Monika Arora

Dr. Arora has a PhD degree from Department of Cardiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences. She completed her MSc. (Child Development) from Lady Irwin College, Delhi University and MSc-Public Health (Health Promotion) from LSHTM (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) University of London, UK. She completed Post Graduate Diploma in Guidance and Counseling of Children from IGNOU (1996-97) and PG Diploma in Epidemiology from LSHTM, UK.

Dr. Monika Arora is Director of Health Promotion and Tobacco Control Division and is Adjunct Assistant Professor at PHFI. She is a public health scientist, working in the area of health promotion and health advocacy, for the past 16 years, with special interest in prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and promoting Adolescent Health. She has recently led efforts to explore formation of a centre of excellence in Alcohol Control in partnership with Swedish National Institute of Public Health (SNIPH) under the Health Promotion division of PHFI.

Her expertise is in designing, implementing, managing and evaluating intervention programmes; large scale group randomized trials as well as qualitative research on chronic disease prevention. She has published more than 60 scientific papers in high impact public health journals and her research recommendations have informed National Health Programs in India. During the early years of her career, Dr. Arora worked with HRIDAY (Health Related Information Dissemination Amongst Youth) an NGO, engaged in advocacy and research aiming to promote health awareness and informed health activism among youth in India. She has been a technical Advisor to WHO (SEARO) for Health Promotion.

Dr. Arora has been a member of various Screening Committees and task forces formed by The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Government of India (GOI) to ensure effective implementation of tobacco control legislation. She is Convener of the Advocacy Forum for Tobacco Control.

Dr. Arora is Principal Investigator on a large scale research study at PHFI: Project STEPS (Strengthening of Tobacco control Efforts through innovative Partnerships and Strategies) which is funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, grants from Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA, WHO, and MoHFW, GOI.

She was awarded “2011 Best Practices award in Global Health” by the Global Health Council, USA and WHO Director General’s World No Tobacco Day Award (2012) acknowledging her tobacco control contributions in India and South East Asia Region.