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Arohan

Our Team

Core Team

Dr Shalini Singh

Founder / CEO

Dr Ilhaam Ashraf

Lead - Strategy and Program Development

Palak Chakraborty

Lead - Learning and Evaluation

Aman Mohan Mishra

Founder / Director

Deeksha Khurana

Deputy Director- Finance and Operations

Kushagra Singh

Lead - Legal

Dr Sudeshna Mukherjee

Advisor - Gender & Equity

Dr Md Zabir Hasan

Advisor - Integrated Care

Dr Sarah Hyder Iqbal

Advisor - AMR Research & Advocacy

Council of Distinguished Experts

Prof K. Srinath Reddy

Honorary Distinguished Professor and Chancellor at the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI)

Ms Vandita Sharma

Bureaucrat (IAS – 1986 Batch) Ex-Chief Secretary of Government of Karnataka

Dr. Prashanth N. Srinivas

Director of the Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru

Dr Brian Wahl

Assistant Professor at Yale School of Public Health

Vishnu Rajeev

Investment Partner at Speciale Invest

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Shalini manages primary healthcare projects at Arohan Partners, bringing nearly 20 years of experience in government health programs with a focus on systems design and policy reforms. As a senior researcher and Associate faculty at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, her work involved community engagement, collaborative governance, public health leadership training, and donor projects transition research. While working with the National Health Systems Resource Centre, New Delhi, she guided the rollout of Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres, the ASHA program, primary health care providers’ training, and UHC efforts. She also led state efforts for UHC pilots in Karnataka while at the Public Health Foundation of India. A trained dentist, she holds an MPH from Johns Hopkins and is a Chevening CRISP Fellow from the University of Oxford, UK.

Ilhaam brings a distinctive blend of expertise in clinical service assessments, community engagement, and working with marginalized populations.. She leads technical guidance for strengthening clinical services, reviewing the quality of care, and developing health program strategies. She has extensive experience in PHC systems strengthening, infectious diseases, and humanitarian response – especially for vulnerable populations in resource-limited settings. Before joining Arohan, she led PHC coordination research at KHPT and provided technical guidance for HIV and maternal-child health programs across 24 states with SAATHII. Her work with Médecins Sans Frontières spanned conflict settings, COVID-19 response, refugee health assessments, and comprehensive care for marginalised communities. She has also driven community health initiatives in the Northeast through Sunbird Trust and AarogyaSeva, focusing on primary care, CHW training, and youth health programs. Her career reflects a strong commitment to equity-oriented, community-driven public health. Ilhaam holds an MSc in Public Health (Health Systems & Disease Control) from the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, a Diploma in Tropical Medicine & Hygiene from the Royal College of Physicians (UK), and certification in Global Health & Humanitarian Medicine through Médecins Sans Frontières. She completed her MBBS at Bangalore Medical College & Research Institute. 

Palak is a development specialist and leads quantitative analyses, program evaluations, and interdisciplinary research to guide implementation oversight, knowledge product development, and monitoring. She also anchors team and stakeholder coordination for all projects. She closely works with the CEO in developing policy communiques and planning investment support for multilateral organizations on emerging challenges of public health, such as long-term care for the elderly, climate change, etc. Before joining Arohan, at the Sankala Foundation, she led a study on a digitally enabled integrated care model for health in Karnataka, a flagship report on elderly care reforms, and organised stakeholder dialogues with NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Health. She is skilled in quantitative research, costing analysis, econometrics, and digital communications. Palak completed her Master’s in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and holds a BA in Economics from the University of Delhi. 

