Dr. Judith Lasker is Professor Emerita of Sociology and Health Medicine and Society at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA (USA), and author of Hoping to Help: The Promises and Pitfalls of Global Health Volunteering (Cornell U. Press, 2016). Her book and several related articles examine the impact on host communities and on volunteers of short-term international programs and offer research-based recommendations for making programs more effective. Judith has spoken about her research to audiences around the US and in several other countries. She is co-founder of Advocacy for Global Health Partnerships, a coalition of stakeholders that has issued the Brocher Declaration on ethical principles guiding short-term global health partnerships.

Judith’s previous books addressed pregnancy loss, infertility, and time banking. She earned her BA at Brandeis and her MA and PhD at Harvard. In 2014, Judith was awarded the Centennial Medal by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard for “contributions to society as they have emerged from one’s graduate education at Harvard.”