Cláudia de Souza Libânio, Dra | Safety, Quality, Informatics and Leadership
Libânio has a background in business administration and architecture and holds master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering production. Today, she is a senior lecturer at the Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre, a city in the south of Brazil, where she teaches management and innovation in health care. Her academic research focuses on how to develop design strategies to promote quality of life and well-being for people with disabilities and those from vulnerable communities. Libânio also has coordinated a master’s degree program in information technology and health care management at the same university.
Libânio is a committed lifelong learner. Even after completing her master’s and doctoral degrees, she had a dream to study abroad at Harvard. When she heard about Harvard Medical School’s Safety, Quality, Informatics and Leadership program, she knew it offered the right curriculum and format to help her advance her knowledge and skills as a health care leader and educator.
For Libânio, the aspects of the program that focused on innovation, design in health care, accessibility and equity had the biggest impact. She recalls a moving case study about accessibility and equity issues at Birmingham Hospital, one that helped her realize that there are shared challenges and common challenges that cut across geographic lines.
“One of the many benefits of the program is that it gave me a truly international perspective,” says Libânio. “This has inspired me to go out and discover more aspects of my field abroad.”
During the program, Libânio completed a capstone project focused on promoting quality of life and well-being for people with visual impairments at a Hospital in Brazil. This project brought her face to face with the challenges associated with managing issues of accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities.
Because of the high-quality education, she received at a federal university in Brazil, Libânio has a goal to deliver a legacy.
“I have received many gifts through my education. Now, I would like to give back to society by making a positive impact on my community and my country,” says Libânio.
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