Designing the Future
of Health Systems

Physician. Researcher.
Institutional Builder.

A physician, health economist, and public health leader working at the intersection of health financing, systems transformation, institutional development, and evidence-based policy across Africa and the world.

Hailu Tamiru Dhufera holds a Doctor of Medicine (MD) from Jimma University, Ethiopia (2014), a Master of Philosophy in Global Health from the University of Bergen, Norway (2020), and a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (May 2024) — where his doctoral dissertation focused on identifying indigent households for subsidy and exemption from community health insurance premiums in Ethiopia, directly informing equity-oriented targeting policy. His doctoral committee included Professors Peter Berman, Stephane Verguet, and William Bean.

Currently Senior Technical Advisor at the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) Ethiopia (February 2025–present), he provides high-level technical leadership to the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Finance on health financing reform — including strategic purchasing design, CBHI and SHI reform, capitation and case-based payment implementation, provider payment mechanisms, multi-donor financing compacts, and large-scale tertiary and quaternary hospital feasibility assessments. He has also served as COVID-19 Case Management National Taskforce Co-Lead at CHAI and as a Case Management Officer with the World Health Organization in Oromia Region during the pandemic.

An Instructor in the Applied Global Health Practice course for MPH students at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (May 2024–present), Hailu has also served as Pedagogy Fellow, Teaching Fellow across 12 courses, and Research Associate at Harvard — bringing a unique blend of field implementation and academic rigor to every engagement. He served as President of Shaggar Institute of Technology, Addis Ababa (July–December 2025), where he led strategic and executive leadership for a multidisciplinary higher-education institution.

His earlier career includes roles as Specialty Services Advisor and Specialty Services Officer at Ethiopia's Ministry of Health, where he led the national specialty services survey and the national specialty and sub-specialty roadmap; Medical Director and Director of Clinical Governance at Alert Center, Addis Ababa; and General Medical Practitioner at Shanan Gibe Hospital, Jimma. He is a published researcher with work in The Lancet, Injury, IJS Global Health, and Anesthesia & Analgesia, and is the recipient of seven Harvard fellowships and awards including the Prajna Leadership Fellowship, Tessa Jowell Fellowship, and Harvey Fellowship. Native in Afan Oromo and Amharic, and fluent in English.