Dr. Sowmya Ramesh is an epidemiologist and public health researcher with more than 18 years of experience in maternal and neonatal health, nutrition, sanitation, environmental & occupational health, HIV, financial inclusion, and skill development. She has experience in conducting national and international quantitative and qualitative research studies and impact evaluations and implementing projects of national importance. Previously, Dr. Ramesh worked as Monitoring & Research Officer at United Nations Development Program (UNDP), India and served as a Moderator & Resource Person for UN Solution Exchange. Dr. Ramesh has authored and co-authored over 25 publications. Dr. Ramesh has a MPH degree in Epidemiology from Harvard School of Public Health and an MPH from Texas A & M University Health Science Center.
Dr Sangram Kishor Patel is currently working as Deputy Director of Population Council Institute. Dr Patel is leading the portfolios of research, capacity development and skill building initiatives of the Institute. Dr Patel is also leading the Population, Environmental risks, and the climate crisis (PERCC) global initiatives from India office. Dr Patel is a trained demographer, statistician and public health specialist with more than 18 years of experience in planning, designing and implementing large scale multi-countries studies in India, Kenya, Bangladesh, Zambia, Nigeria, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Ecuador. Dr. Patel has vast experience in leading many complex monitoring and evaluation-based interventions and surveillance, such as NRHM, Avahan program, and Integrated Behavioral and Biological Surveillance.
Dr Desai’s areas of expertise include women’s health, health systems and women’s groups. She provides technical leadership to PCI projects related to hysterectomy and women’s health through the life course; primary health care and universal health coverage; and implementation research on health systems. She holds a PhD in Epidemiology and Population Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, MS in Population and International Health from Harvard University and AB from Brown University.
Sharmada Sivaram is a researcher in public health, with an expertise in qualitative methods. She has over six years of experience in examining a range of issues in Indian public health, particularly women’s health and health systems. Previously as a Specialist at Population Council Consulting Pvt Ltd, she coordinated and led qualitative research components within studies on maternal health, health systems, and universal health coverage across multiple states in India, particularly Meghalaya. Sharmada also has experience working on researching community engagement initiatives for health, particularly with women’s groups; reproductive health; and environmental health.
Sharmada holds an MSc. in Public Health for Development from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (UK) where her dissertation examined the role of female sterilization in Indian family planning policy and programme using qualitative research methods. She also holds an MA in Sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University (India). Some of her areas of interest include women & health, reproductive health and rights, community health workers and health systems.
Patricia Dohtdong is a researcher working in broadly in the field of health and governance in northeast India. She has worked as an independent researcher and coordinator for multiple organizations within the State of Meghalaya. She is currently engaged as a Program Officer in the Population Council Institute and working on the “Evaluation of the State Capability Enhancement Project” as the State lead in Meghalaya.
Patricia holds an MPhil from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, where her dissertation was on transparency and accountability in local governments within the 6th Schedule of the Indian Constitution. She also holds an MA (Social Work) from TISS, Guwahati and a Master in Population Studies from IIPS, Mumbai. Her areas of interests include indigenous governance, political and health participation, and gender and sexual and reproductive health.
Punit Mishra is a statistician, demographer, and RMLE expert with more than 14 years of expert level knowledge and experience in designing and managing research and M&E frameworks of several donor funded projects.
He is currently leading multiple research projects such as Research and Analyses for Scientific Transformation and Advancement (RASTA, USAID), Northeast India Health & Nutrition Research project (USAID), Evidence Building on Tribal Population (Piramal Foundation and Govt of India), and Diet Diversity and Undernutrition (Govt of Mizoram, India).
Punit has rich experience in establishing performance monitoring and review systems for monitoring and evaluation of results. He has designed and implemented several operations research, social and behavior change interventions, multi-round longitudinal studies, and analyzing large-scale data available in the public domain. He has also designed and conducted multi-round evaluation studies working with clients in the National and State Governments, multi-lateral donors, and non-profit organizations across India and Africa. Punit mentored a number of young researchers on RMLE, data analytics and data quality audits for government stakeholders, partners, and program teams.
Sohini Paul is a development economist by training with more than 20 years of experience in public policy research. Her primary research interests include gender, health, food security, political economy, and empirical econometrics. Currently, Sohini is working on costing and cost-effectiveness analysis of women’s groups, maternal and child health and nutrition, and health systems in the Indian context, conducting implementation research on the school-to-work transitions programs for adolescent girls.
