Professor Sanjay Zodpey is the President, Public Health Foundation of India, which ranks second globally among schools of public health. He is appointed Pro-Chancellor of the PHFI Institute of Public Health Sciences (Deemed to be University).He has served as Vice President - Academics, Public Health Foundation of India and led the Indian Institute of Public Health, Delhi as its Founding Director. An institution builder, he played an important role in setting up Indian Institutes of Public Health across India. He has held joint appointment as Honorary / Adjunct Professor in five international universities: Georgia Southern University, Georgia; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA;The University of Sydney, Australia; Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia; and Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Lalitpur, Nepal. He is appointed as ‘Outstanding Professor’ by Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), An Institution of National Importance established by an Act of Parliament, Government of India.
He has served as Director of Indian Institutes of Public Health at Gandhinagar and Bhubaneswar. Before joining PHFI, he had a distinguished career as Professor at Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Faculty in Clinical Epidemiology Unit and Vice Dean at Government Medical College, Nagpur, India.
Professor Zodpey is an internationally renowned epidemiologist, public health scientist, award-winning educator and a widely recognized global health leader. He is a trained public health professional with multidisciplinary qualifications. He has acquired MD (Community Medicine), PhD and post-graduate qualifications in Sociology, Public Administration, and Economics. He was conferred ‘Doctor of Science (DSc) (Honoris Causa)’ by DMIMS Deemed to be University, Wardha for long-standing contribution to medical science and public health. He has been conferred ‘Doctor of Medicine (honoris causa)’ by The University of Sydney, Australia in recognition of his eminent contributions to public health in India, the region, and the world.
Professor Zodpey is a prolific researcher. With over 442 publications [h-index (Google Scholar): 74], he features in top 2 percent scientists across the world for his research contribution in Tropical Medicine for five consecutive years as part of worldwide ranking of scientists in all science fields. Research.com, a leading academic platform for researchers, ranked Prof. Zodpey #1 in India in the category of Best Scientists in the field of Social Sciences and Humanities for three consecutive years, based on D-index (Discipline H-index) metric. He is recipient of ‘Outstanding Faculty Award: Health Professions’ for being the most research-proficient faculty of India in 2023, by CAREERS 360.
His current research interests include global health, health systems research, health workforce development and education of health professionals. He served as the Chief Editor of Indian Journal of Public Health. He earlier served as the Chair of Research Advisory Council of National Institute of Miners’ Health, Ministry of Mines, Government of India. His is currently the Chair of Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) of two eminent ICMR institutions - National AIDS Research Institute (NARI), Pune and National Institute for Research in Environmental Health (NIREH), Bhopal.
He is Honorary Member of Faculty of Public Health, UK and Member of European Public Health Association. He is Fellow of the Indian Public Health Association, Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine, Indian Society for Malaria and Other Communicable Diseases and National Academy of Medical Sciences (India). He was the National President of Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine for two consecutive terms.
He served as the Chairperson of Global Evaluation and Monitoring Network for Health. He is a Board Member of Routine Health Information Network, Inc [RHINO], Boston, USA. He was the Country Lead for Asia Pacific Network on Health Professional Education Reforms and Country Focal Point for Asia Pacific Action Alliance for Human Resources for Health. He has also served as Member on Institute of Medicine [IOM, Washington DC] Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professional Education.
His contributions to public health have been recognized through several awards and honours. Professor Zodpey’s contributions during the COVID 19 pandemic were recognized and he was conferred with the ‘COVID Warrior Award’ in appreciation of outstanding commitment, dedication, and selfless service during the pandemic. He is also the recipient of Public Health Education Leadership Award for significant contributions in promoting public health education in WHO’s South-East Asia Region.
