
Scientist F
                                        Email: kulkarnir@nirrch.res.in                                        
                                                                                Phone: +(91-22) 24192115                                         
                                                                                                                        Department: Operational and Implementation Research                                                                            
Research Interests
- Maternal and Child Health
 - Adolescent Health
 - Burden of disease
 
Academic Background
| Degree | Academic institute | Year | 
| MBBS | Govt. Medical College, Nagpur | 1993 | 
| MD (Preventive and Social Medicine) | Indira Gandhi Medical College, Nagpur | 1997 | 
Professional Experience
| Post held | Institute/Organization | From | To | 
| Medical Officer | Primary Health Centre -Pedhambe, Tal- Alibag, Dist. Raigad | 29/12/1997 | 28/12/1998 | 
| Lecturer, | Dept of PSM, MGM Medical College, Kamothe, Navi Mumbai | 01/01/1999 | 29/01/2003 | 
| Scientist ‘B’, | Dept. of Operational Research, NIRRH (ICMR) , Parel, Mumbai | 10/02/2003 | 31/08/2008 | 
| Scientist ‘C’, | Dept. of Operational Research, NIRRH, Parel, Mumbai | 01/09/2008 | 31/08/2012 | 
| Scientist ‘D’, Additional charge  | 
Dept. of Operational Research, NIRRH Parel, Mumbai Member Secretary, NIRRH Ethics Committee for Clinical Studies  | 
01/09/2012 21/01/2013  | 
31/08/2016 21/01/2018  | 
| Scientist ‘E’, Additional charge Member Secretary  | 
Dept. of Operational Research, NIRRH Parel, Mumbai Model Rural Health Research Unit, (MRHRU) Sub District Hospital, Dahanu, Palghar  | 
1/09/2016 | 31/08/2022 | 
| Scientist ‘F’, Additional charge Nodal Officer  | 
Dept. of Operational and Implementation Research, NIRRH Parel, Mumbai Model Rural Health Research Unit, (MRHRU) Sub District Hospital, Dahanu, Palghar  | 
1/09/2022 | Till date | 
Awards & Achievements
| Name of Award | Awarding agency | Year | 
| Paper presented at Hindi seminar organized by NIV Pune “Published research work in Hindi and Local languages for the benefit of people” | ICMR-NIV | 9th September 2011 | 
| Golden Jubilee Research Award for 2017 | Association of Medical Women (AMWI) In India for research work ‘Nutritional Status of Women and its Link with Morbidity and Mortality’. | 2017 | 
| Third prize for the poster presentation “Addressing Ethical Challenges in Multicenter Studies in India: A Complex Issue” | 
 National Conference of Forum for Ethics Review Committees in India (FERCI)  | 
27th-29th November 2020 | 
Publications
Protocol for a Multicentric Cohort Study on Neonatal Screening and Early Interventions for Sickle Cell Disease among high prevalence states of India
			2025		
	
			Suchitra Surve*, Mahendra Thakor*, Manisha Madkaikar, Harpreet Kaur, …. Ragini Kulkarni, Anita Nadkarni		
		
			Diagnostics 2025, 15, 730. 
			https://doi.org/10.3390/%20
		
	Incidence and Correlates of Maternal Near Miss (MNM) Events in Tertiary hospitals of Maharashtra state, India: A Prospective Observational study
			2024		
	
			Ragini Kulkarni, Sanjay Chauhan, Juzar Fidwi , Arun Nayak  , Anil Humane  , Rahul Mayekar  , Shahina Begum  , Anushree Patil  and Niranjan Mayadeo		
		
			Indian J Med Res 158, July 2023, 70-78
			https://doi.org/10.4103/ijmr.ijmr_2932_21
		
	Experiences and challenges in making Model Rural Health Research Units pandemic ready – Establishing COVID-19 molecular diagnostic facility at MRHRU Dahanu, Maharashtra, Indian Journal of Medical Research
			2024		
	
			Anwesh Maile, Itta Krishna Chaaithanya, Neha Salvi, Kanchan Wanere, Sagar Patil, Sanjay Chauhan, Smita Mahale and Ragini Kulkarni (Corresponding author)		
		
