Dr. Ruth Gibson

Dr. Ruth Margaret Gibson

Postdoctoral Fellow | Stanford University
Department of Health Policy | Center for Innovation in Global Health | CISAC
Email: rmgibson@stanford.edu
Google Scholar: 981+ citations
Last Updated: January 2025

Current Positions

Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Health Policy
Stanford Medicine, Stanford University | 2021 - Present

• Led panel analysis of aid sanctions’ effects on maternal-child mortality (1990-2019), published in The Lancet Global Health (2025), informing policy on humanitarian exemptions
• Collaborated with WHO and USAID experts to model geopolitical interventions’ health costs, contributing to 3+ grant-funded projects totaling $1.2M
• Mentored 2 graduate students on quantitative methods for global health equity

Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Innovation in Global Health
Stanford Medicine | 2021 - Present

• Designed innovative monitoring frameworks for sanctions’ collateral damage, piloted in 5 conflict-affected LMICs to track real-time health disparities
• Co-developed open-source tools for integrating geospatial data with health metrics, adopted by 10+ NGOs for rapid response in unstable regions
• Advocated for gender-sensitive innovations in maternal health, resulting in a 2024 white paper cited by UNFPA guidelines

Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC)
Freeman Spogli Institute, Stanford University | 2021 - Present

• Analyzed security-health nexus in sanctions regimes, authoring briefs for U.S. State Department on minimizing civilian harm in geopolitical strategies
• Presented at CISAC seminars on “sanctions as chemotherapy,” influencing interdisciplinary dialogues with 50+ policymakers and scholars
• Contributed to Stanford’s Global Policy Incubator, linking health data to security simulations for scenario planning in Ukraine and Middle East contexts

Education

Ph.D. in Population and Public Health
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada | 2018 - 2021

• Dissertation: “Geopolitical Coercion: Implications for Global Health” (Awarded with Distinction)
• Published 4 peer-reviewed articles during candidacy, amassing 400+ early citations
• Recipient of Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship and Killam Doctoral Fellowship

Master of Science in Public Health
University of British Columbia | 2013 - 2015

• Thesis: “Health System Resilience in Conflict-Affected Settings”
• Graduate Teaching Assistant for Global Health Policy courses

Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences
University of British Columbia | 2009 - 2013

• Graduated with Honors, Dean’s List all semesters
• Undergraduate thesis on humanitarian health interventions

Previous Experience

PhD Candidate & Research Assistant
School of Population and Public Health, UBC | 2018 - 2021

• Defended dissertation “Geopolitical Coercion: Implications for Global Health,” earning distinction
• Published 4 peer-reviewed articles (e.g., on RA prevalence in LMICs, ethical CBPR), amassing 400+ early citations
• Conducted primary data collection in 3 countries on health system responses to sanctions

Research Assistant, Global Health Programs
Various Institutions | 2013 - 2018

• Supported systematic reviews on chronic diseases in LMICs, co-authoring Journal of Global Health papers with 300+ citations
• Conducted fieldwork in Canada on foreign-trained medical professionals, informing immigration-health policy
• Managed data collection for multi-country studies on health system resilience

Research Interests

• Primary Focus: Intersection of geopolitics, security, and global health
• Methodological Expertise: Panel data analysis, causal inference, health system modeling
• Regional Expertise: Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America
• Policy Areas: Sanctions impact assessment, humanitarian exemptions, maternal-child health in crisis

Selected Publications

Total: 15+ | Citations: 981+

1. The impact of aid sanctions on maternal and child mortality, 1990–2019: a panel analysis
   The Lancet Global Health, 2025
   Gibson RM, Wise PH, Dieleman JL, et al. | 3 citations

2. Global age-sex-specific mortality, life expectancy, and population estimates in 204 countries
   The Lancet, 2024
   Schumacher AE, Kyu HH, Aali A, Abbafati C, Abbas J, Gibson RM, et al. | 571 citations

3. Prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis in low- and middle-income countries
   Journal of Global Health, 2015
   Rudan I, Sidhu S, Papana A, Meng SJ, Xin-Wei Y, Wang W, Gibson RM, et al. | 342 citations

4. Managing ethical dilemmas in community-based participatory research
   Health Promotion Practice, 2013
   Campbell-Page RM, Shaw-Ridley M. | 45 citations

Media Appearances & Public Engagement

• World Class Podcast with Michael McFaul (July 2025) - 45-minute episode on sanctions and security, 100,000+ views
• TIME Magazine Feature (July 2025) - “Starvation and Malnutrition in Conflict Zones”
• YouTube Presentations (2023-2024) - Combined 150,000+ views on sanctions and health topics
• Stanford Policy Briefs (2021-2025) - Regular contributor to FSI and CIGH policy publications

Invited Talks & Presentations

• 2025 - “Aid Sanctions and Maternal-Child Mortality” - Global Health Research Convening, Stanford
• 2024 - “Sanctions as Chemotherapy” - International Conference on Global Health and Foreign Policy
• 2023 - “Understanding Sanctions Through a Health Lens” - Global Health Policy Series
• 2022 - “Measuring the Unmeasurable: Health Impacts of Economic Warfare” - CISAC Seminar

Grants & Funding

• Co-Investigator - NIH R01 “Health System Resilience Under Sanctions” ($2.1M, 2023-2028)
• Principal Investigator - Stanford HAI Seed Grant “AI for Humanitarian Monitoring” ($150K, 2024)
• Co-PI - Gates Foundation “Maternal Health in Conflict Zones” ($500K, 2022-2024)

Teaching & Mentorship

• Guest Lecturer - HRP 235: “Health Policy Modeling” (Stanford, 2022-Present)
• Course Co-Instructor - “Global Health Security” (Stanford, Spring 2024)
• PhD Committee Member - 3 doctoral students in Health Policy
• Postdoctoral Mentor - Stanford RISE Program (2 mentees)

Professional Service

• Editorial Board - Journal of Conflict and Health (2023-Present)
• Peer Reviewer - The Lancet, The Lancet Global Health, Nature Medicine, Health Affairs
• Committee Member - WHO Technical Advisory Group on Sanctions and Health (2024-Present)
• Conference Organizer - Stanford Global Health Symposium (2023)

Awards & Honors

• 2025 - Stanford Medicine Dean’s Award for Postdoctoral Excellence
• 2024 - Best Paper Award, Society for Political Methodology
• 2021 - Governor General’s Gold Medal (PhD dissertation)
• 2020 - Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship
• 2019 - Killam Doctoral Fellowship

Professional Memberships

• Society for Epidemiologic Research (SER)
• International Society for Health Policy Research (ISHPR)
• Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH)
• American Public Health Association (APHA)

Skills & Languages

Statistical Software: R, Stata, Python, SAS
Languages: English (native), French (fluent), Spanish (intermediate), Arabic (basic)
Other Skills: GIS mapping, systematic review methodology, policy brief writing

Last updated: January 2025 | For additional information, please contact me