In Conversation with Dr. Rajani Ved and Dr. Ananya Awasthi

Several themes emerged from the discussion, reflecting key lessons for public health practice in India:

Reframing Health Beyond Clinical Care

Dr. Ved reflected on how her early work in maternal and newborn health in Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu broadened the predominantly clinical perspective she had developed in medical school. Working directly with communities brought greater attention to malnutrition, poverty, access to services, and other social conditions that shape healthcare, and this experience led her to pursue formal training in public health. 

At Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, these experiences were connected to a broader academic and methodological foundation. Dr. Ved recalled learning from faculty including Dr. Richard Cash, Dr. Gretchen Berggren, Dr. John Wyon, and Dr. Michael Reich, whose work helped her connect community experience with epidemiology, social demography, policy formulation, and practice. She also emphasized the value of a transdisciplinary approach, particularly in helping public health professionals move between field realities, analytical frameworks, and applied practice. 

Learning from Implementation to Strengthen Policy and Systems 

Drawing on more than a decade at the National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC), Dr. Ved described NHSRC as a boundary organization between practice and policy. Working across states offered insights into how national policies were adapted in different contexts and how implementation experience could inform policy refinement. Dr. Ved reflected on the potential of institutions such as Anganwadi Centers to play a stronger role in maternal and child health and nutrition, and emphasized that effective screening depends on continuity across identification, diagnosis, referral, and treatment rather than on testing alone.

Embedding Data and Digital Innovation within Public Systems 

Dr. Ved emphasized that data collection should serve a clear purpose and support decision-making at the level where it is generated and used. She cautioned against expanding reporting requirements without considering whether the information collected is useful to those responsible for acting on it. On digital health, she reflected on the limitations of isolated pilots and the importance of designing for institutionalization from the outset. Interoperability, alignment with public digital architecture, and integration with existing systems were highlighted as critical to ensuring that technology strengthens public health delivery at scale. 

Dr. Ved’s reflections presented public health not as a collection of individual programs or interventions, but as a system shaped by institutions, people, evidence, and the relationships between them. The conversation highlighted the importance of learning from implementation, designing around the realities of communities and users, and strengthening public institutions capable of translating those lessons into sustained and equitable improvements in health.