As Founder & Director, Aman is an operational anchor; he enables Arohan to focus on its mission, vision, and strategies, and manages internal and external engagements.  With nearly 12 years of multifaceted experience in public health management, Aman has led strategic projects for high-profile organizations, including Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF, working closely with governments, development partners, and civil society to deliver impactful health solutions. Before founding Arohan, he led health systems initiatives at Johns Hopkins University in collaboration with governments. As a Health Systems Officer with WHO, he supported technical assistance, policy integration, capacity building, and knowledge management, focusing on vulnerable populations, system strengthening, and multisectoral collaboration. He holds an MPH from University College Cork, Ireland, with a focus on global health strategy and evidence-based policy. He is presently a scholar in the Health Systems Assessment and Diagnosis programme, a joint initiative of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Public Health Foundation of India. 

Deeksha guides projects on health insurance, costing, and policy analyses. She is responsible for streamlining Arohan’s internal processes, ensuring operational efficiency across projects, and managing resource allocations. She has over a decade of experience in quantitative research, healthcare financing, activity-based costing, and financial management. She has led grants management for several projects at Johns Hopkins India. Deeksha has previously worked with the Public Health Foundation of India as a core team member for Universal Health Coverage pilots in Karnataka. She holds an MBA in Finance from Symbiosis International University and a PG Diploma in Health and Family Welfare Management from NIHFW, Delhi. 

Kushagra is the Legal Lead, guides on all administrative matters and is a member of the Council of Distinguished Experts at Arohan. He is a Partner at Ecclesia Advocates & Solicitors and serves as Deputy Government Advocate for Madhya Pradesh. His practice spans litigation, arbitration, criminal law, and corporate advisory, with experience across sectors including infrastructure, energy, real estate, insolvency, technology, and entertainment. He regularly appears before the Supreme Court of India, various High Courts, and arbitral tribunals in complex commercial and regulatory matters. He also serves as Panel Counsel for the State of Uttar Pradesh before the Supreme Court and represents statutory bodies such as Indore Municipal Corporation, MP Agriculture Marketing Board, NOIDA, YEIDA, NHAI, and MP Transmission Company. He advises leading corporations including Reliance Industries Limited, TAC Infosec Limited, SRF Limited, and Chalo Mobility. Kushagra is a B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) from Gujarat National Law University (2013–2018).

Dr Sudeshna leads the Gender & Equity portfolio at Arohan. She guides Arohan on health inequality monitoring and project re-orientation to address social exclusion. She has over two decades of teaching and research experience across leading Indian institutions, including Bangalore University, Christ University, and Mangalore University. She has led several research projects supported by national and international agencies. Her areas of expertise span gender, equity, human rights, ethnography, development studies, public policy, and geriatric care. She holds postgraduate, MPhil, and Ph.D. degrees in Sociology with a specialization in Gender Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Dr Zabir, Advisor – Integrated Care at Arohan Partners, provides strategic guidance on integrated care coordination for PHC and finalizing frameworks, methods, and tools for mixed methods research. He is an Assistant Scientist in the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he researches on health policy and systems to promote health equity and strengthen health systems in low- and middle-income countries. A trained physician, he holds a PhD from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and an MPH from the James P. Grant School of Public Health, Bangladesh.

