Keywords
Fields of Research (FoR)
Implementation science and evaluation, Health policy, Health promotion, Education systems, Digital health, Stakeholder engagement, Community and primary care, Health surveillance, Health services and systems, Health equity, Social determinants of health, Epidemiology, Multimorbidity, Applied economicsSEO tags
Biography
Bindu has over 25 years of experience in applied, transdisciplinary public health, with a research focus on improving population and individual health outcomes through the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Her work integrates rigorous evidence synthesis, implementation science, and health system strengthening with strong government engagement and cost-effective strategies to identify and scale high-impact...view more
Bindu has over 25 years of experience in applied, transdisciplinary public health, with a research focus on improving population and individual health outcomes through the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Her work integrates rigorous evidence synthesis, implementation science, and health system strengthening with strong government engagement and cost-effective strategies to identify and scale high-impact interventions. She is committed to advancing implementation science, policy, and practice to reduce death, illness, and disability from NCDs through multisectoral partnerships.
She brings senior-level technical, operational, and management experience, combining analytical rigor with practical insight into complex health system challenges and sociopolitical contexts. She is widely recognised as a trusted partner to governments, UN agencies, academic institutions, multilateral organisations, and public and private sector stakeholders.
Bindu’s career began over two decades ago as a volunteer in a remote village in India, working alongside community health care workers. This formative experience informs her strong commitment to community-participatory research approaches to addressing health inequities and to applying a decolonising lens in research, policy, and practice.
Bindu is a recipient of the NHMRC–Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases grant and serves as Principal Investigator on research adopting a life-course approach to the prevention and control of NCDs.
My Grants
- 2023: Evaluating the impact, investment case and scale up of 'Health Promoting Schools' in Fiji (#2022566 - NHMRC-GACD), $1,388,931.80
- 2023: Consultancy for Fiji's Ministry of Health and Medical Services 3rd NCD STEPS Survey, (DFAT), $364,050
- 2024: Resilient, people-centred health system for non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention and control in Pacific and Southeast Asian Countries (DFAT), Fiji WHO PEN implementation, $1,334,598
- 2013: Impact of implementing a computerised quality improvement intervention in primary healthcare (NHMRC postgraduate), $81,709
My Qualifications
- PhD Public Health (University of Sydney, Australia)
- Master of Public Health, Epidemiology (Columbia University, USA)
- Bachelor of Science in Biology (Honours) (University of Illinois, USA)
My Research Activities
Bindu leads a sustained and strategically focused program of research addressing the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) through implementation science and system-level evaluation. Her research directly informs policy and programme design, with a strong emphasis on improving effectiveness, scalability, and equity through multisectoral action and government partnership.
Her work in Fiji has had demonstrable national impact across both the health and education systems. She provided critical leadership in the delivery of Fiji’s national NCD risk factors survey report, which now underpins NCD policy development and future programming across government. Through comprehensive system-level evaluation and the development of strategic implementation plans, her research has strengthened the national evidence base for addressing NCD risk factors and improving policy and programme performance.
More broadly, Bindu’s research on health system and programme evaluation has enabled governments to identify and strengthen core components required for effective implementation and adaptation across diverse contexts. Her funded research portfolio is substantial and competitive, including an NHMRC–Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases grant, where she serves as Principal Investigator on research applying a life-course approach to NCD prevention and control in school settings.
Within the University, Bindu makes a significant contribution to research performance and impact at both the centre and faculty levels. Her research program is underpinned by a clear strategic vision and is characterised by high-value collaboration with governments, UN agencies, academic institutions, multilateral organisations, and public and private sector partners, positioning her work for sustained national and international impact.
My Research Supervision
Supervision keywords
Areas of supervision
Implementation Science is an inter-departmental concentration focused on developing and sharing evidence to support the formulation, implementation and scale up of programs and interventions leading to new policies to improve population health and wellbeing outcomes. The learning process needs application of interdisciplinary tools and approaches to understand the processes of implementation science within the complex systems. At the core of my teaching philosophy is the promotion of problem-based learning in which students are at the center of the learning process. I aspire to teach with focusing on the developing students’ independence and critical thinking to enable them with the following knowledge and skills: (1) work collaboratively, (2) integrate diverse perspectives into cogent intervention designs, (3) formulate implementation strategies that factor in complexity science, (4) incorporate iterative cycles of implementation and adaption of public health programs based on evaluation and learning, (4) understand processes and strategies of quality improvement in health, (4) understand the theoretical underpinnings from the planning and design stage to scale-up of the complex interventions, and (5) synthesize and present complex information to policy makers and practitioners.
Currently supervising
- Elvis Anyaehiechukwu Okolie, Cervical cancer prevention and control in Nigeria