Helping Communities Manage risks from the ground up.

Atanu is a post-graduate in Statistics from Indian Statistical Institute (Kolkata) with over 20 years’ experience in commercial and development sector (particularly in the area of health). His experience in the health sector ranges from HIV/AIDS to RCH, from improving health care delivery system to microplanning. In MIA he works as a Researcher with the primary responsibility of providing technical support to various research initiatives and developing management information system for micro health insurance projects.    Previously he has worked for GOPA-EPOS (in the Basic Health Project, Govt. of West Bengal), UNICEF (as a Consultant) and renowned NGOs like Child In Need Institute and Bhoruka Public Welfare Trust.

Conor joins the MIA as Researcher and is currently working on a European Union- funded program using new research designs to look at the efficiency and responsiveness of community health insurance schemes in a number of Indian states. Conor is an economist by training, holding a degree in economics and politics, and a masters in economics. Upon completing academic work, he spent several years working in economic research and policy making for the government of Sierra Leone. As a researcher, he handled a variety of projects including social impact analyses of various policies, the development costing models for healthcare and education services, and statistical modelling and forecasting of macroeconomic variables.

Dr. B. Dinesh Baliga graduated from the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune in 1985. He has a vast clinical experience in surgical branches esp. accident & emergencies, Orthopaedics in various hospitals in Delhi and has also published a number of articles on Lithotripsy. He has worked for the Ministry of Health in Libya. On his return from Libya in 1998, he completed his post-graduate degree in Hospital and Health Management and since then he has been working in the field of Public Health. He has also worked in the World Health Organisation as a Surveillance Officer in the National Polio Surveillance Project till 2002. He later joined a British Charity Organisation and Skillshare International as a Public Health Specialist (Health Trainer/Developm-ent Worker) and carried out field work in remote tribal areas of Kalahandi and Koraput Districts (Orissa, India) with the aim to serve the poor and develop strategies forsustainable development amongst people below poverty line. He has set up Community Health Programmes in many remote areas of Orissa, Uttaranchal, Jharkahand and Maharashtra. He has also worked with people living with HIV and has helped setting up a Network of Positive people in Koraput, Orissa. He has also produced training modules, IEC materials on health specific to each location. He joined the MIA as a Medical Advisor.

Dr Shikha holds PhD degree in Medical Geography and a post graduation in Geography and PG diploma in Geo-informatics for Disaster Management and Environmental Assessment from Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun. She has 10 years of extensive experience in application of GIS/ Remote Sensing techniques in the field of public health management. Prior to MIA she worked as a GIS analyst at Urban Health Resource Centre (New Delhi) where she was responsible for giving technical assistance to GoI on GIS related issues. She worked as a part time faculty at National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (New Delhi) and as a researcher at National Institute of Health Statistics (ICMR). She had about 3 years stint at EPOS health consultant as a Programme Coordinator. Dr Shikha has also done short term consultancies on urban health issues with Family Health International.

Dr Shikha joined MIA as a Researcher (Spatial Analysis) and leads the spatial research activities (using innovative techniques of GIS and Remote Sensing) for the FP7-EC funded project.
 

Jacquiline brings to the MIA her previous experience in the general insurance & reinsurance business where she has worked since 2001 as an actuarial analyst.  She applied this knowledge and experience in her research work at the MIA, which centers on reinsurance for micro insurance units. Jacquiline holds an M.Phil degree in Economics from the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.

Juho has previously worked as Programme Officer at Human Rights Law Network, New Delhi, where he conducted research on the right to food campaign. He has also conducted internships in Europe in the field of human rights. At the MIA, Juho's task is to document the implementation process of various projects. He holds a BA in Communication Studies and Comparative Religion from Middlesex University, London, a MA in Religion and Human Rights from Roehampton University, London, and a Diploma in Humanities from Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang.

Maria Nisha Peris is the Deputy Director of Operations for the MIA. She joined the MIA after completing a Masters of Public Policy from the University of Maryland. Nisha has experience working with the University of Maryland in the United States and with the World Bank, Child Relief and You, Ford Foundation and the International Development Research Centre in India.

In her current assignment, Nisha is responsible for strengthening the organization's internal processes, she works with the advisory services unit and provides oversight on all aspects of MIA India's office operations and project management. She is a member of the senior management team.

Dr. Pradeep Panda is a population economist by training and has been associated with academic research for the last two decades. He has held positions at the University of Bombay, Mumbai and Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum where he engaged in teaching and research. He has also contributed to applied research at the National Council for Applied Economic Research and the Population Council, New Delhi, and at the Institute for Rural Research and Development, Gurgaon, where he was Director of Rural Research. He has published papers in peer-reviewed journals and has undertaken empirical research on gender dimensions of poverty, employment, violence, health and human rights. In his role as a Senior Researcher at the MIA, Dr. Panda leads a team of researchers for the EU-funded project on the impact assessment of community based health insurance schemes in India.

Priyadarshini joins MIA as a training specialist with more than 6 years of experience in wide range of research, advocacy and campaign activities in the areas of partciapatory governance, livelihood and health. Previous association with Organisations like Center for Youth and Social Development (CYSD) in Orissa and Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI) in New Delhi has strengthen her undersatnding on varied development issues realting to the life and livelihood of the  Rural and tribals community in India. She has an MA and Mphil degree in Anthropology with specialisation in Biological Anthropology from Utkal University, Orissa. As a training specialist her job responsibilities in MIA includes, contribution to ongoing development of training material on micro insurance, contribution to workshops and training session, giving training to the targets groups and evaluating the training programmes.

Ralf joined the MIA from the Department for Cooperative Studies of University of Cologne (Germany), where he coordinated a European Union funded project on micro health insurance in India. Ralf has conducted extensive research on microinsurance and also consults in the same domain.  In his role of Director of Research and Training, Ralf coordinates the research and training activities of the Micro Insurance Academy aiming to assist in the development of community based micro insurance schemes, which are integrated into the financial system. Ralf is economist by education holding a degree from University of Cologne.

Richa joined the MIA after assignments as a Programme Assistant in the Woman and Child Development Unit of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, New Delhi, and as a Gender Trainer at the Centre for Social Research, New Delhi.  At the MIA, Richa is working on a GTZ commissioned research project on Collective Action entitled: "Using community dynamics in pro-poor insurance: affiliating communities en bloc". Richa is a Post Graduate in Sociology from Delhi School of Economics, and a qualified MSW from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

Sachin joins MIA as a Researcher bringing his experience in qualitative and quantitative research methods. His research work with various national and international organizations was focused on HIV/AIDS and stigma, mental health service delivery, quality of care in public hospitals, evaluation of programs and policies, integration of health and mental health, ethical issues and values in mental health sector, and building a people’s movement for mental health. He recently finished course work for his Masters of Public Administration in Health Policy and Management from Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, New York University, U.S.A. Sachin has a Masters degree in Organizational Psychology from Pune University.