Biography
Dr. Archana Diwate is currently an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Health and Mental Health, School of Social Work (SSW), Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. She teaches Master's level courses in social work in Public Health and Mental Health, specifically Health and Development and teaches Research Methodology as a core course of social work. Additionally, she has also taught sessions on Health within the foundation course. She earned her postgraduation in Social Work from Pune University and further pursued her M.Phil and Ph.D. from the prestigious Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. During her academic tenure at JNU, she immersed herself in a diverse range of subjects, including Health Systems, Health Service Systems, Social Science Research, Women’s Health, and Social Determinants of Health. This exposure significantly influenced her perspective on health issues and reinforced her dedication to advocating health as a fundamental right. Throughout her academic training, she received the prestigious DAAD Fellowship from Germany, which allowed her to study at Bielefeld University, specifically in the Department of Epidemiology and International Public Health. She was also awarded the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) PhD Fellowship. Before joining TISS, she has five years of valuable work experience, primarily focused on researching health-related issues. Her academic training and work experience in health have culminated in three publications in edited volumes, a study report, newspaper articles, and a notable article in an online magazine. Beyond her academic contributions, she is an active member of the Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) of Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, where she serves as a social scientist ethics committee member. Her research interests are wide-ranging and encompass the private healthcare sector, health insurance, social determinants of health, privatization of medical education, and access to medicines.