With those words, Sheila Sarma, SM ’01, and Padmini Sekhsaria captured the spirit of an evening that brought Harvard Chan alumni, supporters, and friends together in New York City to celebrate a decade of impact in India. What began as an ambitious vision, first shared by Vish Viswanath, Lee Kum Kee Professor of Health Communication and Director of the IRC, to create a hub connecting Harvard Chan researchers with partners across India to address some of the world’s most pressing public health challenges has grown into a powerful platform for research, innovation, and collaboration.
At the Building on a Decade of Impact to Transform Public Health in India event, guests reflected on the remarkable growth of the Harvard Chan India Research Center (IRC), its contributions to public health across India, and the partnerships that have fueled its success. Hosted by IRC Advisory Council members Sarma and Sekhsaria, the evening celebrated the people, ideas, and investments that have shaped the IRC’s first decade while looking ahead to the opportunities and impact that lie ahead.
Since its inception, the Harvard Chan India Research Center (IRC) has built a portfolio of impactful collaborations advancing public health research and practice in India. Working with India’s Ministry of Women and Child Development and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Center helped develop India’s first agriculture-food database to promote dietary diversity and improve nutrition outcomes. Through Project SANCHAR, the IRC trained more than 200 journalists on major public health issues, strengthening their ability to access and translate scientific evidence into reporting. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Center launched a real-time dashboard to equip journalists, NGOs, and the public with credible information at a time when misinformation was spreading globally.
Advancing the IRC’s Impact
The evening also featured a panel discussion highlighting the IRC’s accomplishments and vision for the future, moderated by IRC Council member Anthony Dias. Panelists included Vish Viswanath, Shruthi Mahalingaiah, and Wafae Fawzi.
Dias opened the conversation by inviting Viswanath to reflect on the IRC’s role within Harvard Chan and the broader public health landscape in India. Viswanath described the Center as a bridge between research, training, policy, and implementation—bringing together faculty, students, institutions, and community partners to address complex public health challenges. He emphasized that the IRC’s approach is rooted not only in advancing scientific discovery, but also in ensuring that research translates into meaningful impact for communities and health systems. “It takes more than a village,” Viswanath said, underscoring the scale and depth of collaboration needed.
The discussion explored environmental health, reproductive epidemiology, nutrition, infectious disease, and prevention. Mahalingaiah reflected on how environmental exposures can influence health outcomes across the life course and highlighted the opportunities for interdisciplinary research to improve women’s health in India and globally. Fawzi emphasized the importance of sustained academic partnerships and capacity building, noting that long-term collaboration is essential to strengthening health systems and improving outcomes for women, children, and adolescents.
Recurring themes
Together, the panelists underscored India’s role as a vital global health partner and highlighted growing opportunities for innovation, collaboration, and scientific leadership in the years ahead.
Dean Andrea Baccarelli closed the evening with reflections on the importance of global partnerships and the role of centers like the IRC in advancing public health research and impact worldwide, reiterating the value of alumni and community engagement in sustaining this work and shaping the future of global public health.
The evening concluded with a reception, where guests continued conversations and connected with faculty, alumni, and friends of the India Research Center.
Throughout Building on a Decade of Impact to Transform Public Health in India a central theme emerged: the power of strong, sustained partnerships that connect scientific research with real-world implementation.
