Fulbright Fellow from India to conduct research at Gillings School
June 3, 2015
Dr. Anant Kumar
Anant Kumar, PhD, assistant professor of rural management at Xavier Institute of Social Service, in Ranchi, Jharkhand, India, has been awarded a Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Fellowship to lecture and conduct research at UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health beginning this fall.
Kumar’s research focuses upon the use of technology in promoting community public health. He hopes to understand how new technologies can be used to engage and empower communities to make local decisions about health, an effort that will increase community participation and help in reducing the disease burden in resource-constrained settings. The teaching component of Kumar’s work will be based upon his research, including a 2014 book, Visionary Leadership in Health: Delivering Superior Value, which he co-authored.
Before joining the Xavier Institute, Kumar worked as a program officer with the Institute of International Education’s Population Leadership Program in India. His interests drew him into academia and public health service as an adviser for various organizations and institutions. Trained in psychology and social medicine and community health at the University of Allahabad and the Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, Kumar began his career as a psychologist and public health professional. He has been a strong and consistent advocate of competent public health services for the underserved.
Kumar will work with Rohit Ramaswamy, PhD, clinical associate professor in the Gillings School’s Public Health Leadership Program and Department of Maternal and Child Health.
“We look forward to hosting Dr. Kumar at the Gillings School,” Ramaswamy said. “Our collaboration will help Dr. Kumar learn about our use of technology in global education and will help us by expanding our knowledge and experience of work he has done in Indian communities. Involving communities in decision making is critical to the successful implementation of public health interventions, and Dr. Kumar’s proposed work will help us to further understand how to do this.”
