Dr. Sudha Ramani works on research pertaining to health policy and systems, and qualitative evaluations of complex public health programs and interventions. She is interested in examining how health policies and programs on primary health care work, and why they do so in particular ways. To do this, she draws on research methods that conceptualize policies and programs as dynamic complex entities, and give importance to the values, perceptions, and contextually-rooted decisions that are made by the people involved. Sudha has research experience of around 15 years. Some of the research work she has been involved in so far include: examining the macro and micro-context of primary health care in India, and how this affects service delivery; understanding perspectives on working across two public sectors (health and nutrition) in the frontlines of care; examining doctors’ perspectives and work at primary health facilities in rural areas; understanding how vertical programs contribute to strengthening health systems; evaluating the processes surrounding a large scale malnutrition program in Mumbai slums; and co-learning about working with intangibles ( norms, values, ideas) in health systems in India. Sudha has a doctoral degree from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. She has been the recipient of many awards and fellowships including the Future Faculty Fellowship from the Public Health Foundation of India, the Katherine Skinner memorial award at Boston University, Professor Sukatme Scholarship at the university of Pune, and the Health Policy Analysis Fellowship supported by the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, Switzerland.
