Physician · Researcher · Founder — working at the intersection of AI & global health
Dr James O'Donovan
Dr James O'Donovan — 2026

Working at the intersection of AI & community-based health systems.

I currently work as Director of Research, Digital Innovation and AI at Community Health Impact Coalition. My research examines how AI-enabled community health worker programmes reshape accountability, power and human judgement in high-stakes public services. I lead an interdisciplinary research team exploring AI use in community health systems across 40+ countries, and hold an Assistant Clinical Professorship at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in Global Health and Health Systems Design. I was previously a physician working in the NHS between 2015–2026, and have held fellowships in digital health and global health at Stanford (2019) and Harvard (2014).

01 / About

What I do

I lead an interdisciplinary global research collaborative focused on AI in global health at an international coalition working across 40+ countries.

My training cuts across clinical medicine, research, and digital communication. I worked as a physician for over a decade. I hold formal training in digital education through my DPhil (PhD) at the University of Oxford, and completed fellowships in non-profit management and digital health at Harvard (2014) and Stanford (2019). I also founded a digital health communications company, whose work has generated over 200 million views across organic media.

Across these strands—clinical practice, research, founding, convening, and writing—the through-line is the same: how new technologies reshape what it means to give and receive care, and who gets to decide.

02 / Research

Selected publications

AI, Ethics & Health Systems
2024
The Lancet Global Health · epistemic justice; participatory ethics
Read
Health Systems & Digital Health
2025
The Lancet Primary Care · Stansert Katzen, Baskin, Vaughan, O'Donovan et al.
Read
03 / Book

Book

Oxford University Press · 2021
Training for Community Health book cover

Training for Community Health

Bridging the global health care gap
OUP · 2021 · 256 pp. · Co-edited

A practical resource on the design, implementation and evaluation of community health worker programmes—and the role technology can play in supporting them. Co-edited with Anne Geniets, Laura Hakimi and Niall Winters; foreword by Professor Jeffrey Sachs, afterword by Professor Seye Abimbola. 25+ contributing authors across nine countries.

A compelling, practical case for community health workers and their place in modern health care systems. R. Castillo, CHOICE
04 / Writing

Essays & commentary

2025
LinkedIn · public commentary on AI & global health priorities
Read
05 / Talks

Selected keynotes & convenings

2023–2025
06 / Contact

Get in touch

Open to research collaborations, speaking invitations, and conversations with publishers and editors on AI ethics and frontline health systems. Email is fastest.