Manish Kumar, MPH, PhD

About

Manish Kumar, Phd, MPH, MSc., currently leads the Global Health Finance Data team at Guidehouse, Inc., where he manages a multidisciplinary team to deliver strategic, data-driven solutions aimed at supporting the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and advancing global health security. With a robust background in health systems strengthening and digital health, he has spearheaded efforts to enhance health systems resilience and foster collaboration with key stakeholders globally.
Prior to his current role, Kumar served as the Technical Lead for Health Systems and Digital Health at the Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Here, he led research projects focused on public health optimization and evidence-based decision-making, while also mentoring junior team members and presenting at industry conferences.
Kumar's career spans several impactful roles, including Principal Investigator and Senior Technical Specialist positions for projects funded by USAID and the U.S. CDC, where he managed large-scale health information systems, enhanced malaria and TB data capabilities, and developed toolkits to improve data use and governance.
Earlier in his career, he held senior advisory roles at IntraHealth International, Inc. in India, where he led initiatives in human resources for health, knowledge management, and digital health, collaborating closely with government agencies and international partners.
With extensive experience in research, policy development, program implementation and measurement, and project management, Kumar has contributed significantly to health information systems training and capacity building, fostering innovation and effective data utilization in public health.
Kumar is also an accomplished author and speaker, having published numerous research papers and presented at various conferences on digital health and health systems. His work continues to impact the global health landscape, driving forward initiatives that promote health equity and data-driven decision-making.

Honors and Awards

Received recognition for outstanding contributions in using data and systems for reducing HIV burden in more than 60 countries under the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)
2017, United States Department of State

Rotary Peace Fellowship
2013-2015, Rotary International Foundation

Delta Omega Service Award
2015, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Miriam L. Cole Scholarship
Gillings School of Global Public Health

Inducted into Frank Porter Graham Graduate Honor Society
UNC-Chapel Hill

Anne van den Ban Scholarship
The Netherlands

The TB Data, Impact Assessment and Communications Hub (TB DIAH) project United States Agency for International Development
May 1, 2021 – September 30, 2023, Principal Investigator and Technical Expert

Malaria Surveillance, Monitoring and Evaluation (Malaria SME) Project
May 1, 2021 – July 31, 2024, United States Agency for International Development

Global Informatics Collaborative-Technical Assistance Platform Project
October 18, 2020 – September 30, 2025, United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Data for Accountability, Transparency and Impact Monitoring System and Maturity Model
June 01, 2020 – May 31, 2022, USAID- Digital Square Project

Research Activities

Health systems strengthening

Health information systems and digital health maturity models

Implementation, Scale-up and Sustainability of Health Information System Interventions

Health Informatics and digital health

Practice Activities

2021 - Present: International Network for the Science of Team Science

1999 - Present: Indian Association of Information Technology in Agriculture (Life membership), India

1998 - Present: Society of Extension Education (Life membership), India

Key Publications

Research gaps in transforming tuberculosis data to action for better health outcomes: A systematic literature review. Kumar M, Silver M, Chauffour J, Boyle C, Boone D (1970). J Glob Health, 11(04058).

Advances in monitoring and evaluation in low- and middle-income countries. James C. Thomas, Kathy Doherty, Stephanie Watson-Grant, Manish Kumar (2021). Evaluation and Program Planning, 101994.
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Standard health data exchange model enables the use and reuse of data to improve maternal health programs and services: a case study from India. Kumar M, Mostafa J (2021). Journal of Global Health Reports, 5(e2021066).
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Assessing coverage of essential maternal and child health interventions using health-facility data in Uganda. Elizabeth Simmons; Kavita Singh; Jamiru Mpiima; Manish Kumar; William Weiss (2020). Journal of Population Health Metrics.

Electronic health records for better health in the lower- and middle-income countries: A landscape study. Kumar, M. and Mostafa, J Library Hi Tech.
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Electronic health records for better health in the lower- and middle-income countries: A landscape study. Kumar, M. & Mostafa, J (2020). Library Hi Tech.
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Evaluating visual analytics for health informatics applications: a systematic review from the American Medical Informatics Association Visual Analytics Working Group Task Force on Evaluation.  Wu D, Chen AT, Manning JD, Levy-Fix G, Backonja U, Borland D, Caban JJ, Dowding DW, Hochheiser H, Kagan V, Kandaswamy S, Kumar M, Nunez A, Pan E, Gotz D (2019). Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.
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A Primer on the Privacy, Security, and Confidentiality of Electronic Health Records. Kumar, Manish and Samuel Wambugu  (2016). MEASURE Evaluation Project, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Education