			Indian J Med Res 157, June 2023, 593-597,
			https://doi.org/10.4103/ijmr.ijmr_2411_22
		
	Psychosocial health and stigma among health care workers involved in COVID-19 management in Mumbai: A qualitative study
			2024		
	Laboratory Diagnosis and Epidemiological Features of Leptospirosis Cases in a tribal region of Western Maharashtra, India: A Retrospective Study
			2024		
	Factors associated with stigma and manifestations experienced by Indian health care workers involved in COVID-19 management in India: A qualitative study
			2024		
	
			Grover A, Venkatesh U, Kishore J, Chakma T, Thomas B, Menon G, Periyasamy M, Kulkarni R, Prusty RK, Venkateswaran C, Mishra B, Balu V, Viray M, Mathew G, Ketharam A, Balachandar R, Singh P, Jakhar K, Devi R, Saha K, Barde P, Moral R, Singh R, John D, Yadav J, Kohli S, Aggarwal S, Rao V and Panda S (2023)		
		
			Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental Health, 10, e46, 1–9
			https://doi.org/10.1017/gmh.2023.40
		
	Challenges in recruitment and follow up of newborns for sickle cell disease in Tribal region of Maharashtra during COVID19 Pandemic
			2024		
	
			Suchitra Surve, Sanjay Chauhan, Ragini Kulkarni, Neha Salvi, Anita Nadkarni, Manisha Madkaikar Khushaboo Chaudhary Abhijit Chavan, Dayanand Suryavanshi Anil Thorat, Harpreet kaur		
		
			Indian J Med Res 158, October 2023, pp 378-383
			https://doi.org/10.4103/ijmr.ijmr_3220_21
		
	Identifying early Iron deficiency anemia in Sickle cell disease: Lessons learnt from newborn Sickle cell cohort in tribal district, India
			2024		
	Measles and rubella seroprevalence in adults using residual blood samples from health facilities and household serosurveys in Palghar District, Maharashtra, India,2018 – 2019
			2024		
	
			Christine Prosperi, Alvira Z. Hasan, Amy K. Winter, Itta Krishna Chaaithanya, Neha R. Salvi, Sanjay L. Chauhan, Ragini Kulkarni, Abhishek Lachyan, Poonam Gawali, Mitali Kapoor, Vaishali Bhatt, Ojas Kaduskar, Gururaj Rao Deshpande, Ignacio Esteban, Sabarinathan Ramasamy, Velusamy Saravana Kumar, Shaun A. Truelove, Muthusamy Santhosh Kumar, Jeromie W. Vivian Thangaraj, Lucky Sangal, Sanjay M. Mehendale, Gajanan N. Sapkal, Nivedita Gupta, Kyla Hayford, William J. Moss, and Manoj V. Murhekar		
		
	Increased measles and rubella seroprevalence in children using residual blood samples from health facilities and household serosurveys after supplementary immunization activities in two districts in India
			2024		
	
			Christine Prosperi, Alvira Z. Hasan, Amy K. Winter, Itta Krishna Chaaithanya, Neha R. Salvi, Sandeep Sharma, Avi Kumar Bansal, Sanjay L. Chauhan, Ragini Kulkarni, Abhishek Lachyan, Poonam Gawali, Mitali Kapoor, Arpit Kumar Shrivastava, Saurabh K. Chonker, Vaishali Bhatt, Ojas Kaduskar, Gururaj Rao Deshpande, Ignacio Esteban, R. Sabarinathan, Velusamy Saravana Kumar, Shaun A. Truelove, Muthusamy Santhosh Kumar, Jeromie W. Vivian Thangaraj, Lucky Sangal, Sanjay M. Mehendale, Gajanan N. Sapkal, Nivedita Gupta, Kyla Hayford, William J. Moss and Manoj V. Murhekar		
		
	Challenges in accessing and delivering maternal and child health services during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional rapid survey from six states of India
			2023		
	
			Sharma S, Aggarwal S, Kulkarni R, Kumar D, Mishra BK, Dwivedi GR, Devi KR, Mamidi RS, Singh KJ, Singh L, Sahu D, Adhikari T, Nair S, Kumar A, Juneja A, Sharma A, Begum S, Surve S, Prusty RK, Kumar S, Geddam JJB, Meur G, Mummadi MK, Kailash U, Palo SK, Kanungo S, Kshatri JS, Behera AK, Swain S, Singh R, Zaman K, Deval H, Pandey AK, Sarkar A, Kant R, Narain K, D'Aquino L, Gaym A, Singh VV, Rao MVV. 		
		
