Dr. Yadlapalli S. Kusuma
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Yadlapalli Sriparvathi Kusuma
Since 2005, Dr Y S Kusuma has been a faculty member at the AIIMS - Centre for Community Medicine. She graduated from Andhra University with Post-Graduate and Doctoral degrees in Anthropology in 1992 and 1999, respectively. In 1995, she earned a Post-Graduate Diploma in Applied Statistics from the same university.
She started her career as an anthropologist working with various indigenous communities, including particularly vulnerable tribal groups. Her initial interest was understanding the epidemiological transitions due to acculturation and urbanisation. Through her doctoral work, she demonstrated the epidemiological transition in traditional communities and highlighted the need for screening for non-communicable diseases among socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. Additionally, access to primary healthcare in communities of different backgrounds was studied.
Since joining AIIMS, she has concentrated her teaching and research on social determinants of health. She worked with various communities across some Indian states, including rural, urban, and tribal inhabitants and migrants. Since she joined AIIMS, she has completed nine research projects, and three more are now in progress. Her research received grants from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS, New Delhi), the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the Department of Science and Technology (DST), the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR).
In collaboration with State health authorities, she has conducted implementation research with an inclusive partnership strategy to improve healthcare access to socioeconomically disadvantaged migrants. She recently completed implementation research to improve tribal populations’ access to healthcare through health and wellness centres in the context of universal health coverage. Her other research projects include health insurance for the poor, social and behavioural change in the context of vector-borne diseases, maternal and child health care, local governance, and the intersectionality of gender, poverty and social norms on adolescent health.
In addition to a few book chapters, she authored about 100 research papers in national and international journals. Her research interests include socio-behavioural and health systems research and implementation research to improve health and healthcare access for marginalised and vulnerable communities.
