Göran Tomson

Göran Tomson

Professor Emeritus | Docent
Visiting address: Widerströmska huset, Tomtebodavägen 18 A, Plan 4, 17177 Stockholm
Postal address: K9 Global folkhälsa, K9 GPH von Schreeb, 171 77 Stockholm
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About me

  • Göran is a Professor of International Health Systems Research and member of the Health Systems and Policy research group, linked to Medical Management Centre (MMC) at the Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics (LIME) at Karolinska Institutet. He is a Counselor UN Agenda 2030 at the President’s office at KI. He is a co-founder and a Senior Advisor at the Swedish Institute for Global Health Transformation (SIGHT) at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Visiting Professor at Shandong University in China. Since 2019, Distinguished Fellow at the George Institute for Global Health', linked to UNSW Sydney and Oxford University.

    His extensive research and policy work focuses on universal health coverage and has been conducted in countries such as China, Kenya, Lao PDR, Sweden, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, and Zambia. His experience in the field of health policy and systems research has led to his appointment to various international committees, including the ongoing:

    - Senior advisor for the WHO EVIPNet (Evidence-Informed Policy Network)
    - WHO Scientific Advisory Committee's Alliance for Health Policy Systems Research
    - WHO European Advisory Committee on Health Research
    - Board member of the GLOBVAC Norwegian Research Council

    He is also the co-founder and a senior advisor to the ReAct Network on antimicrobial resistance, and a co-founder and board member for INRUD, the International Network for Rational Use of Drugs.

    Along with his research and advisory work, Göran also teaches health systems and policy courses at the Masters and PhD levels.

    For more information please see the HSP group link.

    Education
    Professor of International Health Systems Research, Karolinska Institutet, 2004.
    PhD in Health Systems Research and Drug Utilization, Karolinska Institutet, 1990.
    Specialist Phsyician in Family Medicine, 1985.
    Specialist Physician in Pediatrics, 1980.
    Medical Degree, Karolinska Institutet, 1973.

    Academic honours, awards and prizes
    Dr. Satya Pal Oration Award from the National Academy of Medical Sciences, India (2004).
    Karolinska Institutets etikpris (2014)
    Heidelberg University Silver Medal for long and outstanding cooperation, 2014

Research

  • Göran's research has the ambition to contribute to universal health coverage with accessibility to a good quality of care, especially to vulnerable groups in resource-poor settings, and he has conducted many intervention studies in complex social systems. His research uses systems thinking approach within the six different health systems building blocks: service delivery, financing, leadership and governance, medicines and technologies, human resources, and information.

    In an external research assessment (ERA) at Karolinska Institutet, the Health System and Policy research group was described as an "outstanding research constellation, demonstrating excellent performance in undertaking health systems and policy research and getting research into policy and practice".

    Göran is engaged in health policy formulation and implementation both globally and nationally. His interests include how to reverse the inverse care law - those with the greatest need get the least and lowest quality care - and knowledge translation and evidence-informed policies, and capacity building at the individual (Master's and PhD students) and institutional levels.

    Ongoing projects at KI include:
    - SMART2D EC Horizon 2020 funded diabetes type 2 South Africa, Sweden, and Uganda
    - KI-Makerere Collaboration: A research collaboration between the universities to promote capacity building and research training, while improving access to quality care for both children with fever, non-communicable diseases such as diabetes mellitus Type 2, and pregnant women. Sida
    - IMPACT: the Sino-Swedish Integrated Multisectorial Partnership for Containment of Antibiotic Resistance, to minimize emergency and dissemination of antibiotic resistance VR

Teaching

  • . Health Policy and Management PhD course
    . Health Systems and Policy basic and advanced modules masters course
    . Health Systems Global Health course

Articles

All other publications

Employments

  • Professor Emeritus, Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, 2025-2027
  • Professor, Senior, Central Administration, Karolinska Institutet, 2019-2023
  • Professor, Senior, Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, Karolinska Institutet, 2015-2018
  • Professor, Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, 2004-2014
  • Professor, Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, 1995-1996

Degrees and Education

  • Docent, Karolinska Institutet, 1993

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