	Added value of the measles-rubella supplementary immunization activity in reaching unvaccinated and under-vaccinated children, a cross-sectional study in five Indian districts, 2018-20.
			2023		
	
			Prosperi C, Thangaraj JWV, Hasan AZ, Kumar MS, Truelove S, Kumar VS, Winter AK, Bansal AK, Chauhan SL, Grover GS, Jain AK, Kulkarni RN, Sharma SK, Soman B, Chaaithanya IK, Kharwal S, Mishra SK, Salvi NR, Sharma NP, Sharma S, Varghese A, Sabarinathan R, Duraiswamy A, Rani DS, Kanagasabai K, Lachyan A, Gawali P, Kapoor M, Chonker SK, Cutts FT, Sangal L, Mehendale SM, Sapkal GN, Gupta N, Hayford K, Moss WJ, Murhekar MV. 		
		
	Evaluating the effect of measles and rubella mass vaccination campaigns on seroprevalence in India: a before-and-after cross-sectional household serosurvey in four districts, 2018-2020.
			2022		
	
			Murhekar MV, Gupta N, Hasan AZ, Kumar MS, Kumar VS, Prosperi C, Sapkal GN, Thangaraj JWV, Kaduskar O, Bhatt V, Deshpande GR, Thankappan UP, Bansal AK, Chauhan SL, Grover GS, Jain AK, Kulkarni RN, Sharma SK, Chaaithanya IK, Kharwal S, Mishra SK, Salvi NR, Sharma S, Sarmah NP, Sabarinathan R, Duraiswamy A, Rani DS, Kanagasabai K, Lachyan A, Gawali P, Kapoor M, Shrivastava AK, Chonker SK, Tilekar B, Tandale BV, Ahmad M, Sangal L, Winter A, Mehendale SM, Moss WJ, Hayford K		
		
	Experiences and challenges during implementation of operational guidelines of maternal near miss review of the Government of India at tertiary hospitals in Maharashtra.
			2022		
	Challenges and Opportunities in Mixed Methods Data Collection on Mental Health issues of Health Care Workers during COVID-19 Pandemic in India”
			2022		
	Psychological Distress and Burnout among Healthcare Worker during COVID-19 Pandemic in India’- A cross-sectional study.
			2022		
	Community perceptions and treatment seeking behaviour for infertility in India: A qualitative research study.
			2022		
	Assessing the potential of self-help group women for improving reproductive health of women in a tribal block of Maharashtra, India.
			2022		
	Challenges and opportunities in mixed method data collection on mental health issues of health care workers during COVID-19 pandemic in India
			2022		
	
			Kulkarni R, Prusty RK, Chakma T, Thomas B, Menon GR, Singh R, Aggarwal S, Rao, MVV, Periyasamy M, Venkateswaran C, Singh P, Balachandar R, Grover A, Mishra B, Viray M, Devi R, Velhal G, Kharnare S, Singh J, Yadav J, Venkatesh U, Sadawarte D, Watson B, John D, Mathew G, Singh S, Jakhar K, Ketharam A, Palo SK, Sahoo KC, Kishore J, Sarkar AH, Panda S. 		
		