A medically qualified with post-doctoral in Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (PGIMER, Chandigarh, India), who have held leadership role in end-to-end process of pharmaceutical product development, medico-marketing planning, and execution. This included experience of ethical medico-marketing in emerging markets (Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa) for Branded Generic and Innovation Products and 20 years’ experience in Clinical Research and organisation of Clinical Trials with experience of leading development of new NCE and NDDS products – complete with medical, research and regulatory strategy. Managed alliances and working interaction with international scientists and organisations and fund-raising efforts for development of drugs in various therapeutic areas. 37 International Publications in peer-reviewed Journals, Editor of Newsletter on Antibiotic Resistance.
Dr. Anirban Mandal is a General Physician and Paediatrician in Qutab Institutional Area, Delhi and has an experience of 15 years in these fields. Dr. Anirban Mandal practices at Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science & Research in Qutab Institutional Area, Delhi. He completed MBBS from NRS Medical College and Hospital in 2009 and MD – Paediatrics from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi in 2012.
Roopal Jyoti Singh is a Senior Program Officer at the PC institute. She is a public health researcher with over 10 years of research experience. She has conducted mixed method studies, systematic reviews, evidence synthesis and Randomised Controlled trials and Quasi experimental evaluations in areas of maternal and child health, HIV, mental health, women’s health and women’s groups. Roopal has experience in handling and analyzing large datasets such as the National Family Health Surveys (NFHS) and National Statistical Survey Organization datasets (NSS) and has authored over 15 peer review publications and reports. Prior to joining the Population Council, she was at Institute of Economic Growth, University of Delhi.
Roopal has a Bachelors and a Master’s degree in Statistics from Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi and an M. Phil in Statistics from University of Delhi.
Dr Rajib Acharya is a statistician, demographer, public health specialist, and policy advisor with more than two decades of experience in public health research, and planning, designing, managing, and monitoring large-scale studies. Dr. Acharya is an expert in designing and implementing large-scale sample surveys, longitudinal studies on population, health, and nutrition. He has been instrumental in designing, managing, and conducting several unique, first-ever national and sub-national studies in India. He also designed evaluation studies using various experimental and non-experimental designs and applied advanced statistical techniques to measure impact. Dr. Acharya has authored over 75 peer-reviewed journal articles, books and chapters, and scientific reports; and serves as reviewer of several international journals, including The Lancet, the Lancet Global Health, BMJ, Plos One, and BMC Women’s Health.
Dr. Nizamuddin Khan has a PhD in population studies from International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai and two Master’s degrees in Statistics with Computer Programming, and Population Studies (MPS). His 20+ years of experience includes health program evaluations, operations research design, development of M&E systems for health interventions, and quantitative data analysis using SPSS and STATA. He has several years of experience coordinating the large-scale surveys, initially with the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) and District Level Household Surveys (DLHS), and recently leading the field implementation of Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS) in India. He has several publications to his credit. He also worked with the World Bank, IIPS, Futures Group International in the past leading the implementation of research studies in the field.
Dr. Avina Sarna history of working in the research industry and public health programs. Skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, Policy Analysis, Analytical Skills, Program Evaluation, and Reproductive Health. Strong community and social services professional with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery – MBBS focused in Medicine, Surgery, Gynecology & Obstetrics, Social & Preventive Medicine. from Government Medical College, Amritsar, India, a master’s in public health from George Washington University, Washington DC and PhD from the University of Ghent, Belgium.
Dr. Jitender Nagpal is the HOD of Pediatrics at Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science & Research in Qutub Institutional Area, Delhi. He has over 23 years of experience as a Paediatrician and is a widely acclaimed medical practitioner in his field. He acquires expertise in treating paediatric diseases as well as taking care of a child’s growth, health and development. He completed his MBBS from Maulana Azad College 1991 and MD- Paediatrics from the same institution in the year 2001. Dr Nagpal has been presented with multiple awards and recognitions in paper presentations and conferences for his knowledge and presentations. He was the recipient of the Satya Gupta Award of IAP (Indian Association of Paediatrics) for paper presentation in 2002 and the recipient of Pyare Lal Sharma Bishan Devi Gold Medal for “Best Thesis in Clinical Subjects in 2001”. He has published various papers in national and international journals, like BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and World Journal of Gastroenterology. He is also a part of esteemed associations such as Indian Medical Association and Delhi Medical Association.
