Interview with Leading Innovation in Health Care and Education Participant Amirreza Haghighi

When Amirreza Haghighi, MD, enrolled in the Leading Innovations in Health Care and Education course at the Harvard Macy Institute, he was already operating on a global stage. Dr. Amirreza is a Lecturer on Medicine at Harvard Medical School, directing several nationwide international educational and research initiatives, expanding genomic medicine training programs, and experimenting with new models of inclusive medical education across multiple countries and institutions.

Amid this complexity, he felt the need for a structured space to step back and think about innovation at the system level. He was searching for a framework to refine how educational models are designed, implemented, and scaled across varied cultural and institutional settings. The Harvard Macy Institute, with its reputation for cultivating leaders who think beyond traditional boundaries, offered exactly that. He saw the course as an opportunity to join a community of peers equally committed to transforming health care education globally.

At that moment in his career, his goals were both ambitious and grounded. He was not pursuing innovation as an abstract ideal. He wanted to build sustainable, collaborative structures that could support long-term institutional change. In particular, he was focused on genomic medicine and inclusive medical education. The course met him where he was. Its content provided concrete tools for leading complex initiatives, guiding interprofessional and intergenerational teams, and integrating innovation into organizational strategy. It affirmed his belief that learning environments must be intentional, equitable, and adaptable, and gave him new approaches to realize those aims.

Early on, a turning point came when he observed how candidly the faculty spoke about their own leadership journeys. They not only described polished successes; they openly discussed missteps, resistance, and uncertainty. As a director accustomed to navigating institutional ambiguity, he found this transparency striking and reassuring. It affirmed his everyday reality and reframed his understanding of innovation as a continuous cycle of experimentation, reflection, and adaptation, rather than a straight path from idea to outcome.

As he became more immersed in the program, he was impressed not only by the authenticity of the faculty but by the substance and reach of the curriculum itself. In his words:

“Building on this strong foundation of leadership and community, the course content was remarkable. The speakers were not only experts in their fields but also generous mentors. Their insights extended beyond health care and education, offering reflections on leading organizational change, fostering innovation, reimagining systems of care, and building cultures that inspire both professional and personal growth.”

The value of the course’s design came into sharp focus during a breakout session that brought  together educators at different career stages and in varied roles. In one small group, early-career educators sat alongside senior executives responsible for major academic programs. Their challenge was to redesign a clinical teaching model. The younger participants contributed insights about technology, digital platforms, and how current learners engage with information. The more seasoned leaders offered organizational wisdom, political acuity, and historical context. The solution they produced balanced innovation with practicality and awas forward-looking yet still grounded in institutional realities — something none of them could have created alone. For Haghighi, this experience reinforced a principle central to his global work: multi-perspective collaboration is not optional in innovation; it is essential.

As someone who designs educational programs himself, he paid close attention to how the course was structured. It was intentionally relational and reflective. Concepts were never left as abstractions; they were immediately explored through case discussions and collaborative problem-solving. Faculty modeled inclusive teaching practices and created psychological safety with care and consistency. Alumni were seamlessly integrated as co-facilitators, demonstrating a living continuum between past and current participants. To him, the course functioned as a working example of its own philosophy: that thoughtfully designed learning environments can ignite both individual insight and collective creativity.

Certain sessions, particularly those on organizational change, reshaped how he thought about innovation. They encouraged him to see innovation not merely as the generation of new ideas, but as a property of systems that either enable or constrain risk-taking, deep collaboration, and the translation of vision into sustainable practice. This perspective followed him back into his work in genomic medicine and international collaborations, where he began to place greater emphasis on culture, structure, and governance: Who feels empowered to innovate? What mechanisms sustain programs beyond a single champion? How can initiatives be embedded in institutions for the long term?

Over time, the relationships he formed in the course became just as significant as the frameworks and tools he acquired. The cohort was distinctly global, bringing together leaders from a wide range of regions, disciplines, and career stages. Reflecting on this, he notes:

“A defining feature was the global network of leaders represented in the cohort. The diversity of experiences and shared commitment to advancing health care created meaningful connections that will extend well beyond the classroom. The result is a community of leaders with shared visions, common challenges, and a genuine commitment to mutual support and learning.”

For Haghighi, this Harvard Macy community has become an extension of his professional network—one characterized by generosity, shared purpose, and intellectual openness. As he continues to build international programs and cross-institutional partnerships, he sees this network as a vital resource for collaboration, dialogue, and co-creation.

Today, he is especially energized by innovations at the intersection of technology, inclusion, and global education: integrating AI thoughtfully into medical training, advancing diverse and accurate medical imagery, and developing interactive learning platforms that reach learners across countries and contexts. In his work in genomic medicine and medical education, he consistently returns to three anchors—accuracy, accessibility, and cultural relevance—priorities that the course helped him further clarify and strengthen.

If he were to describe the Leading Innovations in Health Care and Education course to future participants, he would characterize it not as a traditional training but as a rigorous, reflective, and deeply collaborative experience. It is, in his view, a community of leaders willing to think boldly, challenge assumptions, and support one another’s growth. Participants, he would say, should expect to leave with new frameworks, enduring professional relationships, and a renewed sense of possibility.

For Haghighi, the course did more than refine his approach to innovation. It provided a language for systems-level change, a model of inclusive and relational learning, and a global community that continues to shape how he leads and how he imagines the future of health care and education.