	Clinical profile of SARS-CoV-2-infected neonates.
			2022		
	Psychological distress and burnout among healthcare worker during COVID-19 pandemic in India-A cross-sectional study.
			2022		
	
			Menon GR, Yadav J, Aggarwal S, Singh R, Kaur S, Chakma T, Periyasamy M, Venkateswaran C, Singh PK, Balachandar R, Kulkarni R, Grover A, Mishra BK, Viray M, Devi KR, Singh KHJ, Saha KB, Barde PV, Thomas B, Suresh C, A D, Watson B, Selvaraj P, Xavier G, John D, Menon J, Philip S, Mathew G, David A, Vaman RS, Sushan A, Singh S, Jakhar K, Ketharam A, Prusty R, Kishore J, Venkatesh U, Kumar S, Kanungo S, Sahoo K, Swain S, Lyngdoh A, Diengdoh J, Syiemlieh P, Sarkar A, Velhal G, Kharnare S, Nandanwar D, Rao MVV, Panda S		
		
	Facilitators & barriers for effective implementation of Dakshata programme to improve the quality of institutional maternal care in tribal blocks of Maharashtra.
			2022		
	Experiences of sharing results of community based serosurvey with participants in a district of Maharashtra, India
			2022		
	Opposing roles for sMAdCAM and IL-15 in COVID-19 associated cellular immune pathology
			2022		
	
			Singh AK, Kasarpalkar N, Bhowmick S, Paradkar G, Talreja M, Shah K, Tiwari A, Palav H, Kaginkar S, Kulkarni R, Patil A, Kalsurkar V, Agrawal S, Shastri J, Dere R, Bharmal R, Mahale SD, Bhor VM, Patel V. Opposing roles for sMAdCAM and IL-15 in COVID-19 associated cellular immune pathology.		
		
