Manjunath Shankar
Manjunath Shankar is a Senior Policy Advisor in the Health and Human Development team at CSEP. He is a senior public health professional with over two decades of experience across India, South and South-East Asia, Africa, and the United States. His work focuses on health systems strengthening, health economics, primary healthcare, innovative financing, and advancing equity through evidence-informed policymaking.
Most recently, he served as Head of Strategic Initiatives and led the technical team for the SAMRIDH Healthcare Blended Finance Facility, supporting the design and evaluation of innovative financing models to strengthen healthcare delivery in India. His work has included developing and assessing pay-for-performance approaches in tuberculosis care, conducting mixed-methods impact evaluations, and advising on strategies to improve health outcomes and financial protection. He has worked closely with national and state governments, NITI Aayog, the National Health Authority, development partners, and private sector stakeholders.
Earlier, at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), he worked as a health economist and modeller, contributing to high-level emergency responses, including the West African Ebola outbreak and influenza preparedness efforts. His work informed national preparedness, resource allocation, and health security strategies.
Manjunath holds a PhD in International Health (Health Systems) from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, an MHA from TISS, and an MBBS degree. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, white papers, and op-eds on health systems, economic evaluation, and public health policy.
The Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) is an independent, public policy think tank with a mandate to conduct research and analysis on critical issues facing India and the world and help shape policies that advance sustainable growth and development.