Center for
Global Health

International Scholar

Languages: English Proficient, Hindi Proficient

Bio statement

Prof. Monika Arora is a public health scientist working in the area of preventing and managing Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) through health promotion and health advocacy in India. She is Vice President (Research & Health Promotion) at the Public Health Foundation of India and is also President of NCD Alliance. She has served as an Advocacy Committee Member of the World Heart Federation and Co-Chair of the Global Research Network, Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. Served as the Center for Advanced Study of India (CASI) Spring 2023 Visiting Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. She is interested and experienced in Global Health and has worked on multiple collaborative grants in NCD Prevention and Control, Community engagement, and Adolescent Health.  mixed methods research, Policy Research, Implementation Science Research, and Impact Evaluation of Policies and Programs.

Recent global health projects

1) In partnership with the University of Leicester, UK, setting up the NIHR Global Health Research Centre for Multiple Long-Term Conditions in India with aim to build capacity for addressing the challenges of multimorbidity for developing a comprehensive management of multiple conditions which will enable the country’s health systems to meet the needs of the population at various levels. The Centre, through research, capacity building, and community engagement and involvement will aid in developing evidence based on what works, how, and why in the context of India and Nepal while simultaneously addressing the current gaps in care for people living with MLTCs. The grant is awarded for the direct and primary benefit of people in low- and middle-income (LMIC) countries but will also provide lessons for the UK and other high-income countries.

2) As PI led an MRC, UK-funded grant on Evaluating Implementation of a Peer Educator Programme for Improving Adolescent Health in India in partnership with. University of York. Through an implementation sceience research explored the implementation of peer educator intervention under India’s Adolescent Health Programme. The study provides research evidence needed to effect real and practical changes to improve adolescent health in India and provides new evidence in global literature on Peer Education approach in Adolescent health

Selected publications

1. Arora M, Dringus S, Bahl D, Rizvi Z, Maity H, Lama S, et al. (2022) Engagement of health workers and peer educators from the National Adolescent Health Programme-Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram during the COVID-19 pandemic: Findings from a situational analysis. PLoS ONE 17(9): e0266758. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0266758

2.Siddiqi K, Arora M, Gupta PC. Common assumptions in tobacco control that may not hold true for South-East Asia. The Lancet Regional Health-Southeast Asia. 2022 Oct 12:100088. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lansea/article/PIIS2772-3682(22)00104-4/fulltext

3. Chugh A, Arora M, Vidyasagaran A. et al. The global impact of tobacco control policies on smokeless tobacco use: a systematic review. Lancet Global Health. 2023 11:e953-68 https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S2214-109X%2823%2900205-X

4. Arora M, ElSayed A, Beger B, Naidoo P, Shilton T, Jain N, et al. The Impact of Alcohol Consumption on Cardiovascular Health: Myths and Measures. Global Heart. 2022;17(1):45. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/gh.1132

5. Rawal T, Kathuria P, Shrivastav R, Bassi S, Chugh A, Joshi N, Mehta R, Arora M. Meaningful Engagement of Adolescents Through Global Youth Meet on Health 2021. Journal of Adolescent Health. 2022 Jan 1;70(1):167-8.

6. Bassi S, Bahl D, Shah VG, Kandasamy A, Harrell MB, Sharma SV, Arora M. Project PaThWay: protocol for a schoolbased health promotion intervention for prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) behavioral risk factors. F1000Research. 2021 Oct 18;10(1062):1062. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.73869.1

7. Bahl D, Bassi S, Arora M. The Impact of COVID-19 on Children and Adolescents: Early Evidence in India. Observer Research Foundation Issue Brief. 2021 Mar;448.

8. Bhagawath R, Kulkarni MM, Britton J, Cranwell J, Arora M, Nazar GP, Mullapudi S, Kamath VG. Quantifying audiovisual alcohol imagery in popular Indian films: a content analysis. BMJ Open. 2021 May 1;11(5):e040630. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-040630

9. Choi J, Bahl D, Arora M, Xuan Z. Changes in self-reported sexually transmitted infections and symptoms among married couples in India from 2006 to 2016: a repeated cross-sectional multivariate analysis from nationally representative data. BMJ Open. 2021 Oct 1;11(10):e049049. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-049049

10. Bassi S, Bahl D, Harrell MB, Jain N, Kandasamy A, Salunke SR, Shah VG, Raghunathan P, Markandan S, Murthy P, Arora M. Knowledge, attitude, and behaviours on diet, physical activity, and tobacco use among school students: A cross-sectional study in two Indian states. F1000Research. 2021 Oct 15;10:544. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.51136.2

11. Bassi S, Bahl D, Maity H, Dudeja S, Sethi V, Arora M. Content analysis of food advertisements on popular Indian television channels among children and youth: a cross-sectional study. Journal of Global Health Reports. 2021;5:e2021089. https://doi.org/10.29392/001c.28355

12. Rawal, T. Willeboordse,M. Arora, M. Sharma, N. Nazar, G.P. Tandon, N. Van Schayck, C.P. Prevalence of Excessive Weight and Underweight and Its Associated Knowledge and Lifestyle Behaviors among Urban Private School-Going Adolescents in New Delhi. Nutrients 2021, 13, 3296. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13093296

13. Nazar GP, Arora M, Sharma N, Shrivastava S, Rawal T, Chugh A, Sinha P, Munish VG, Tullu FT, Schotte K, Polansky JR. Changes in tobacco depictions after implementation of tobacco-free film and TV rules in Bollywood films in India: a trend analysis. Tobacco Control. 2021 Jul 26. https://doi.org/10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2021-056629

14. Kulkarni MM, Kamath A, Kamath VG, Lewis S, Bogdanovica I, Bains M, Cranwell J, Fogarty A, Arora M, Nazar GP, Ballal K, Naik AK, Bhagawath R, Britton J. Prospective cohort study of exposure to tobacco imagery in popular films and smoking uptake among children in southern India. PLoS One. 2021;16(8):e0253593. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34351927 

Last Updated: 13 September 2023