	ICMR Co-ordinating group. Impact of intervention on nutritional status of under‑fives in tribal blocks of Palghar district in Maharashtra, India.
			2022		
	Maternal near miss events in India
			2021		
	Psychosocial impact of COVID -19 pandemic on Health Care Workers in India and their perceptions on the way forward- A qualitative study
			2021		
	Psychosocial impact of COVID -19 pandemic on Health Care Workers in India and their perceptions on the way forward- A qualitative study
			2021		
	Sentinel Surveillance of Dengue Virus Infection in a Tribal District of Maharashtra, India,
			2021		
	Improving public health service delivery response to address contraceptive needs of socio-economically disadvantaged HIV positive people in Maharashtra, India,
			2021		
	A Critical Appraisal of NFHS-5 Data on Maternal Health Indicators: Trends and Implications for India
			2021		
	Nutritional Status of Women and its Link with Morbidity
			2019		
	Nutritional status of adolescent girls in tribal blocks of Maharashtra.
			2019		
	Impact of training on awareness and knowledge of Service Providers about Maternal Near Miss Events in Maharashtra, India
			2019		
	Public Health Challenges for India towards achieving universal health coverage
			2018		
	What information and the extent of information research participants need in informed consent forms: a multi-country survey
			2018		
	Capacity Assessment of District Health System in India on Services for Prevention and Management of Infertility.
			2018		
	Utilization of quality assessments in improving adolescent reproductive and sexual health services in rural block of Maharashtra, India.
			2018		
	Operationalizing adolescent health services at Primary Health Care level in India: Processes, Challenges and Outputs.
			2017		
	Traditional practices during pregnancy and childbirth among tribal women from Maharashtra: a review.
			2017		
	Neonatal near miss review: Tracking its conceptual evolution and way forward.
			2017		
	Community based kangaroo mother care for low birth weight babies- a pilot study
			2017		
	Neonatal Near miss: A new perspective to unravel neonatal mortality
			2017		
	Factors Influencing Maternal Health Indicators among Tribal Population in Maharashtra with Special Focus on Five High Priority Districts
			2017		
	Status of family planning service delivery for people living with HIV at public hospital settings in Maharashtra: opportunities and challenges.
			2017		
	Assessment of acceptability of kangaroo mother care (KMC) using qualitative methods in a tribal block of Karjat, Raigad district in Maharashtra, India.
			2016		
	Use of emergency contraceptive pills among unmarried youth in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India,
			2016		
	A Prospective Observational Study of ‘Near Miss’ Obstetric Events in Two Tertiary Hospitals of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
			2016		
	Linking HIV & family planning services to improve dual methods of contraception among women infected with HIV in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
			2016		
	Prospective observational study of near-miss obstetric events at two tertiary hospitals in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
			2016		
	Ethical Dilemmas in surrogacy
			2015		
	Prevalence & factors associated with chronic obstetric morbidities in Nashik district, Maharashtra, India
			2015		
	Status of obstetric morbidities in Maharashtra
			2015		
	Contraceptive Use and Unintended Pregnancies Among HIV-Infected Women in Mumbai
			2015		
	Accreditation of ethics committees in India: experiences of an ethics committee
			2015		
	Issues and challenges on informed consent in biomedical research involving human participants: An Indian perspective
			2014		
	ART Adherence Study group: Level of suboptimal adherence to first line antiretroviral treatment & its determinants among HIV positive people in India
			2014		
	Knowledge of Reproductive Health among Self Help Group Women in Maharashtra
			2012		
	Cause of death among reproductive age group women in Maharashtra, India
			2010		
	Perceptions and practices of rural men on RTI/STIs and their expecations on its management at public healthcare facilities : A qualitative insight
			2009		
	Investigating causes of perinatal mortality by verbal autopsy in Maharashtra, India
			2007		
	Training of service providers on emergency sontraception: Experiences in Mumbai
			2007		
	Information, education and communication for emergency contraception
			2006		
	Levo-norgestrel in breast milk – its metabolism by breastfed infants
			1998		
	Can chronic maternal drug therapy alter the nursing infants Hepatic Drug Metabolising Enzyme pattern?
			1995		
	Is time-interval between mini-pill ingestion and breastfeeding essential?
			1995		
	Carbohydrate metabolism of Indian women taking steroid contraceptives
			1976		
	Thyroid functions of women taking oral contraceptives
			1974		
	Projects Ongoing
| Project title | Funding agency | From | To | 
| As Principal Investigator | 
|||
| Developing & Implementing effective intervention delivery strategies of the Anemia Mukt Bharat program 2.0 to reduce prevalence of anemia amongst vulnerable populations in selected districts of India ,March 2025 – Aug 2028 | ICMR | 2025 | 2029 | 
| Validation of novel serum biomarkers in prediction of early onset preeclampsia (EOPE) in a tribal district of Palghar, Maharashtra (PI) | ICMR | 2024 | 2026 | 
| Strengthening Maternal and Perinatal death surveillance (MPDSR) in tribal blocks | ICMR | 2024 | 2026 | 
| As Co-PI | |||
| Improving Infant and young child Feeding (IYCF) practices in Tribal block of Palghar District, Maharashtra through involvement of frontline workers ( Co-PI) | ICMR | 2024 | 2026 | 
| Assessing feasibility of point of care device in community based screening of Sickle cell Disease and Thalassemia in Tribal district of Palghar, Maharashtra | ICMR | 2024 | 2026 | 
| Feasibility, Acceptability and Costs of providing Preconception Care (PCC) services to Young Couples in Maharashtra | ICMR | 2023 | 2026 | 
Projects Completed
| Project title | Funding agency | From | To | 
| Assessment of Neonatal Screening Approaches for Sickle Cell Disease in Tribal Populations (Co-investigator) | ICMR | 2019 | 2024 | 
| Immune status against SARS-CoV-2 among COVID-19 vaccinated adults in India: A health facility-based multicentric serial cross-sectional survey | ICMR | 2023 | 2023 | 
| To explore operational feasibility, acceptability and cost-effectiveness of using IV FCM in Management of Iron Deficiency Anemia in Maharashtra | ICMR | 2021 | 2023 | 
| Impact of measles rubella (MR) vaccination campaign on population immunity in India: A Multicentric study by ICMR | ICMR | 2018 | 2019 | 
| Addressing challenges for effective Implementation of Lakshya Dakshata prog in tribal blocks of Maharashtra (Co-PI) | ICMR | 2021 | 2021 | 
| Population based Birth Defect surveillance in linkage with RBSK programme in rural areas of Palghar district in Maharashtra (Co-PI) | DHR | 2020 | 2023 |