Rakhi Dandona

Rakhi Dandona, PhD is Professor of Health Metrics Sciences at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, and Professor of Public Health at the Public Health Foundation of India.  She is also Honorary Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne, Australia and Honorary Professor at the University of Bristol, UK.

Dr. Dandona has over 25 years of research experience in the areas of disease epidemiology, causes of death, health metrics, monitoring and evaluation, and social determinants for health.  Her notable research accomplishments include seminal primary studies on blindness, HIV/AIDS, injuries, and stillbirth.  Her current areas of interest include understanding sociology of suicide deaths, improving cause of death estimation, maternal and newborn health, adolescent health, gender differentials in health across the life course, and gender-based violence.

Dr. Dandona has published widely with over 300 peer-reviewed publications. She serves on the Editorial Advisory Boards of The Lancet Public Health, The Lancet Psychiatry, Injury Prevention, and PLOS Global and Public Health.  She serves on various international technical committees and task forces on mortality, injuries, maternal and child health, data science, and capacity-building, including for the World Health Organization, National Institutes of Health in the US, and National Institute for Health and Care Research in the UK.  She is Vice-Chair of the International Stillbirth Alliance. 

She was previously Associate Professor at the University of Sydney School of Public Health and Head of Research at the George Institute for International Health India.  She obtained her PhD from the University of Melbourne, Australia.

IHME was established at the University of Washington in Seattle in 2007. Its mission is to deliver to the world timely, relevant, and scientifically valid evidence to improve health policy and practice.