From the Director’s Desk

Dr Bontha V. Babu, Director of the ICMR–National Institute of Research in Tribal Health, Jabalpur, is a Scientist-G (Director Grade Scientist) overseeing implementation research projects at the Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi. He previously served as Director of the ICMR–National Institute of Implementation Research, Jodhpur (April 2023–August 2025). A health social scientist with a PhD in Anthropology and a postgraduate diploma in Applied Statistics from Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, his research focuses on community-based interventions for health promotion and disease prevention.
His expertise spans implementation research, tribal and vulnerable population health, disease control programme evaluation, cultural epidemiology, ethnography, research management, and health communication. He currently manages and funds projects on health systems strengthening and implementation research, and coordinates multicentre studies on primary healthcare. Dr Babu has published around 250 research papers and a dozen book chapters and is associated with several professional bodies and journals.