Shreelata Rao Seshadri

Director, Ramalingaswami Centre for Equity and Social Determinants of Health and Professor

Ph.D.

Professional Summary and Publications

My research brings together public health, social science, and policy to understand how people’s lives and well-being are shaped by the systems and circumstances around them. Over the years, I have worked on a broad range of issues—from maternal and child health to food systems, gender, and health systems governance—always with the aim of making health systems more equitable and responsive. My work often looks at how social, economic and ecological changes affect people’s health and choices, and how policies can be designed to address these realities.

A large part of my research has focused on women’s health and well-being, and on understanding what drives positive change over the life course. I am also studying adolescent sexual and reproductive health and how reductions in adolescent fertility have come about in India. Much of this work is part of the Exemplars in Global Health initiative, supported by the Gates Foundation. My earlier studies on nutrition have explored how cultural practices, food systems, and social contexts shape what people eat and why.

Equity has been a constant theme—whether in examining disparities in access to care, how power dynamics affect communication between providers and patients, or how policy decisions reflect social priorities. I am especially interested in the ways communities define and experience “well-being,” and how research can feed into policy through sustained engagement rather than one-off projects.

My projects often bring together different disciplines—public health, sociology, economics, and ecology—to look at complex problems in practical and grounded ways. I am drawn to participatory and place-based research that values local knowledge, and to translating findings into teaching, training, and public dialogue. Through this, I hope to make space for voices and perspectives often left out of the policy conversation.

Member, Health Systems Global

Board Member, Centre for Budgeting and Policy Studies

Member, Advisory Board, Centre for Training, Research, and Innovation in Tribal Health

Member, Karnataka State Planning Commission

Ramalingaswami Centre on Equity and Social Determinants of Health
IIPH Bangalore

Adolescent Health
Maternal Health/Women’s Health
Public Health Nutrition
Climate Change
Ageing
Social Determinants of Health
Health Policy and Planning
Palliative Care
Global Health
Qualitative Research
Health System

Project/Programme Management/Implementation

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Email Address

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Contact Details :

https://orcid.org/my-orcid?orcid=0000-0002-5319-0907

seshadri.rao@phfi.org

+919845052256