TEAM

Dr. Nishant Jain is currently heading Indian portfolio of Health and Social Security for German Development Cooperation Agency (GIZ). He is an international thought leader in the field of health systems, health financing and health insurance. He is advising Governments of various countries in South Asia, South East Asia, Middle East and Africa on design and implementation of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and Health Insurance programmes.

Dr. Nishant Jain is an advisor to National Health Authority, MoHFW on design and implementation of new national health insurance scheme called Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. He was also quite instrumental, in design and implementation of National Health Insurance Scheme of Government of India called Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), that covered more than 120 million poor and vulnerable persons. He has also provided his support in National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) to the Government.

He is one of the founder and member of global steering group of Joint Learning Network (JLN) for Universal Health Coverage.  He loves to teach and is a regular visiting faculty in many prestigious universities/ institutions in various countries including India. Dr. Nishant Jain has done in Doctorate in Health Finance from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He has a very vivid background and apart from MBA in Finance, he has also done M.Sc. in Chemistry and M.A in music.

Dr Sharmistha Basu is a social demographer with special interest in research and evaluation of health programmes in India. She has over sixteen years of experience on a range of public health issues including social security, health financing, health systems strengthening child marriage, gender and violence against women and children, family planning, sexual and reproductive health, adolescent health and rights. She has led several qualitative and quantitative projects and has experience in the design and implementation of mixed methods research in India. She has experience in analysing large-scale household survey data and working with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for various health evaluations. She has published in international peer reviewed journals. Prior to joining GIZ she was at RTI International-India, New Delhi and Population Council, New Delhi where she was a Co-Principal Investigator (PI) of various large-scale research projects on strengthening gender and health systems.

She has a doctorate degree in Population Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.  Her hobbies include drawing, painting and reading.

Shakeel Ahmad is a visionary and goal-oriented ICT Project Management Professional with over 18 years’ experience in the areas of Strategic Planning, Information and Communication Technology, Development & Implementation of ICT for Health, Rural Development, Agriculture and Education.

Born in Kanpur, he holds Masters in Computer Application. His first stint was with IIT Kanpur as a researcher. Thereafter he worked with several development organisations like GIZ, UNDP, Unicef and OneWorld International.  He has experience in planning, managing & driving successful projects/ programs in the domain of ICT Implementation, including system sizing, estimation, requirement gathering, field implementation and monitoring. He has worked with Central and State Governments on various projects and even received appraisal from the Prime Minister of India in 2008 for successful development and execution of ICT and biometrics based end-to-end solution within MGNREGA program.

Recently graduated from the University of Constance with a Master in Politics and Public Administration, Hannah is ready to face the next step of adulthood and start working.

As a child it was already clear to Hannah that she could never work a boring desk job but needs excitement and an added value to her work. Having had a very long hospital stay at the age of four years herself and realizing how important universal health care and social security is for a whole family, she is excited to intern at such a crucial programme. As an outgoing and caring person, the feeling of creating something good together with an ambitious team makes her almost as happy as eating lots of chocolate (the way to her heart are chocolate, cake and tea).

Born and brought up in Kolkata, Reema completed her graduation from the University of Kolkata and moved to New Delhi to pursue her career. While working, she completed her Post Graduation in Humans Resources and has been ever since been working for the past 23 years in various private and development sector organizations such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), International Development Research Centre (IDRC), South African High Commission. Reema brings her expertise in finance and project management, budgeting, grants, contracts and office administration. Reema’s favourite pastimes include baking and music.

Pappu P S is a development professional with over 10 years of experience in working with international and government agencies. With a strong foundation in health sector, specifically health financing and HIV/AIDS, his expertise lies in project management, capacity development, and monitoring & evaluation.

Hailing from Cochin, Kerala, Pappu P S contributes to the Capacity Development component of IGUHC Programme. He supports the partner agency, National Health Authority (NHA), in designing CD strategy, conduct capacity assessments, design & develop learning modules, and knowledge management. He also manages trainings under GIZ Professional Programme.

