Professional Summary and Publications

Prof. Monika Arora is a public health scientist and global leader in health promotion and the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), with expertise spanning child and adolescent health, oral health, behavioural science, and implementation research. She serves as Vice President (Research and Health Promotion) at the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and is the Director of the Centre for Empathic Healthcare in India.

Her research focuses on epidemiology, implementation science, behavioural and policy research, mixed-methods research, and the design and evaluation of group-randomised controlled trials, conducted as part of a multidisciplinary research team within the Health Promotion Division. With more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, her work has generated evidence that has shaped national health policies and programmes in India and across Southeast Asia. She has held several influential global leadership roles, including Immediate Past President of the NCD Alliance (2023–2025) and Founding Chair of the South-East Asia NCD Alliance (2020-2023).

Prof. Arora has made extensive contributions to global public health through leadership in international expert groups, including serving as a Commissioner on the Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health in 2017, as a Member of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Implementation, Monitoring and Accountability formed by the WHO Director-General on Ending Childhood Obesity in 2014, and currently as a Commissioner for the Nature Medicine Commission on Quality Information for All. Her contributions to advancing NCD prevention and adolescent health have been recognised with several prestigious national and international honours, including the WHO Director-General's World No Tobacco Day Award, the Global Health Council Best Practices Award, and the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine International Chapter Award. She is also the editor of the book Public Health Approaches to Health Promotion, which offers a contemporary global perspective on health promotion with a focus on South Asia.

Peer-Reviewed Publications (Selected)

1. Arora M, Shrivastav R, Gupta SK. Integrating meaningful involvement of people living with non-communicable diseases in India's National NCD Programme: lessons learnt and opportunities for global, regional and national contextualisation and adoption. BMJ Glob Health. 2026 May 17;11(5):e020189. DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2025-020189.
2. Ikhile D, Highton P, Gillies C, Abdala R, Ardavani A, Arora M, Banstola A, Brahmbhatt A, Cassambai S, Funnell MP, Goenka S. Quality of life and multiple long-term conditions in Southeast Asia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Nature Communications. 2026 Jan 26. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-68197-z
3. Bassi S, Gupta SK, Rajkhowa P, Marten R, Good S, Arora M. Confronting corporate power: addressing commercial determinants of health and the rising non-communicable disease epidemic in South-East Asia. BMJ Global Health. 2026 Apr 8;9(Suppl 1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2024-018082
4.  Bassi S, Mathur MR, Arora M, Rawal T, Panda R, Golkari A. A secondary multivariate decomposition analysis of factors influencing smokeless tobacco cessation across two Global Adult Tobacco Survey waves in India and Bangladesh. Tob Prev Cessat. 2026 Jan 29;12. https://doi.org/10.18332/tpc/215183. PMID: 41626280; PMCID: PMC12853378.
5. Rawal T, Gavaravarapu SM, Backholer K, Mishra VK, Srivastava A, Khan S, Jain N, Mishra P, Chamois S, Arora M. What influences food choices of adolescents in India and how their food environment can be improved? BMC Nutr. 2025 Dec 19. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40795-025-01224-w. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41419962.
6. Arora M, Chopra M, Shrivastav R, Venkateshmurthy NS, Oli N, Rao N, Gupta M, Cassambai S, Highton P, Vaidya A, Singh K. Co-creating community engagement and involvement strategies: understanding challenges and needs of people living with multiple long-term conditions and stakeholders’ perspectives in India and Nepal. BMJ Global Health. 2025 Sep 15;10(9).
7. Arora M, Kulkarni MM, Ghosal S, Sathyan A, Gupta M, Verma S, Farmer M, Hadjipanayis A, Klein JD, Winickoff J, Thacker N. E-Cigarettes and the Nicotine Epidemic: Statement From the International Pediatric Association. Pediatrics. 2025 Oct 10:e2025072337.
8. Huse O, Sethi V, Rowel D, Shahula Ahmed A, Liyana Pathirana N, Arora M, Backholer K; South Asia Better Diets and Better Growth for Adolescent Girls Study Group. Home, school, and retail food environments driving obesity among adolescent girls in South Asia. BMJ. 2025 Mar 3;388:e080359. doi: 10.1136/bmj-2024-080359 . PMID: 40032315; PMCID: PMC11869807.
9. Chopra M, Gupta A, Sharma B, Kakade N, Arora M. Assessing second-hand smoke exposure among non-smoking youth in India: Insights from GATS I & II. The Indian Journal of Medical Research. 2025 Jan 22;160(6):578.
10. Bassi S, Thapliyal N, Chaturvedi N, Radhakrishnan A, Arora M. Peer Education Initiatives for promoting Adolescent Health in South-East Asia Region (SEAR): Findings from Desk Review and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs). AJPM Focus. 2025 Feb 26:100325.
11. Arora M, Bassi S, Bahl D, Thapliyal N, Kumar D, Pemde HK, Rizvi ZA. Implementation outcomes of peer education programme comparing state-led and NGO-facilitated models in two Indian states: qualitative findings. Frontiers in Public Health. 2024 Nov 1;12:1434959.
12. Ivaturi A, Giles L, Do LG, Rawal T, Arora M, Moynihan P. Energy and nutrient intake by 11–13-year-old young adolescents attending private schools in Delhi, India. British Journal of Nutrition. 2024;132(3):392-400. doi:10.1017/S000711452400120X
13. Gupta SK, Rawal T, Arora M. Healthy choices, healthy futures: promoting healthy nutrition to curb non-communicable diseases. Trends Endocrinol Metab. 2025 Jun;36(6):497-501. doi: 10.1016/j.tem.2025.04.004. Epub 2025 May 7. PMID: 40340178.
14. ​Kalaivani M, Hemraj C, Varhlunchhungi V, Ramakrishnan L, Malhotra S, Gupta SK, Marwaha RK, Abraham RA, Arora M, Rawal T, Khan MA, Sinha A, Tandon N. Cardio-metabolic traits and its socioeconomic differentials among school children including metabolically obese normal weight phenotypes in India: A post-COVID baseline characteristics of LEAP-C cohort. PLoS One. 2025 May 6;20(5):e0321898. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0321898. PMID: 40327631; PMCID: PMC12054912.​
    
