Narotam Sekhsaria Fellowship

The Harvard Chan India Research Center is happy to announce the first Narotam Seksharia Fellows starting in March 2025. For the 2025-26 cycle, the Narotam Sekhsaria Fellows at Harvard Chan India Research Center are Dr. Imnameren Longkumer and Dr. Rohan Shah. This one-year fellowship aims to support early-stage investigators (ESIs) in public health in India to work with and receive mentorship from faculty at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health on a defined research project and gain experience conducting primary research in public health. The fellowship also provides support for the fellows to further their research goals. Additionally, the fellowship covers for the fellow to visit their faculty mentor in Boston as well as for their faculty mentor to visit them at their place of research in India. 

Dr. Longkumar is affiliated with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, and will be mentored by Professor S. V. Subramanian, Professor of Population Health and Geography at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. His research is focused on reducing the burden of high blood pressure, understanding the determinants of cardiovascular morbidities, and to strengthen the implementation of national NCD programme at community level.  

With training in Anthropology and experience in clinical research, his project will assess the effectiveness of digital health (mHealth) intervention in blood pressure reduction and management among uncontrolled hypertensive individuals. His work aims to inform national NCD policies and strengthen health interventions to improve high blood pressure in India.

Dr. Rohan Shah is affiliated with the D. Y. Patil Medical College, Hospital & Research Centre and will be mentored by Professor Wafaie Fawzi, Richard Saltonstall Professor of Population Sciences, and Professor of Nutrition, Epidemiology, and Global Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Through the Narotam Sekhsaria Fellowship, Dr. Shah aims to synthesize existing evidence to inform future research and policy about how to improve current anaemia control programmes in India.

The project will focus on adolescent anaemia in India and other LMICs, employing a systematic review approach to evaluate iron supplementation programmes, identify key barriers and facilitators, and assess current intervention strategies. Research findings from this work will help address current evidence gaps in India to design and implement future projects to address adolescent anaemia and improve public health outcomes.