Sapna I. Desai, PhD
- Adjunct Assistant Professor of Population and Family Health
Overview
Sapna focuses on women’s health, sexual and reproductive health and rights, women’s groups and health systems in India/South Asia. Her work over two decades has spanned research, hands-on program implementation, and policy action in partnership with academic, government and community-based organisations. In India, she leads SAHELI, a mixed-methods study on reducing unnecessary hysterectomy and improving women’s health through the life course. She is currently Editor-in-Chief, Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters (SRHM) Journal.
She previously co-founded the global Evidence Consortium on Women’s Groups and led a body of work on women’s groups, sexual and reproductive health and health systems at the Population Council/India. She began her public health journey at the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA – India’s largest organisation of women workers), where she led the scale up of community health and social protection programs in several states of India. She is Senior Fellow, Population Council Institute and Adjunct Faculty, JPG BRAC School of Public Health in Dhaka.
Academic Appointments
- Adjunct Assistant Professor of Population and Family Health
Credentials & Experience
Education & Training
- AB, International Relations, Brown University
- MS, Population and International Health, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health
- PhD, Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Committees, Societies, Councils
- Lancet Commission on Academic Responsibility
- Lancet Commission on India’s Health System
- India Task Force, Lancet Commission on COVID-19
- Technical Advisory Group, Antara
Editorial Boards
- Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, (Editor in Chief, previously Trustee and Editorial Board member)
- Women’s Midlife Health
Research
Research Interests
- Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
- Women's Health
Selected Publications
Desai S, Govil D, Nambiar D, Sinha HH, Roy A, Vora K, Lakshmi JK, Kumari A, Mishra GD, Bhatla N. SAHELI: Study and Action on Hysterectomy: Evidence on women’s health through the life course in India. Protocol for a mixed-methods study. Wellcome Open Research. 2025 Mar 5;9:584.
Desai S, Sivaram S, Ramkumar S, Dohtdong P, Nanda A, Ramesh S, Kumar S. “It’s Everyone’s Problem”: Institutionalising Multisectoral Action for Maternal Health in Meghalaya, India. Annals of Global Health. 2025 Mar 3;91(1):11.
Desai S, Kumar N, Gram L, Hazra A, Sanyal KA, Sivaram S, Nair N, Ved R, Prost A. Individual interventions, collective lessons: Developing mid-range theory on women’s groups to improve health. Journal of Global Health. 2024 Aug 16;14:04152.
Desai S, Rashid SF. Group think? Questioning the individual global health expert. The Lancet Global Health. 2023 Dec 1;11(12):e1853-4.
Desai S, Singh RJ, Govil D, Nambiar D, Shukla A, Sinha HH, Ved R, Bhatla N, Mishra GD. Hysterectomy and women’s health in India: evidence from a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey of older women. Women's Midlife Health. 2023 Jan 6;9(1):1.
Thomas S, Sivaram S, Shroff Z, Mahal A, Desai S. ‘We are the bridge’: an implementation research study of SEWA Shakti Kendras to improve community engagement in publicly funded health insurance in Gujarat, India. BMJ Global Health. 2022 Sep 1;7(Suppl 6):e008888.