Bio

Dr. Ruth M. Gibson is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Health Policy at Stanford Medicine. She is also a postdoctoral fellow, by courtesy, at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. Ruth’s appointment is supported by the Department of Health Policy and a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship, the most prestigious postdoctoral award given by the Government of Canada to future global leaders in health research, medicine, and the humanities.

Ruth’s academic focus is global health, foreign affairs, and strategic studies. Her academic research seeks to improve maternal and child health in geopolitically complex countries–those dealing with war, other forms of geopolitical coercion, and diplomatic challenges. Her most recent project on foreign aid, sanctions, and impacts to child and maternal mortality is currently in press. She is working with the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights Council to develop a universal system of monitoring to assess the impacts of sanctions on human rights. She has contributed to reports on the mental health impacts of war crimes for prosecutors at the International Criminal Court. She works with the Global Burden of Disease Consortium at the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, as part of their efforts to publish global health estimation and forecasting.

Ruth completed an Honor’s Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science at the University of Toronto, a fellowship in Medical Education at the Wilson Center for Medical Education at the University Health Network, and a PhD in Global Health and Strategic Studies at the University of British Columbia. Ruth is competent in English, Mandarin Chinese, and French. Ruth spent a decade living abroad doing humanitarian and global health work in eight countries on five continents, focusing on fragile nations struggling with poverty, human rights abuses, and armed conflict. In her international work she witnessed the human impacts of war and nonviolent forms of geopolitical coercion, which informs her current academic research.

Institute Affiliations

Honors & Awards

  • Banting Postdoctoral Fellow, Vanier-Banting Secretariat, Government of Canada (June 2022-June 2025)

Contact

  • Academic
    rmgibson@stanford.edu
    University - Scholar Department: Health Policy Position: Postdoctoral Scholar

Additional Info

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

Novel Domains of Strategic Competition in the Asia–Pacific Region: How will Spectrums of Conflict between China and Taiwan Impact Trade, Population Health, and US National Security?

Action Plan: This project is intended to be of direct relevance to planning and policy initiatives designed to protect civilians. Accordingly, the project components have been developed to link state-of-the-art analysis with direct engagement with Taiwanese scholars, government planners and policymakers, US, and regional experts in intelligence and planning analysis, health planning and preparedness, US Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, planning cells at combatant commands (i.e. USINDOPACOM), Office of Naval Intelligence

The project has five components:

1. Qualitative Research: Prof. Jason C. Wang (PI) and Dr. Ruth M. Gibson (co-PI) will conduct semi-structured qualitative interviews with experts from Taiwan, US, and partners in the Asia-Pacific in health planning, military strategy, and national preparedness.

2. Archival Research: Historical war plans can provide insight into enduring principles of war, including how civilian protection is planned for in joint war-fighting.

3. War Games and Tabletop Exercises: This project uses publicly available wargames and tabletop exercises (TTX) between China and Taiwan. We will select the most relevant simulations for our analysis, including conventional war situations and economic coercive strategies through the Malacca dilemma (a blockage or restriction at the Strait of Malacca).

4. Trade Analysis: We will determine the main sectors of trade to be investigated by this study, such as energy resources (oil) relevant to both the civilian and the military sphere and food commodities important to prevent food insecurity in conflict scenarios. We will apply system dynamic modeling and agent-based modeling to the selected war games and TTX.

5. Health Analysis: The models and quantitative analysis of health, the burden of disease, and death will provide insight into the civilian impact from the modeling conducted in steps 3 and 4 of this study.