M, Patterson J, Tshefu AK, Lokangaka AL, Krebs NF, Mazariegos M, Barrientos D, Patel AB, Hibberd PL, Bhargav S, Andelkar A, Saleem S, Goldenberg RL, Tikmani SS, Yasmin H, Babineau DC, Hemingway-Foday JJ, Trotta M, Rasco C, McClure EM, Gustafson KE. Neurodevelopmental Pediatric Follow-Up After the Azithromycin Prevention in Labor Use Study. Obstet Gynecol. 2026 May 14. PMID: 42133947.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 5/1/2026

    Meltzer GY, Duttweiler LP, Saleem S, Shankar K, Mazariegos M, Tshefu A, Patterson JK, Chomba E, Carlo WA, Goudar S, Derman R, Patel AB, Hibberd PL, Liechty E, Essamai F, Asturias E, Babineau DC, Moore J, Tuholske C, Zimmer A, Coull BA, McClure E, Goldenberg RL, Krebs N, Hoffman MK, Wylie BJ. Aspirin and Preterm Birth Among Pregnant People With Increased Heat Exposure: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2026 May 01; 9(5):e2611402. PMID: 42090150.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 3/30/2026

    Moschovis PP, Sharfi A, Chaudhury S, Sharma A, Wiens MO, Kumbakumba E, Keneema O, Nyehengane D, Kabakyenga J, Ansermino JM, Kissoon N, Christiani DC, Dzik W, Kiwanuka JP, Hibberd PL. The Effect of Anemia on Mortality in Children Hospitalized with Severe Pneumonia in Uganda. J Pediatr. 2026 Mar 30; 294:115090. PMID: 41921770.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 3/25/2026

    Isa YS, Carelus M, Silber I, Salaudeen R, Sarwar G, Olatunji YA, Hossain I, Osei I, Lobga G, Adeshola B, Barjo O, Drammeh MM, D'Alessandro U, Hibberd PL, Mackenzie GA, Valim C. Prognosis of clinical pneumonia in undernourished children in rural Gambia. Pneumonia (Nathan). 2026 Mar 25; 18(1). PMID: 41877298.

    Read at: PubMed

View All 308 Publications:   View Full Profile in BUMC

Other Positions

  • Professor, Medicine
    Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
  • Professor, Pediatrics
    Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Websites

Education

  • Harvard Medical School, MD
  • University of Leicester, PhD
  • King's College London, BSc

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