Manish founded and leads IIH’s India operations in Bihar. Prior to co-founding IIH, he was a co-founder and Chief Architect at Engim Inc., a private venture-backed wireless semiconductor startup. Manish is a Fellow of the Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at MIT. He has a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Manish is a recipient of MIT's Graduate Teaching Award.
Bill Thies
Bill is a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research, where he is a member of the Technologies for Emerging Markets Group. His research focuses on inventing and applying technologies that promote socio-economic development, especially in the context of healthcare and education. He received all of his degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he completed his Ph.D. in computer science in February, 2009. Bill is a MacArthur Fellow.
Board
Manish Bhardwaj and Bill Thies
Jagdeep Gambhir (IIH India) Jagdeep is the CEO and co-founder of Karma Healthcare and manages the organization’s implementation, partnerships and finances. Prior to Karma Healthcare, Jagdeep was a Senior Program Manager at the Population Foundation of India where he led various high-value strategic initiatives in program and organizational development. Jagdeep was IIH’s founding program manager, and launched a TB treatment program in rural Bihar. Jagdeep is an alumnus of the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad and NITK, Surathkal.
Scott Kennedy Scott is the Executive Director of Energy Action Partners, a non-profit working to improve access to sustainable energy services. Prior to Energy Action Partners, Scott was an associate professor and Dean of Research at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi, where he oversaw the Institute’s energy and sustainability research and founded multiple initiatives on renewable energy and community development. Scott received a PhD in Engineering Sciences from Harvard University and a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University.
Manish Kumar (IIH India) Manish has worked in healthcare for more than a decade, including a 4-year stint in Afghanistan, where he was part of research teams surveying and studying that country’s fledgling healthcare system. His interests lie in understanding the socio-economic dynamics of rural Bihar, and their impact on healthcare. He has a M.A. from Jamia Millia Islamia, and a Ph.D. in sociology from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Patna.
Tushar Garg Tushar is an India Fellow and a senior researcher at IIH who previously led IIH’s TB treatment program. Tushar oversaw the expansion of IIH’s catchment to include more than 1 million new rural residents. His team close to doubled case-finding rates in the new catchment. Tushar is a physician trained at the Sawai Man Singh Medical College, Jaipur.
Pitamber Soren Pitamber Soren manages IIH’s TB treatment program in Dalsinghsarai and Vidyapatinagar with a combined population of 400,000 rural residents. He is interested in exploring ways to improve community engagement. Pitamber has a Masters in Public Health from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai.
Dyuti Sen Dyuti is an India Fellow and works with IIH’s TB treatment program. She has a Bachelors in Economics from Loreto College, Kolkata. Her interests lie in a behavioral sciences approach to development. She formulated and led the community counselors initiative at IIH. She is also the PI of a BMGF funded Grand Challenge Explorations Project that uses games to increase demand for immunization.
Sunil Kumar Sunil holds a degree in Rural Development Management from Magadh University. He has more than seven years of experience in the development sector with a track record of managing and implementing public health and nutrition projects in Bihar. He is interested in improving rural health via partnerships between the civil society and the public health system.
Homam Khan Homam is the co-lead of IIH's mental health program, and has led the development of technological interventions to combat postpartum depression in rural women. Homam has a Masters in Social Work from the University of Delhi. Prior to IIH, Homam was at the State Rural Livelihood Mission in Rajasthan, where he led various state-wide livelihood initiatives. His interests lie in technology and processes for social good.
Smriti Ridhi Smriti works with IIH's TB treatment program. She has a Bachelors in Dental Surgery from MAHE, Manipal. Prior to IIH, she worked as a resident doctor with the Government of NCT of Delhi and spent some time working at the intersection of public health and patient care. Her interests lie in strategic planning and exploring demand-led technical interventions to enable the public health landscape.