Parinita Bhattacharjee, MA

Dr. Parinita Bhattacharjee is an assistant professor of community health sciences at the Max Rady College of Medicine, University of Manitoba. With 25 years of experience in global health, she is an expert in HIV and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), sexual and reproductive health, and disability.

Dr. Bhattacharjee is currently the director of program delivery at the Institute for Global Public Health at the University of Manitoba. In this role, she oversees the design and implementation of global health programs focused on marginalized populations, in partnership with governmental, civil society, academic, and community-based organizations. Based in Nairobi, Kenya, she is scaling up key populations programs and serves as the lead technical advisor for the key population pillar of the South to South Learning Network under the Global Prevention Coalition, led by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS).

Throughout her career, Dr. Bhattacharjee has held leadership roles in large-scale intervention projects funded by organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, United States Agency for International Development, Canadian International Development Agency, and the Government of India. She led the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-funded Avahan program, which scaled up interventions to reach 60,000 sex workers and 25,000 men who have sex with men in India. Dr. Bhattacharjee has also provided technical support to the governments of Bhutan and Sri Lanka in designing and piloting HIV prevention interventions with key populations. Additionally, she led technical support for the LINKAGES project, implemented by Family Health International 360 and funded by the United States Agency for International Development, across 11 countries, mostly in Africa.