Abraar Karan

Karan attended Yale University, where he graduated with distinction in Political Science. During college, Karan worked in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, Uganda, and India on public health research focused on the links between poverty, structural violence, and health.{{Cite web|date=2018-06-14|title=Calabasas grad already making impact on world health scene|url=https://www.theacorn.com/articles/calabasas-grad-already-making-impact-on-world-health-scene/|access-date=2020-07-19|website=The Acorn}}{{Cite web|date=2020-05-29|title=A Better Insect Repellent|url=https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/magazine/magazine_article/a-better-insect-repellent/|access-date=2020-07-19|website=Harvard Public Health Magazine|language=en-us}} He also studied as a Yale Journalism Scholar under former New York Times Executive Editor, Jill Abramson.

Karan was awarded a Yale Parker Huang Fellowship, which supported a year of research in Hyderabad and New Delhi, India, exploring the Stockholm Syndrome among female sex workers, as well as sex trafficking victims in red light districts.{{Cite web|title=The Surprising Wishes Of India's Sex Workers|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/04/30/518156410/the-surprising-wishes-of-indias-sex-workers|access-date=2020-07-19|website=NPR.org|date=30 April 2017 |language=en |last1=Karan |first1=Abraar }} Along with Dr. Nathan Hansen, Karan proposed the term “Sonagachi Syndrome”{{Cite journal|last1=Karan|first1=Abraar|last2=Hansen|first2=Nathan|date=2018-02-06|title=Does the Stockholm Syndrome affect female sex workers? The case for a "Sonagachi Syndrome"|url= |journal=BMC International Health and Human Rights|volume=18|issue=1|pages=10|doi=10.1186/s12914-018-0148-4|issn=1472-698X|pmc=5802051|pmid=29409491 |doi-access=free }} to describe the psychological dependency that victims of sex trafficking at times display to their captors,{{Cite news|title=Stockholm Syndrome in the Pimp-Victim Relationship|work=New York Times|date=3 May 2012 |url=https://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/stockholm-syndrome-in-the-pimp-victim-relationship/}} named after Sonagachi, India's largest red light district.

Karan earned his doctorate in medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, where he served as Class President. During medical school, Karan worked at the United States CDC in Mozambique and at the Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. He was selected as a 2016 medical fellow at the Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Medical Ethics.{{Cite web|title=Fellows By Year {{!}} FASPE|url=https://www.faspe-ethics.org/fellows-by-year/|access-date=2020-07-19|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|date=2016-04-21|title=Local alumni chosen to study in European ethics program|url=https://www.theacorn.com/articles/local-alumni-chosen-to-study-in-european-ethics-program/|access-date=2020-07-23|website=The Acorn}}

He went on to earn an MPH in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. During graduate school, with his college roommate Andrew Rothaus, Karan co-founded Hour72 insect repellent,{{Cite web|last=Belli|first=Brita|date=2018-05-04|title=Former Yale roommates win $75K grand prize at Harvard to combat disease|url=https://news.yale.edu/2018/05/04/former-yale-roommates-win-75k-grand-prize-harvard-combat-disease|access-date=2020-07-19|website=YaleNews|language=en}} for which the pair won the Harvard Business School's New Venture Competition,{{Cite web|date=2018-04-25|title=Three-day mosquito repellent takes top prize at biz school competition|url=https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/mosquito-repellent-new-venture-competition/|access-date=2020-07-19|website=News|language=en-us}} and were finalists in the Harvard President's Challenge.{{Cite web|title=Finalists Named in Annual President's Innovation Challenge|url=https://innovationlabs.harvard.edu/about/news/finalists-named-annual-presidents-innovation-challenge/|access-date=2020-07-19|website=Harvard Innovation Labs|date=17 April 2019 |language=en-US}}

Karan trained in internal medicine at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, in the Hiatt Residency in Global Health Equity established by Dr. Howard Hiatt and Dr. Paul Farmer. Karan earned his Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (DTM&H) from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 2019. He completed his infectious diseases fellowship and Masters of Science in epidemiology at Stanford University, and is currently a post-doctoral researcher.{{Cite web |title=Abraar Karan, MD MPH DTM&H's Profile {{!}} Stanford Profiles |url=https://profiles.stanford.edu/abraar-karan |access-date=2023-01-15 |website=profiles.stanford.edu |language=en}}

