Our Team

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.

Poornima is a development specialist with Masters in Sociology. Her core areas of strength are programme management, community mobilization and capacity building. During her work in the development field spanning over two decades, she has accumulated a wealth of experience on  issues like HIV-AIDS, Community Empowerment, Children’s Welfare, Child Labour,  Tuberculosis and Non-communicable Diseases.  She has worked with diverse communities, including sex workers, men who have sex with men, People Living with HIV, homeless children, ASHAs, VHSNCs and persons with TB. She has also worked with government agencies under the National Rural Health Mission as Consultant for Community Processes and BESCOM as DGM, where she contributed towards community empowerment and systems strengthening. She has also contributed to the development of various capacity building modules for NACO under the Link Worker Scheme.

She has been awarded a  REX- Karmaveer Chakra Award in 2015, which is given to changemakers for promoting social justice and action in their sector. She was also awarded a Women in Corporate Award – Trailblazer for Innovations- 2019 and the Global Women Inspiration Award – 2021. With a strong passion for community empowerment, she has been a firm believer of democratic and rights-based approaches and equity. She enjoys working with communities and believes that learning curve never ends.

Vidyacharan is a science graduate, holding a post graduate diploma in epidemiology and also in computer science. He has experience of 17 years in the field of Monitoring and Evaluation, having held the position of a Documentation Officer at ActionAid in Shivamogga and then Monitoring and Evaluation Officer at KHPT’s Sankalp and Samastha projects in Bellary and Bangalore Districts.  He was also Monitoring and Evaluation Officer at a Technical Support Unit, supporting  the Targeted Intervention programme for Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society (KSAPS).

His core competencies are developing monitoring and evaluation plans, handling issues related to MIS/CMIS, analyzing data, strengthening the quality of data through supportive supervision and monitoring visits, and building the capacities of project teams for in-house analysis using the data for programme planning and service delivery. He has implemented  screening, mapping, validation and research surveys among the general population, at-risk populations, and vulnerable populations in urban and rural areas.

Mahammad Shareef is a goal-directed and result-oriented professional with over 10 years of experience in the public health and development sector. His expertise includes program management, assessing and developing program and project planning, implementation and coordination with diverse stakeholders, capacity building, financial analysis, and human resource development.

From 2006 to 2018, Mahammad worked with the Centre For Advocacy and Research (CFAR), a New Delhi-based NGO. During his tenure at CFAR, he held various positions in the ‘Media Advocacy Project’ and ‘Community Mainstreaming Project’ supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He has worked with media professionals, government departments, and NGOs across Karnataka, mobilizing marginalized and vulnerable communities, helping them access social entitlements, and advocating with policymakers, government officials, and civil society leaders. His work experience also includes public-private partnerships.