The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health India Research Center, an office of Harvard Global Research Support Centre India, opened in December 2015, through a generous gift from Dr. Swati Piramal, a 1992 graduate of the Harvard Chan School, and Mr. Ajay Piramal, a graduate of Harvard Business School. The Center is designed to facilitate the development of new strategic relationships and build upon existing ones with organizations across India. The Center provides logistical support for its strategic goals of research, teaching, and knowledge translation and communication already underway by the School’s faculty and students and their collaborators in India. Equally important, it offers opportunities to expand those activities and create new projects in the future.

Strategic Goals

Research

The India Research Center facilitates research projects in India by enabling faculty and students to connect with Indian collaborators, providing logistical support to research activities, and offering fundraising support and office space. More specifically, the Center:

supports research of Harvard Chan School faculty and students in India by providing space, research assistance, local connections, and identification of partners and explore funding opportunities
promotes collaborative research between Indian and Harvard Chan School researchers
provides technical expertise and collaborative opportunities to Indian partners for evaluation of large-scale demonstration projects currently ongoing in India
develops and disseminates case studies of population and primary health projects in India
identifies research needs and funding opportunities and matches faculty with similar interests.

Training

The Center facilitates teaching, executive education, and distance learning and investment for developing and executing training programs in India. These activities include:

developing and supporting learning opportunities in India for Harvard Chan School’s students through field visits and field placements
building capacity through workshops for public health practitioners, researchers, and leaders on adapting and implementing evidence-based interventions, clinical trials, longitudinal research designs, program evaluation, public health risk communication, biostatistics, and more. Graduates of the workshops are expected to assume leadership roles in promoting evidence-informed policy making and program implementation.
exploring how the Harvard EdX platform could be harnessed for promoting training in public health, working closely with partners in India. The Harvard Chan School has so far offered seven courses on this platform, and out of the 11,000 certificates that have been issued, 1,713 have been issued to individuals from India.

Knowledge Translation and Communication

Translating public health research and knowledge is a core mission of the Harvard Chan School. In keeping with this goal, the Center works to:

capitalize on the tremendous convening power of Harvard University to address major public health challenges through translation of evidence, promotion of evidence-based policies and programs, and offering technical support for public health communication
promote and establish learning networks and collaboratives to address major public health challenges in India, with a particular focus on the rising trend of noncommunicable diseases, mental health, care of the elderly, nutrition and dietary practices, tobacco control, and health systems strengthening
convene or contribute to meetings, conferences, and workshops to inform public health practice and policy.

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