Karan is the co-editor of the book, Protecting the Health of the Poor: Social Movements in the Global South,{{Cite book|url=https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/P/bo22556890.html|title=Protecting the Health of the Poor|access-date=2020-07-19|archive-date=2020-07-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719073735/https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/P/bo22556890.html|url-status=dead}} with ethicist Dr. Thomas Pogge. Karan went on to work as the editor on two global health works with the American Medical Association's Journal of Ethics. In 2016-17, Karan led the theme issue on international healthcare systems,{{Cite journal|last=Karan|first=Abraar|date=2016-07-01|title=Building Ethical Global Health Care Systems|url=https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/building-ethical-global-health-care-systems/2016-07|journal=AMA Journal of Ethics|volume=18|issue=7|pages=661–664|doi=10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.7.fred1-1607|issn=2376-6980|doi-access=free}} and in 2019-20 on pandemic response.{{Cite journal|date=2020-01-01|title=Culture, Context, and Epidemic Containment|url=https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/issue/culture-context-and-epidemic-containment|journal=AMA Journal of Ethics|volume=22|issue=1|pages=1–65|issn=2376-6980}}

Karan has written about neocolonialism in global health, and has been critical of the current global health enterprise.{{Cite web|title=Opinion: It's Time To End The Colonial Mindset In Global Health|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/12/30/784392315/opinion-its-time-to-end-the-colonial-mindset-in-global-health|access-date=2020-07-19|website=NPR.org|date=30 December 2019 |language=en |last1=Karan |first1=Abraar }}{{Cite web|title=OPINION: The Ghosts Of Colonialism Are Haunting The World's Response To The Pandemic|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/05/29/862602058/opinion-the-ghosts-of-colonialism-are-haunting-the-worlds-response-to-the-pandem|access-date=2020-07-19|website=NPR.org|date=29 May 2020 |language=en |last1=Karan |first1=Abraar }} Karan has been a columnist at the British Medical Journal since January 2019. He became a contributor to NPR during COVID-19, helping with weekly COVID-19 FAQs, on NPR All Things Considered{{Cite web|title=Physician Helps Listeners Make Choices|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/04/20/839463750/er-physician-helps-listeners-make-choices|access-date=2020-07-19|website=NPR.org|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Global Health Expert Answers The Most Common Coronavirus Questions|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/04/20/839464113/global-health-expert-answers-the-most-common-coronavirus-questions|access-date=2020-07-19|website=NPR.org|language=en}} with Ari Shapiro, and NPR Weekend Edition.{{Cite web|title=Treating COVID-19: What We Know Now|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/07/05/887386855/treating-covid-19-what-we-know-now|access-date=2020-07-19|website=NPR.org|language=en}}

Karan was active in the Massachusetts COVID-19 epidemic response as a medical fellow working with Commissioner Monica Bharel in the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Karan was a member of the Crisis Standard of Care Committee, and also worked on the allocation of scarce resources in the state response, including ventilators and Remdesivir.

