Prof Shankar Das
Prof. Shankar Das has been appointed as Interim Vice Chancellor of the Institute on 4 November, 2024, as an additional charge. He is also the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. He has over three decades of experience as a teacher, trainer, researcher, and human resources development practitioner in the field of health and development. His professional skills mainly include public health, health promotion, primary health care, and professional education. He has extensive experience working at the senior level with and within the Government, Public Sector, academia, and organizations at local, state, national, and international levels. He enjoys working in challenging social, political, and physical environments and can work in a multicultural and multi-disciplinary team. Prof. Das had the opportunity to work in some low and high-income countries, such as India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Norway, Finland, Japan, the UK, and the USA. Since 2008, he has been working as a Professor at the Centre for Health Policy, Planning and Management (CHPPM) in the School of Health System Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, India. During the initial and formative years (2007 to 2014) of the CHPPM, he provided academic leadership and nurtured the centre as the Chairperson. He has initiated and developed collaboration with universities in the UK, USA, and Canada wherein he designed and delivered several academic programs including the Study India Programme (SIP) in Social Care Policy and Programme.
He was actively involved in developing the curriculum for several Post-Graduate and doctoral-level professional programs. He teaches various courses such as Global Public Health, Mental Health, Health and Social Care Policy, Leadership and Strategic Management in Health Care, Public Health Research, Community Health, Holistic Health Counselling, Complementary and Alternative Health Practices, etc. for the Master and M.Phil/Ph.D. programs. He is an avid yoga practitioner and a certified yoga educator. He has earned two PG Diplomas in Yoga Education and Yogic Therapy from an esteemed yoga institute. Prof. Das is a disciple of Late Satya Narayana Goenka Ji and is trained in Vipassanā meditation from his early years. He follows his teachings which emphasize the path of liberation that is scientific, non-sectarian, and universal.
He was invited by the World Health Organisation and the Ministry of Health, Union of Myanmar as a Consultant to advise on national capacity building and technical expertise for improving behavioural components of Health care delivery systems in Myanmar. As part of Human Resource Development initiatives, Unilever Bangladesh invited him to design and deliver a series of capacity-building programs for various healthcare professionals in therapeutic and health management. In the year 2009-2010, he was awarded the TISS-LSE Faculty Fellowship to pursue higher studies at the London School of Economics (LSE), UK, and to develop a Master in Public Health in Health Policy, Economics, and Finance at the TISS, India. He was selected as a Research Associate in the PSSU, at the London School of Economics, where he researched Ethnic Minority Patients’ Access to Mental Health Services in the United Kingdom. In the year 2011-2012, he was a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics (LSE) and worked on Mental Health, Long Term Care Policies in UK and India. He was invited as a Visiting Professor at the College of Medicine and College of Education and Social Care, University of Vermont, USA and to teach a summer course on Integrated and Holistic Health Practice for PG students. For several years he has also developed academic collaborations, and cultural exchange programs and worked with the a) University of Vermont, Burlington, USA, b) University of Florida, Gainesville, USA, c) University of Louisville, USA, d) Colombia University, USA, e) State University of New York, f) USA, Stony Brook University, NY, USA, g) London School of Economics (UK), h) University of Sterling (UK), i) University of Warwick, UK, j) University of Laval, Canada etc. In the year 2014, he completed the Post-Doctoral research training in chronic non-communicable disorders and diseases across the life span under the Fogarty Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship in the Department of Public Health, University of Florida, USA.
Prof. Das worked as a Director of the International Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR-D), New Delhi until 11th November 2020.
He has widely published his works in reputed peer-reviewed journals and written chapters, and books on diverse areas such as public health, mental health, sustainable development, well-being, and prosperity. The focus of his work is evidence-informed policy and practice across the spectrum of public health issues and strategies.