Lynn Black, MD, MPH
Department of Medicine
As a member of the Global Disaster Response and Humanitarian Action Team for the MGH Center for Global Health, I participated in the implementation and operationalization of institutional standards, clinical guidelines and training for deployment of professional MGH clinical teams to respond to Typhoon Haiyan (Philippines 2013), Hurricanes Matthew (2016), Harvey, Maria, Irma (2017), the Nepalese Earthquake (2015), Hurricane Florence (2018), Saipan Typhoon Response (2018) and multiple deployments to the border in Mexico (2021-22) to provide health care to asylum seekers. As Medical Director for the US Federal Government’s Trauma and Critical Care Team, I responded to the Haiti Earthquake (2011) initially setting up a field hospital in Port au Prince and then as Medical Director with Harvard Humanitarian Initiative for the largest field hospital in Haiti. In March of 2020, I was tasked with setting up the MGH outpatient Respiratory Illness Clinics for suspected COVID. In 2021, I assisted with setting up a COVID unit at our partnership hospital, Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, in Uganda. I have trained as a master level trauma mitigation coach and am an Associate Member of the Division of Global Psychiatry. I am on the Board of Health Equity International working in Haiti and Board Chair Emeritus of Last Mile Health leading the organization during the Ebola epidemic in Liberia. With WHO, I worked with a team to develop palliative care guidelines for disaster settings. With Physicians for Human Rights, I was engaged program development and research on gender-based violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Belize. I have taught medical students, residents and practicing physicians training for at disaster simulations conducted by Harvard Humanitarian Initiative/MGH Global Disaster Response. I helped facilitate Missioncraft 2017:Leadership in Disaster Relief held at MGH for experienced disaster responders including HMS faculty and have mentored both students and physicians interested in humanitarian work. In addition, my teaching has focused on disaster response ethics, preparedness, and resiliency in complex humanitarian disasters.