Prior to the first COVID-19 surge, Karan wrote about the need for doctors to discuss code status with their high-risk patients in advance to plan for end-of-life care given high rates of ventilator deaths.{{Cite web|title=If You Get Critically Ill With COVID-19, How Far Should Doctors Go To Keep You Alive?|url=https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2020/03/31/advance-care-planning-coronavirus-evan-shannon-abraar-karan|access-date=2020-07-19|website=wbur.org|date=31 March 2020 |language=en}} He was a proponent of the Black Lives Matter protests as being key to bringing attention toward the racial inequities in COVID-19 outcomes in the US.{{Cite web|last=Diamond|first=Dan|title=Suddenly, Public Health Officials Say Social Justice Matters More Than Social Distance|url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/06/04/public-health-protests-301534|access-date=2020-07-19|website=POLITICO|date=4 June 2020 |language=en}}{{Cite journal|last1=Karan|first1=Abraar|last2=Katz|first2=Ingrid|date=2020-06-09|title=There is no stopping covid-19 without stopping racism|url=https://www.bmj.com/content/369/bmj.m2244|journal=BMJ|language=en|volume=369|pages=m2244|doi=10.1136/bmj.m2244|issn=1756-1833|pmid=32518097|s2cid=219542161|doi-access=free}} Karan wrote in the Washington Post that central isolation options were a key part of breaking chains of disease transmission after he noted that many of his patients were unable to safely isolate.{{Cite news|title=Perspective {{!}} If you get covid-19, leaving your house may be the best way to protect your family|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/04/21/isolate-home-coronavirus-quarantine/|access-date=2020-07-19|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en}} He opined against the early xenophobia against Asians;{{Cite web|date=2020-01-31|title=Abraar Karan: Coronavirus—containing the parallel epidemics of xenophobia and misinformation|url=https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2020/01/31/coronavirus-we-need-to-contain-the-parallel-epidemics-of-xenophobia-and-misinformation/|access-date=2020-07-19|website=The BMJ|language=en-US}} in favor of a diverse range of expert voices in pandemic response;{{Cite web|date=2020-03-26|title=Abraar Karan: Covid-19—on trust, experts, and the brilliance of everyday people|url=https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2020/03/26/abraar-karan-covid-19-trust-experts-brilliance-everyday-people/|access-date=2020-07-19|website=The BMJ|language=en-US}} and warned that stigma could obstruct the success of contact tracing efforts.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Stigma is making the COVID-19 pandemic more invisible - The Boston Globe|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/11/30/opinion/stigma-is-making-covid-19-pandemic-more-invisible/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130180243/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/11/30/opinion/stigma-is-making-covid-19-pandemic-more-invisible/ |archive-date=2020-11-30 |access-date=2021-01-27|website=BostonGlobe.com|language=en-US}}

Along with Dr. Ranu Dhillon and Sri Srikrishna, Karan advocated for the need for better masks at a population level early in the epidemic.{{Cite news|last1=Dhillon|first1=Ranu S.|last2=Karan|first2=Abraar|last3=Beier|first3=David|last4=Sullivan|first4=Andrew|last5=Chowell|first5=Gerardo|last6=Chowell|first6=Diego|last7=Srikrishna|first7=Devabhaktuni|date=2020-05-01|title=A Plan to Safely Reopen the U.S. Despite Inadequate Testing|work=Harvard Business Review|url=https://hbr.org/2020/05/a-plan-to-safely-reopen-the-u-s-despite-inadequate-testing|access-date=2020-07-19|issn=0017-8012}}{{Cite news|last1=Dhillon|first1=Ranu S.|last2=Karan|first2=Abraar|last3=Beier|first3=David|last4=Srikrishna|first4=Devabhaktuni|date=2020-06-18|title=We Need Better Masks|work=Harvard Business Review|url=https://hbr.org/2020/06/we-need-better-masks|access-date=2020-07-19|issn=0017-8012}} Karan and Dhillon also penned op-eds warning against the reopening of professional sports given high levels of community transmission of COVID-19 at the time;{{Cite news|last1=Karan|first1=Abraar|last2=Dhillon|first2=Ranu|title=Perspective {{!}} Sports can't restart safely right now|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/07/02/sports-leagues-deluded-coronavirus/|access-date=2020-07-19|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en}} the need for smarter, targeted lockdowns in high-transmission counties;{{Cite news|last1=Dhillon|first1=Ranu S.|last2=Karan|first2=Abraar|date=2020-08-12|title=The U.S. Needs Smarter Lockdowns. Now.|work=Harvard Business Review|url=https://hbr.org/2020/08/the-u-s-needs-smarter-lockdowns-now|access-date=2020-08-21|issn=0017-8012}} the use of rapid antigen tests for epidemic control;{{Cite news|last1=Dhillon|first1=Ranu S.|last2=Karan|first2=Abraar|last3=Srikrishna|first3=Sri|title=Perspective {{!}} We could control the coronavirus by winter if we start using rapid tests|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/08/17/rapid-coronavirus-testing-pcr/|access-date=2020-08-21|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en}} and the need for stronger public health outbreak investigations and contact tracing to understand why COVID-19 transmission was ongoing despite implemented control measures.{{Cite news|last1=Dhillon|first1=Ranu S.|last2=Karan|first2=Abraar|title=Perspective {{!}} We can't stop covid-19 if we don't know where and why it's spreading|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/09/15/covid-transmission-local-strategy/|access-date=2020-10-10|issn=0190-8286}} Karan warned about the potential for President Trump's COVID-19 case to be used to downplay the virus.{{Cite news|last=Karan|first=Abraar|title=Perspective {{!}} Trump's case should not change how we think about covid-19|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/10/02/trump-covid-public-reaction-misinformation/|access-date=2020-10-10|issn=0190-8286}} He wrote in his column in the British Medical Journal that physicians needed to take a stance in the 2020 United States election because "there is no talking about politics without talking about health."{{Cite web|date=2020-10-09|title=Abraar Karan: Politics and public health in America—taking a stand for what is right|url=https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2020/10/09/abraar-karan-politics-and-public-health-in-america-taking-a-stand-for-what-is-right/|access-date=2020-10-10|website=The BMJ|language=en-US}} Karan was critical of the Great Barrington Declaration and debated against one of its authors, Dr. Martin Kulldorff, on Democracy Now.{{Cite web|title=Herd Immunity: Is It a More Compassionate Approach or Will It Lead to Death or Illness for Millions?|url=https://www.democracynow.org/2020/10/15/herd_immunity_debate|access-date=2020-10-16|website=Democracy Now!|language=en}} He spoke on the Zach Lowe ESPN podcast regarding Covid19 and the risk of spread in the NBA.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=ESPN Lowe Podcast|url=https://www.espn.com/radio/play/_/id/30700646|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112230550/https://www.espn.com/radio/play/_/id/30700646 |archive-date=2021-01-12 |access-date=|website=}} In late January 2021, he was quoted in a CNN interview with Sanjay Gupta that if all Americans wore N95 equivalent masks for four weeks, "This would stop the epidemic".{{Cite web|last=Enriquez|first=Keri|title=The face mask that could end the pandemic|url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/22/health/face-mask-n95-coronavirus-transmission/index.html|access-date=2021-01-26|website=CNN|date=23 January 2021 }}

