Dr. D. H. Ashwath Narayana is a Professor of Community Medicine at Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Bangalore, with a career spanning leadership roles and impactful contributions to public health. He previously served as the Head of the Department of Community Medicine for eight years and was the Medical Superintendent of KIMS Hospital & Research Centre during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Narayana has been an integral member of the Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) at KIMS and an NABH Accredited Institutional Ethics Committee Assessor. His research interests include rabies, clinical trials, and maternal and child health. As the Principal Investigator for multiple clinical trials and Project Coordinator for epidemiological studies, he has made significant contributions to these fields. Dr. Narayana was the President of the Association for Prevention & Control of Rabies in India (APCRI) from 2017 to 2022 and is currently a member of the WHO Expert Advisory Panel on Rabies. He has over 75 publications in peer-reviewed national and international journals.

Dr. K. Girish is a seasoned professional with over two decades of experience in teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students, along with 13 years of expertise in clinical research, pharmacovigilance, and materiovigilance. Currently, he serves as a Professor in the Pharmacology department at Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences, Bangalore. Dr. Girish is well-versed in the operations of Institutional Ethics Committees (IECs) and has extensive knowledge of clinical trial methodology, NDCT 2019, and ICH-GCP guidelines. He holds key roles as a member and member secretary of IECs, adhering to ICH-GCP, Indian GCP, and ICMR guidelines. Additionally, Dr. Girish is a certified NABH Assessor for healthcare organizations and ethics committees under the Clinical Trial Accreditation Programme.

Manoj is a public health professional with more than 10 years of experience in health systems research and program implementation. He has years of experience in leading implementation research and population-based randomized controlled trial programs. His expertise lies in designing, implementing, and ensuring quality improvement techniques for improved health care; he brings experience in the organization of chronic care systems especially at the primary healthcare level. He is recently engaged in designing and implementing population-level programs in the area of non-communicable diseases, tuberculosis, and maternal and child health. He is leading the quality improvement and quality of life portfolio in the CPHC thematic area at KHPT; in the past, he led an urban health system based project aiming to strengthen the continuum of care for non-communicable disease in primary health care settings. He has several publications in peer-reviewed, indexed international/ national journals.

R. Maithreyi is the Strategic Lead of the Adolescent Thematic at KHPT. Her work spans research and interventions, and draws upon the areas of childhood studies, gender, and the sociology of education. Maithreyi has a PhD from the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), and also has over 10 years of experience as practising child psychologist. She has several international conferences and publications to her credit, including two books – one on ‘Educating Youth: Psychosocial Regulation through Skilling’ (Sage Ltd), and a co-edited book titled ‘Modernity, Schooling, and Childhood in India: Trajectories of Exclusion’(Routledge Ltd).

Dr Rehana Begum is a health professional, with close to two decades of experience, holds an MBBS degree from Ambedkar Medical college, Diploma in Oto-Rhino-Laryngology (D.L.O) from Bangalore Medical College, MBA (HR) from Madurai Kamaraj University- Distance Education and a Certificate Course in Health Research Methodology and Evidence-based Medicine, from St. John’s Medical College and Research Institute in collaboration with McMaster University, Canada (2014). Her health expertise includes Tuberculosis Control, Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A), Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission of HIV (PPTCT), STI, Quality assurance of public health facilities and Research.

Prior to joining the BTB project at KHPT as Deputy Project Director, she has worked with World Health Organization, UNICEF-India, UNICEF Lao-PDR, UNICEF- Timor-Leste, UNICEF- Kiribati, UNICEF-Fiji, office; John Snow Inc, Centre for Global Health Research (CGHR), University of Toronto and Bangalore Bruhat Mahanagar Palike (BBMP). Dr Rehana’s areas of interest include Tuberculosis, TB-HIV, Research, Maternal and child health, Monitoring & evaluation, Evidence-informed medicine, Biostatistics and Program management, and she has numerous publications to her credit.

Sowmya is a socially conscious lawyer and one of the founding members at SASHA, with a strong focus on human rights and gender equality. Based in Bangalore, she has been advocating for the rights of marginalized communities through her litigation work, particularly in gender equality, family law, and urban governance. Enrolled with the Bar Council of Karnataka since 1999, Sowmya holds a BA-LLB from Vaikunta Baliga College of Law and an LLM from the National Law School of India University. In addition to her legal practice, she supports multiple Internal Committees across India in addressing sexual harassment complaints and conducts extensive training on legal awareness and gender sensitization.

Harshitha M S is a Computer Science Engineering graduate from Mysore, under Vishweshwaraiah Technological University (VTU), Belgaum. During her studies, she actively participated in various health-related programs, such as blood donation drives, and developed a keen interest in primary healthcare in rural areas. Harshitha possesses a strong awareness of local languages and a deep appreciation for the cultural and traditional values of rural villages. She previously served as the billing head at Spandana Hospital in Mandya during the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond her professional pursuits, she is passionate about planting, painting, and creating pencil sketches.

Dr. Rajaram S, a seasoned professional with a Ph.D. and M.Phil in Population Studies from the International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, has over 28 years of research experience.