His career in health financing sector started in 2011 through Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana. He had proven his expertise in Monitoring & Evaluation while working with Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and Family Health International (FHI 360) where some of his analytical tools are being used at national level. He holds an advanced certification in Health Financing from WHO, Geneva. Despite having studied Social Work and Sociology, he is passionate about Information Technology and is a strong follower of open source community. He is a family man and loves to travel.

Originally from the capital city, Delhi, Poonam has always been driven by passion to make a difference. She is a graduate with more than 10 years of rich experience and still eager to learn and know more. Her professional experience ranges from consumer delight, administration, event, contracts, etc. which has prepared her well to perform in situations of chaos. Poonam has been with GIZ for over 3 years. Like her city, she is always bustling with infectious energy which keeps the entire team in high spirits. Known for her responsible nature, she is a go-getter and is very supportive when it comes to work and helping other team members. Her hobbies include traveling and exploring new destinations and closely observing different cultures.

Neha is a diligent team worker with persuasive positive attitude. She is not only a trained dentist, public health professional, MHA TISS, but also mother of two naughty kids. She handles pan-India Professional Programme in 19 states and has a knack for people management and personnel engagement. Her handbag is full of different colours of crayons from working with the central and state government, to private organisations to multilateral and bilateral agencies, multinationals, NGOs, development partners which enable her to always paint a beautiful picture.

She is a Global Health graduate with experience as a Junior Advisor for a German medical aid organisation. Mostly lived in Europe but also had the opportunity to work as an international volunteer in a hospital in Nepal after her graduation. Both her Bachelor’s degree in International Cultural and Business Studies and her Masters in Global Health gave her the opportunity to spend time in other educational systems all over the world; including Canada, France, Norway, the Netherlands and India. As part of an international student team she developed a health system map on the topic of “infectious disease preparedness” in the State of Karnataka. Years later, after her first job within the sector of development cooperation and humanitarian assistance she had the opportunity to return to India. As of February 2020, she supports the team in their efforts to strive towards Universal Health Coverage in India. Even though, starting a new job in a nation-wide lockdown was not how she expected her new start in India, she is looking forward to getting to know more of this vast country.

Baya is a communications professional with over 15 years of work experience with a demonstrated history of working in the international development industry. She is skilled in Photography, Storytelling, Writing and Editing. Her day job includes drafting communications strategy, executing and achieving the set targets. Her observant nature makes it easy for her to understand and work with people around her.

She has been on the move, living her name which means ‘bird.’ Now amidst the cacophony of big cities, she misses the quiet and simplicity of small towns where she grew up. She hopes to make the younger generation more culturally sensitive to their roots and environment.

An alumna of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Dhenkanal, Baya also has a Masters in International Journalism from University of Westminster, London.

Angad has nearly 10 years of experience of working in Indian healthcare context with expertise and special interest in Public-Private Partnerships in Healthcare. He is part of a team which provides technical assistance to stakeholders in the areas of healthcare financing, social health insurance, health systems strengthening, PPPs in health. He has extensive experience in advising state and central governments, international development organizations, not for profit organizations and policy making agencies. In his previous job as a consultant to World Bank, Uttarakhand Health Systems Development Project, he was instrumental in designing the project by identifying gaps in service delivery, development of project components, developing institutional, implementation arrangements and monitoring mechanism for the project. He also contributed in implementing social health insurance schemes in the state. Prior to this, Angad worked as Senior Research Associate in Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Delhi University on DFID and World Bank funded research project in the areas of Healthcare PPPs He also briefly worked in UK after his Masters.

Angad has undergone numerous World Bank trainings on healthcare PPPs, healthcare financing and health system strengthening. He has also completed WHO’s Advanced Course on Health Financing for Universal Health Coverage for Low and Middle Income Countries, in Barcelona, Spain. Angad holds a Masters in Public Health (MPH) from University of Sheffield, School of Health and Related Research.