WHO HE IS?
Professor Sanjay Kamlakar Juvekar is an anthropologist by training and a community health scientist by calling. What distinguishes him from a conventional biomedical researcher is his foundational belief that understanding human communities — their behaviors, cultures, social structures, and lived realities — is the essential starting point for any meaningful health intervention. Over three-and-a-half decades, this philosophy has shaped an extraordinary research career.
Starting in 1991 at the Foundation for Research in Community Health (FRCH) in Pune, he immersed himself in tuberculosis research, helping to create the world's first rural public-private partnership for TB control — a model now recognized globally. He later joined the KEM Hospital Research Centre (KEMHRC) and built the Vadu Rural Health Program into one of South Asia's most respected health surveillance and research institutions.
Today, Prof. Juvekar leads interdisciplinary teams encompassing anthropologists, medical doctors (both Allopathy and AYUSH), environmental scientists, data scientists, biotechnologists, pharmacists, nurses, and field-based researchers. He has been a Founding Principal Investigator for iSHARE — the INDEPTH Data Repository — that democratizes health data from low- and middle-income countries for scientists worldwide. He established the Indian Health and Demographic Surveillance System Network (IHN), connecting surveillance sites across India.
EDUCATION
CAREER MILESTONES
Foundation for Research in Community Health, Pune (1991–2000)
Early career spent developing and implementing innovative TB and community health studies. Managed publications and distributed public health resources across every district health office in Maharashtra — at the time the largest dissemination effort by any non-profit in the state. Set up a pioneering telemedicine centre in the remote village of Kaldari using citizen band radio, and designed a mobile conference facility by converting a truck — in collaboration with Tata Motors.
Maharashtra Association of Anthropological Sciences, Pune (2001–2002)
Initiated India's first-ever public-private partnership (PPP) programme for tuberculosis control in rural areas, involving 65 private practitioners under the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP).
KEM Hospital Research Centre — Vadu Rural Health Program (2010–Present)
As Head and Professor of the Vadu Rural Health Program, Prof. Juvekar leads one of India's flagship community health research units. He conceptualizes and secures funding for community-based research; heads a clinical trial unit focusing on globally significant and national-priority studies; and manages the Vadu Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS), tracking over 160,000 individuals in 22 villages. He also established and manages the teleconsultation e-health unit at the Women's Development and Training Centre of KEMHRC at Pabal, Shirur.
KEM Hospital Ankit Shirdi Sai Baba Rural Hospital, Vadu Budruk (2012–2021)
As General Administrator, he oversaw a 30-bed multi-specialty secondary care rural hospital, raised funds for high-tech infrastructure, and supervised interns in compliance with Medical Council of India regulations.
PROJECTS
Serving as Investigator, Co-Investigator or Project Director in 11 research projects that deal with demographic surveillance systems, childbirth migration, tuberculosis, adolescent health, SARS-CoV-2 infection trend, human microbiome, excess mortality, and vaccine trials.
Have earlier led over 50 other projects.
Professor and Head, Vadu Rural Health Program, KEMHRC, a recognized research centre for PhD at Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU).
Professor, PhD guide at Department of Anthropology, SPPU.
Adjunct Faculty, Centre for Social Medicine, Pravara Institute of Medical Sciences (Deemed University).
Co-supervisor, PhD students, University of Edinburgh, UK
Co-guide, PhD students, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.
Affiliate Professor, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Dr. Vishwanath Karad MIT World Peace University, Pune
Held 11 teaching positions in the past.
AWARDS & FELLOWSHIP
• Butler-Williams Scholar at National Institute on Aging (NIA) summer school, 2009-10. Contributed to the Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) that covered Asia and Africa.
• Two-year research fellowship by Tuberculosis Association of India, New Delhi, for research on help seeking behaviour among tuberculosis patients in Pune, 1997-98. This resulted in completion of my PhD field work.
• Two-year fellowship by Tribal Research and Training Institute, Pune, for research on nutritional status of tribal women and children of Dapoli, Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, 1994-95. The study provided evidence regarding the lifestyle and nutritional status of the Katkari tribe, predominant in the region.
• Dr. C. V. Rao Young Scientist Award for research on tuberculosis management in private practice and its implications, 1995. Being selected as an anthropologist (from the several medical scientists who participated) provided confidence to later work with the private practitioners in the world’s first ever rural public-private study, a major step towards controlling TB.
• Two-year fellowship from the Tuberculosis Association of India as financial assistance to initiate PhD work, 1993-94.
HONARARY POSITIONS
• Multiple ICMR positions on TB, noncommunicable diseases, maternal & child health, nutrition, HDSS, air pollution, household energy, helminths, implementation research, diabetes, and studies for north-eastern states.
• Member of four ethics committees.
• Founding member of 8 organizations: health (4), education and development (2), sports (2).
• Have held 15 other honorary positions in the past.
• Expert Committee on Implementation Research, India TB Research Consortium, Indian Council of
Medical Research (ITRC-ICMR). From 2021.
• Institutional Ethics Committee member:
• ICMR-National Institute for Implementation Research on Non-Communicable Diseases, Jodhpur,
Rajasthan. From 2022.
• Post Graduate Institute, YC Medical Hospital, Pimpri, Pune. From 2018.
• State Health Systems Resource Centre (SHSRC), Maharashtra. From 2015.
• PRAYAS Institute, Pune. From 2015.
• Review Group, Implementation Research in Maternal & Child Health and Nutrition, ICMR. From 2018.
• Expert Group/Advisor on Health and Demographic Surveillance System
• Dibrugarh HDSS, Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC), Assam. From 2018.
• Kasurdi HDSS, Armed Forces Medical College, Pune. From 2017.
• Gorakhpur HDSS, RMRC, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. From 2017.
• Janata Vasahat HDSS, ICMR- National Institute of Virology, Pune. From 2015.
• Pravara HDSS, Pravara Institute of Medical Sciences, Ahmednagar. From 2014.
• Household energy expert at RMRC, Bhubaneshwar. From 2017.
• Expert Group on "soil-transmitted helminths", ICMR. From 2017.
• Technical advisory group for verbal autopsy sample registration (the MINErVA Group). From 2017.
• Scientific Advisory Committee, National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis. From 2013.
• Founding Member:
• Save a Child foundation (SaCh), Pune (2022).
• Abhinav Bharat Institute for Rural Development, Pune (2005).
• Organization for Research in Paediatric Health & Neonatology, Pune (1998).
• Association for Health, Education, Assistance and Development (AHEAD), Pune (1996)
Have held 16 other honorary positions in the past.
WHAT DRIVES HIM?
At the heart of Prof. Juvekar's work is a conviction that data without humanity is incomplete, and that human observation without rigorous data is insufficient. He combines quantitative and qualitative methodologies — the hallmark of a trained anthropologist working in public health — to produce research that is both scientifically credible and practically actionable.
His mentorship philosophy is equally distinctive: he has guided Masters, PhD, and Post-Doctoral students from India, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Scandinavia, and beyond. He co-supervises doctoral students at the University of Edinburgh (UK) and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, and holds Affiliate Professor positions across multiple universities.