Who Decides? Gender, Medicine, and the Public's Health

Each year, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University hosts a conference that explores the role of gender in a significant aspect of the human experience. "Who Decides? Gender, Medicine, and the Public's Health" was the conference in 2014. At the conference we explored questions of who decides about health-care provision, research funding, and policy making. Gender, culture, economics, politics, and power all affect health-care decisions by individuals and communities in the United States and around the world. We brought together panels of physicians, policymakers, journalists, artists, and academics to discuss the gender dynamics involved in differing definitions of health and disease, the choices made in prioritizing research, and the gaps and opportunities in health policy and access to care as a result of the Affordable Care Act. Learn more about the people and programs of the Radcliffe Institute at