Dr. Pretty Priyadarshini
Project Manager - ITSU
Dr. Priyadarshini is working as a Project Manager, Immunization Technical Support Unit ( ITSU) at JSI India. In her role, she provides technical and managerial support for routine immunization projects of JSI. She supports the Technical Director in oversight of project activities and is responsible for monitoring and tracking the activities of all units and sharing progress reports with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Immunization Division and donors.
She also serves as a key person for coordination of project activities and liaising with external project stakeholders and donors.
Pretty is a mid-career public health professional with 8+ years of experience in public health program design, strategy, implementation, public health policy, healthcare consulting, monitoring, evaluation, learning, and research in coordination with governments, think tanks, nonprofits, foundations, and academic institutions spanning some of South Asia's most challenging demographics to ensure last-mile delivery of services.
She has worked closely with ministries of health, think tanks, donors, policymakers, civil society partners, and communities to promote collaborations to increase the use of evidence in decision-making, effective data-driven governance, and scale-ups of public health programs. She has received the honor of 'Dr. William H. Foege Global Health Fellowship Award 2020', established by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for her contributions and commitment to public health. At Emory, she was engaged in work across eradication of neglected tropical diseases, reproductive health rights, and justice, monitoring and evaluation of cancer prevention and screening programs, and global fortification initiatives to inform implementation design and policy.
Pretty holds a master’s degree in public health from Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, in the United States with a major in Global Health and a bachelor's in dental surgery from Tamil Nadu Government Dental College, Chennai. Prior, she was working with the Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India in improving health and nutrition indicators in aspirational districts of Jharkhand. She is passionate about resolving health inequities in low and middle-income countries and nurturing social justice.