15. Thapliyal N, Bassi S, Bahl D, Chauhan K, Backholer K, Bhatia N, Ghosh-Jerath S, Tripathy L, Mishra P, Chandra S, Arora M. A Scoping Review of Existing Policy Instruments to Tackle Overweight and Obesity in India: Recommendations for a Social and Behaviour Change Communication Strategy. F1000Research. 2024 May 17;13:496.
16. ​Shrivastav R, Rawal T, Kataria I, Mehrotra R, Bassi S, Arora M. Accelerating policy response to curb non-communicable diseases: an imperative to mitigate the dual public health crises of non-communicable diseases and COVID-19 in India. The Lancet Regional Health-Southeast Asia. 2023 Mar 1;10. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lansea/article/PIIS2772-3682(22)00149-4/fulltext​
17. Bassi S, Rawal T, Nazar GP, Dhore PB, Bhatt AA, Deshpande SR, Unnikrishnan AG, Arora M. Empowering Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) in a rural communities of Pune (Maharashtra): Process evaluation of a community-based intervention for diabetes care. International Journal of Noncommunicable Diseases. 2022 Apr 1;7(2):63.
18. Arora M, Stigler MH, Reddy KS. Effectiveness of health promotion in preventing tobacco use among adolescents in India Research evidence informs the National Tobacco Control Programme in India. Global Health Promotion. 2011 Mar 1;18(1):09-12.https://doi.org/10.1177/1757975910393163
19. Arora M, Chauhan K, John S, Mukhopadhyay A. Multi-sectoral action for addressing social determinants of noncommunicable diseases and mainstreaming health promotion in national health programmes in India. Indian journal of community medicine: official publication of Indian Association of Preventive & Social Medicine. 2011 Dec;36(Suppl1): S43. 2011 Dec;36(Suppl1): S43 https://doi.org/10.4103/0970-0218.947

Other Publications: Books, Monograph and Reports (Selected)

1. Arora M. Opinion: Prioritizing children and adolescents to turn the tide on non-communicable diseases. The Week [Internet]. 2024 Oct 17 [cited 2025 Aug 29]; Updated 19:23 IST. Available from: https://www.theweek.in/news/health/2024/10/17/opinion-prioritizing-children-and-adolescents-to-turn-the-tide-on-non-communicable-diseases-dr-vivek-virendra-singh-prof-monika-arora.html  
2. Arora M, Goenka S, editors. Public Health Approaches to Health Promotion. CRC Press; 2023 Oct 24.
3. Arora M. COVID-19 and Beyond: Implications for People Living with Non-Communicable Diseases in India. 2020. Accessed on August 4, 2020. URL: https://casi.sas.upenn.edu/iit/monikaarora
4. Madden J, Feeny E, Arora M. Time to Bring the Full Picture on Women’s Health into Focus. Health Policy Watch, Issue 09, December 2022 URL: https://healthpolicy-watch.news/time-to-bring-the-full-picture-on-womens-health-into-focus/
5. Scientific Editor of the “Smokeless Tobacco and Public Health in India” monograph commissioned by MoHFW and WHO and developed in collaboration with the Healis Sekhsaria Institute of Public Health, Navi Mumbai, PHFI, WHO-SEARO, the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta and National Cancer Institute, USA, 2016.