Sukumar Vellakkal

Dr Vellakkal joined BITS Pilani KK Birla Goa campus in 2017. Prior to that, he worked as faculty member at a number of organizations for nearly 10 years: Azim Premji University Bangalore; Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), New Delhi; Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), New Delhi; Government College Kasaragod.
Dr. Vellakkal's research expertise and interests centered on i) Macroeconomics and Health, ii) Health system and Financing, and iii) Prevention and Management of Chronic Diseases, and iv) Impact Assessment of Public Policies.

Education and training
Post-doctoral researcher: University of Oxford

PhD in Economics: Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bangalore

PhD intern: University of Calgary, Canada

MSc in Health economics, policy and law: Erasmus University Rotterdam

MA in Economics: University of Calicut

BA in Economics: University of Calicut

B.Ed. in Social studies: University of Kannur

Professional experiences
Assistant Professor: Azim Premji University, Bangalore
Health Economist & Adj. Assistant Professor: Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), New Delhi
Fellow: Indian Council for International Economic Relations (ICRIER), New Delhi
Lecturer: PG Department of Economics, Govt College Kasaragod
Other professional experiences
Academic Editor (2018 to Present ) of the journal PLOS ONE (an international journal indexed in Scopus and Web of Science with SCI Impact Factor of 2.766), published by the Public Library of Science, the USA.
Scientific Committee Member for World Congress of the International Health Economics Association (iHEA) in 2011 (Toronto), 2013 (Sydney), 2015 (Milan), 2017 (Boston), and 2019 (Basel)
Governing Council Member (2010 to 2013), Health Insurance Program, Govt of Delhi NCR
Founder Team Leader (2008 to 2013) for the course of Health Economics of the online program of Master of Public Health - MPH (then affiliated to Manchester Metropolitan University, UK) on behalf of People’s Uni (www.peoples-uni.org ), an international initiative of online teaching to expand public health education in developing countries
Chair and Session Organiser for the session titled ‘Diabetes and Cardiovascular Health In Developing Countries’ in Population Association America-PAA for the Annual Meeting, held on 30 April-2 May 2015, San Diego, CA
Chair for the sessions at 8th World Congress of International Health Economics Association (iHEA), at Toronto, 11-13th July, 2011: i) Insuring the poor, 11th July 2011, ii) Financial burden of chronic diseases, 13thJuly 2011
Manuscript Reviewer (Occasional): Geneva Papers on Risk& Insurance; PloS One; World Development, BMJ, American Journal of Preventive Medicine; Global Health Action; Emerging Themes in Epidemiology; Tropical Medicine & International Health; BMJ Open, Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, Biomedical and Environmental Sciences, BMC Pediatrics, BMC Public Health, African Health Sciences, Health Policy and Planning
Select fellowships and awards
OPERA (Outstanding Potential for Excellence in Research and Academics) Award by BITS PILANI (2018-)
Best poster presentation prize at Annual Scientific Meeting of Society for Social Medicine. Oxford, September 10– 12, 2014 , for the paper titled ‘Food Price Shock and Child Nutrition: A Multi-Level, Quasi-Natural Experimental Analysis in Andhra Pradesh, India’
Travel grant award by the Population Association America (PAA) for attending the 2015 Annual Meeting on 30th April-2nd May 2015, San Diego, CA
Scholarship for 7th and 8th World Congress by International Health Economics Association (iHEA)
Tuition fee scholarship for two years (2006-08) by Erasmus University and one year ECCP fellowship (2006-07) by European Union’s Cross Cultural Program’s project of “Strengthening Micro Health Insurance for Poor in India” for pursuing M.Sc. in Health Economics, Policy and Law at Erasmus University, the Netherlands
Canadian Studies Research Fellowship Award by Shastri Indo Canadian Institute (SICI), funded by Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Canada
Doctoral Research fellowship by Indian Council for Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi, Government of India
NET-UGC Lectureship by University Grants Commission, New Delhi, Government of India
Member of ‘cross country study group’ (India, Germany, Netherlands) on the European Union funded project “Strengthening Micro Health Insurance for the Poor”