• Top 100 Twitter Influencers in Infectious Diseases (2023){{Cite journal |title=The Top 100 Twitter Influencers in Infectious Diseases |date=2023 |doi=10.1097/IM9.0000000000000111 |last1=Santana |first1=Marcela Araujo de Oliveira |last2=Butt |first2=Saira |journal=Infectious Microbes and Diseases |volume=5 |pages=36–40 |doi-access=free }}
• 50 Experts to Follow During a Pandemic (2020){{Cite web|date=2020-09-18|title=50 Experts to Trust in a Pandemic|url=https://elemental.medium.com/50-experts-to-trust-in-a-pandemic-fe58932950e7|access-date=2020-10-10|website=Medium|language=en}}
• 40 Under 40 NMQF Leader in Health (2020){{Cite web|title=Abraar Karan, MD, MPH, DTM&H|url=https://www.nmqf.org/40-under-40-awardees/2020/abraar-karan|access-date=2020-07-19|website=The National Minority Quality Forum|language=en-US}}
• STAT News Wunderkind (2018){{Cite web|title=Meet the 2018 STAT Wunderkinds|url=https://www.statnews.com/wunderkinds-2018/|access-date=2020-07-19|website=STAT|language=en-US}}
• Medtech Boston 40 Under 40 Healthcare Innovator (2018){{Cite web|date=2018-09-18|title=Announcing the 2018 MedTech Boston 40 Under 40 Healthcare Innovators!|url=https://medtechboston.medstro.com/blog/2018/09/18/the-2018-medtech-boston-40-under-40-healthcare-innovators/|access-date=2020-07-19|website=MedTech Boston|language=en-US}}
• Harvard Business School New Venture Competition (2018){{Cite web|title=Harvard Business School Names Winners of 21st New Venture Competition at Finale - News - Harvard Business School|url=https://www.hbs.edu/news/releases/Pages/new-venture-competition-finale-2018.aspx?cid=sm-tw-sf87379498&sf87379498=1|access-date=2020-07-19|website=hbs.edu| date=19 April 2018 }}

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Category:Yale University alumni

Category:David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA alumni

Category:Alumni of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Category:Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health alumni

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Living people

Category:American physicians