Dr Sarah Hyder Iqbal is an independent researcher and practitioner working to shape a research and innovation ecosystem that is more socially responsive and inclusive, with a focus on broadening who gets to engage with and influence it. Based in India, Sarah’s current work spans science communication, AMR advocacy, youth education, inclusive STEM, community-led research, and building communities of practice across India and the wider Global South that deepen equitable public and policy engagement with science and health research. Sarah has created and led pioneering science engagement programs at organisations such as the funding agency DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance and the policy think tank Foundation for Advancing Science and Technology (FAST India). She also leads initiatives like the youth-focused Superheroes Against Superbugs and the citizen engagement platform Science in Your City, using creative and accessible approaches to make science feel relevant and rooted in everyday life. Sarah holds a PhD in Biochemistry from University of Oxford and is a UK Chevening Fellow.
Dr K. Srinath Reddy is Founder (Past) President of the Public Health Foundation of India (2006-22) where he is presently an Honorary Distinguished Professor. Trained in India as a cardiologist and as an epidemiologist in Canada, he previously headed the Department of Cardiology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi. He was the first Bernard Lown Visiting Professor of Global Cardiovascular Health at Harvard (2009-13) and currently is an Adjunct Professor at universities of Harvard, Emory, Sydney and Pennsylvania. He served as President of the World Heart Federation (2013-14). He is an International Member of the US National Academy of Medicine, a Fellow of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and recipient of several honorary doctorates. He co-chairs the Health ThematicGroup of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and was chair of the High Level Expert Group on Universal Health Coverage, for the Planning Commission of India. He has authored 570 scientific publications and edited the National Medical Journal of India. He has served on several expert committees of WHO and other health agencies. He received the WHO Director General’s Award and the Luther Terry Medal of the American Cancer Society, for outstanding global leadership in tobacco control. He was also awarded the Padma Bhushan civilian honour by the President of India and the Queen Elizabeth Medal for Health Promotion.
Ms Vandita Sharma is a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1986 batch from the Karnataka cadre, with over 37 years of distinguished public service. Over the course of her career, Ms. Sharma served in several positions at the state and national level, contributing to policy design, program implementation, and institutional strengthening across a wide range of sectors. Her work in Karnataka has spanned key areas such as women and child development, health, primary and secondary education, agriculture, infrastructure development, and forest and environmental governance. Through these roles, she played an important part in advancing development initiatives and strengthening the delivery of public services in the state. She holds a Master’s degree in English Literature from Punjab University, Chandigarh, and further obtained a Master’s degree in Development Management from the Asian Institute of Management, Manila, Philippines, reflecting her strong academic grounding in governance, development, and public policy.
Dr. Prashanth N. Srinivas is a medical doctor, public health leader, and academic with extensive experience in health systems, policy, and universal health coverage. As Director of the Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru, he has played an important role in advancing evidence-informed policy, governance, and health systems strengthening in India and internationally. His work spans research, capacity building, and strategic advisory across the public health and development sectors. Over the past two decades, Dr. Prashanth has led community-engaged research in tribal regions of southern and northeastern India, working closely with Indigenous communities to generate contextually grounded evidence for health policy and practice. His work is reflected in more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, and he serves on the editorial boards of Health Policy and Planning and PLOS Global Public Health. He holds an MBBS from Mysore Medical College, Karnataka, a Master of Public Health from the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM), Antwerp, and a PhD in Public Health jointly from the Université Catholique de Louvain and ITM, Belgium.
Dr Brian Wahl is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at the Yale School of Public Health, with expertise in designing field studies and mathematical modeling for infectious disease prevention and control, mainly in low- and middle-income countries. With nearly two decades of experience, his research centers on improving health outcomes by supporting governments and international organizations in strengthening health systems and improving disease prevention strategies through implementation research and data-driven policy insights. Before joining Yale University, Dr. Wahl served as an Associate Research Professor in the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is deeply committed to strengthening public health research and epidemiology capacity among health professionals and has worked closely with academic and public health institutions in India and Nepal to support training, research collaborations, and health systems strengthening initiatives. Dr. Wahl holds a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology and Biostatistics and a PhD in Global Disease Epidemiology and Control from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Vishnu Rajeev is an Investment Partner at Speciale Invest, where he focuses on backing deep-tech and climate-tech startups across sectors such as mobility, energy, semiconductors, biosciences, and advanced manufacturing. He helps early-stage start-ups expand and scale by enabling them to translate complex scientific and technological innovations into viable ventures. Before joining Speciale Invest, Vishnu occupied key leadership roles in the climate and technology ecosystem. He has also worked with organizations such as Clean Energy Ventures, Deloitte, the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), and FSG, contributing to research, policy analysis, and strategic advisory. Vishnu holds a degree in Economics from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur and a Master’s in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School. In addition to supporting founders on investment, strategy, and fundraising, he actively contributes to discussions on how India can emerge as a global hub for frontier technologies and sustainable innovation.