Holding an M.Sc. in Demography from the University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, Rajaram possesses a robust academic background. His roles as Research Associate at the Population Foundation of India and Research Officer at the Population Research Centre involved monitoring and evaluating projects, crafting proposals, and supervising field staff. As a Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Officer for a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded project, Rajaram ensured
coordinated efforts, provided technical guidance, and managed data analysis. His recent role as a Household Survey Consultant for UNICEF, EAPRO, involved overseeing surveys, collaborating with the
MICS coordinator, and contributing to regional planning. Additionally, Rajaram brings teaching experience and proficiency in statistical packages like SPSS, Stata, and SAS, making him adept at project management and collaborative problem-solving.

Arin Kar holds post-graduate degrees in Economics and Population Studies. He has over 15 years of experience in the monitoring and evaluation of public health programs. At KHPT, he supports in the development and implementation of monitoring and evaluation systems for intervention projects. Prior to joining KHPT, he worked with the Technical Support Unit of Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society as Strategic Planning Team Leader and at the International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, as a research officer.

Dr. Prarthana B S is a medical doctor with over 15 years of experience in clinical and public health, specializing in HIV/ Sexually Transmitted Infections, family medicine, and public health law and ethics. She has worked as a clinician and as a technical and training coordinator on projects related to HIV, MNCH, and tuberculosis since 2010. As former Strategic Lead for tuberculosis at KHPT, Dr. Prarthana provided key inputs on private sector engagement, community involvement, and patient care. She also served as the State Lead for the Technical Support Unit, focusing on mainstreaming private sector and multi-sectoral engagement in Karnataka. She is passionate about integrating health with development across various sectors.

Dr K.Karthikeyan, a medical doctor, trained in HIV medicine and mental health. His 25 years of clinical and public health experience covers grassroots, state, national and international levels.

In the early years of the HIV epidemic in India, led his team to establish home-based care in 15 districts of Tamil Nadu. He served as the nodal person in WHO India office, in 2006-2008, led the ART training roll out in India. He served as the WHO country focal point for HIV, in the Maldives and Timor Leste.

Since 2005, he has been associated with KHPT in various capacities. He is the thematic lead for Tuberculosis in KHPT. He led the technical team in USAID funded THALI project, continues in the same position in USAID funded Breaking the Barriers project. He is passionate about building the team at work.

Mallika Tharakan is a social scientist working in the development sector for the last 17 years. She holds a PhD in Development Studies and is an alumnus of the TATA Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. She currently plays the role of the Lead- Knowledge Management at KHPT. She was a journalist with the New Indian Express before she found her call and crossed streams into the development space.
Her expertise lies in designing community-centred program models and social behaviour change interventions, qualitative research, and grassroots community institution building. She leads strategic communications, partnerships and knowledge translation at the organisation level and also supports teams with conceptualising programs through generation of new knowledge from the grassroots that explores shifting priorities, needs, systems and realities of communities in the context of public health. She supports organisation-strengthening initiatives and is committed to driving a culture of inclusion, openness and respect at all levels of the organisation. She has been involved in the design of several community-based tools and processes that have focused on marginalised community groups, that have been scaled at national and global levels. Decentralisation and health equity are two of her core areas of interest and she engages on these fronts within KHPT’s thematic areas of Adolescent Health, Tuberculosis, Maternal Neonatal and Child Health and Comprehensive Primary Health Care.

Dr. Satyanarayana Ramanaik is a social scientist with over 20 years of impactful work in public health and developmental issues in India. His extensive engagement with marginalized communities spans a range of critical areas, including HIV/AIDS, Gender-based Violence (GBV), Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), Migration, Child Marriage, School Dropout, and Adolescent Health. He has been a pivotal force behind large-scale public health interventions and collaborative research initiatives in partnership with esteemed donors and academic institutions such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID, WHO, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), University of Manitoba, the Government of Karnataka, and the Government of India.
A distinguished qualitative researcher, Dr. Ramanaik has contributed significantly to the field. His work has led to the publication of over 40 peer-reviewed articles in prestigious national and international journals. He holds a Ph.D. in Social Work, a testament to his scholarly commitment. His research journey was enriched by a fellowship from the HIV Research Trust, UK, which supported his doctoral research. His academic pursuit also led him to be a part of CIHR International Infectious Disease and Global Health Training Program (IID&GHTP), offered by the University of Manitoba, Canada.
Presently, as Thematic Lead for Adolescent Health at KHPT, Dr. Ramanaik spearheads efforts in Gender Based Violence, nutrition, menstrual hygiene, and mental health for adolescent girls in rural India. His exceptional journey blends academic excellence, ground breaking research, and dedicated community engagement, establishing him as a driving force in the realm of public health and social advancement.

Dr Swaroop N is Thematic Lead – Comprehensive Primary Health Care, and Deputy Director – Quality Improvement at KHPT. Dr Swaroop earned his MD degree in Community Health from St. John’s Medical College, Bangalore. He has also completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in 2019 as a part of the International Infectious Disease and Global Health Training Program conducted by University of Manitoba, Canada.
He has 9 years of experience in designing, implementing and disseminating a wide range of public health projects covering HIV, non-communicable diseases, maternal, neonatal and child health. Currently, he has taken a lead in conceptualizing and implementing projects on non-communicable diseases in Mysore. The aim of the projects is to identify the gaps in diagnosis, care and treatment of diabetes and hypertension and develop a model to promote early screening, early enrolment to care and support mechanism, regular follow-up and adherence to medications. He has also taken a lead in developing a model for implementing Comprehensive Primary Health Care in an urban setting. He has several publications in peer-reviewed, indexed international/ national journals and also presented scientific papers in many international/national conferences.