Kabir Sheikh

Dr Kabir Sheikh is policy advisor at the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, and is the current chair of the board of Health Systems Global. He is a public health researcher, educator, planner and practitioner with particular interests in strengthening health governance for social equity, institutionalizing research use for policy, and advancing the field of health policy and systems research (HPSR).

Prior to joining the Alliance in 2018, Dr Sheikh was Joint Director for research and policy at the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), New Delhi, and Principal Fellow at the University of Melbourne. While at PHFI (2008-17), Dr Sheikh designed and helped establish the National Knowledge Platform – the Government of India’s first indigenously funded health systems research support and knowledge translation platform, and advised the Indian Council of Medical Research on the establishment of India’s first national Health Technology Assessment platform. He also founded and convened the KEYSTONE India initiative, a consortium of thirteen Indian institutions building national HPSR capacity.

In 2011, Dr Sheikh led the technical team (citizen and private sector participation) for the Government of India commissioned recommendations on Universal Health Coverage. He has been a frequent advisor on health systems and policy to WHO, the MRC UK, the European Commission, UNICEF, the Wellcome Trust, USAID, DfID, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He has served successive terms as Board Chair (2016-18) and Vice Chair (2014-16) of Health Systems Global.

Prior to PHFI he worked in different roles for the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the DfID Resource Centre for HIV/AIDS, the Centre for Health Research and Development, Pune, and the Government of Delhi. He has a medical degree from Delhi University, and an MSc in epidemiology and a PhD in public health and policy, both from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Dr Sheikh has authored more than seventy refereed publications, and co-edited the volume Health Providers in India (Routledge 2010). He has been a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Scholar (2011), an Asian Century Visiting Fellow at the University of Melbourne (2014), and an Expert Resident in HPSR at the Universities of Cape Town and the Western Cape (2014). He holds honorary faculty positions the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the University of Melbourne, the Public Health Foundation of India and BRAC University Dhaka.

Education

• PhD London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, U. of London
• Master of Science (MSc) London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, U. of London
• Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) Delhi University

Companies

• Policy Advisor Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research (2018)
• Coordinator, Country-led Research for UHC initiative World Health Organization (2018)
• Honorary Professor Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) (2018)
• Honorary Principal Fellow University of Melbourne (2017)
• Honorary Associate Professor London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, U. of London (2012)
• Section Editor, Health Systems Research Health Policy and Planning (2012)
• Board Chair Health Systems Global (2016 — 2018)
• Honorary Fellow University of Melbourne (2011 — 2017)
• Director, Research and Policy Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) (2016 — 2017)