PHFI

N. Nakkeeran is currently with Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar as Associate Professor. He has masters in Anthropology from Madras University, MPhil & PhD from Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, JNU. His doctoral research was on aspects of ‘family formation and fertility change’ based on an ethnographic study of a south Indian village. An extract of this was published as “Conditions of Women's Work, Status and Fertility: Land, Caste and Gender in a South Indian Village” in EPW (Abstract). He was earlier with Department of Health Services Studies & Centre for Research Methodology at TISS, Mumbai and a consultant for UNICEF, Mumbai.

His academic interests are in health social sciences, social determinants of health inequity, health sector reforms, women’s work, and qualitative research methodology. He teaches Social and Behavioural Sciences in Health (SBSH), Research Methodology, Health Sector Reforms, and Equity in & Access to Health. Nakkeeran was the key-person in developing SBSH course curriculum for MPH.

One of his anthropological research works undertaken for SEARCH Gadchiroli has been published as a book: “Transfer of Home-based Newborn Care from SEARCH to Other Organisations: Process Documentation of the ANKUR Project”, (SEARCH, 2007). His other papers in this theme include “Qualitative Research Methodology: Epistemological Foundation and Research Procedures” in IJSW, (Abstract), “Knowledge, Truth and Social Reality: An Introductory Note on Qualitative Research” in IJCM (Full-text) “Rigour and validity in qualitative methods in applied situations” (communicated to IJCM). Nakkeeran has been successfully organising short term trainings on use of qualitative research methods for health professioanls at IIPHG. He is currently working on a book on qualitative research in public health in India and a background paper on limiting the growth of noncommunicable diseases in Gujarat as a contributory document for draft state health policy.

Nakkeeran has undertaken a number of projects funded by Shastri-Indo-Canadian Institute, SNL-SEARCH, WHO, UNICEF (Delhi, Mumbai & Gandhinagar), ICMR, GSACS, GOI, Govt. Maharashtra, Govt. of Gujarat, TISS, WB and Institute of Human Development.