Tata Institute of Social Sciences

Dr Santhosh M. R.

Assistant Professor
Guwahati Campus,
Chairperson, Unit for Research and Development ,
Centre for Public Health, School of Social Work - Guwahati Campus

Qualification

M.S.W. (Mahatma Gandhi University), M.Phil. (JNU), Ph.D. (JNU)

Contact

santhosh.mr[at]tiss[dot]ac[dot]in

Santhosh M.R. PhD
Assistant Professor,
Centre for Public Health,
School of Social Work,
Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) Guwahati Off-Campus,
Tetelia Road (Near AEC Campus),
Jalukbari,
Guwahati, Assam - 781013
Telephone: 0361-2739889

Email- santhosh.mr@tiss.ac.in

alternate email - santhosh.mr@tiss.ac.in

Mobile- +91 7896959691

Santhosh MR is an Asst. Professor at the Centre for Public Health, School of Social Work, TISS Guwahati Campus. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology, a Master’s Degree in Socialwork and an Mphil/PhD in Social Medicine. He has done his doctoral research on liberalisation of Indian pharmaceutical industry. He is mainly involved in teaching and research on public health and related areas. He teaches Bachelor level, Masters's level, and Mphil/PhD level courses at TISS Guwahati. He co-ordinated the MASW (Public Health) programme from 2013 to 2016 and also chaired the Centre for Public health from 2016 to 2020. He has also served as the Dean of School of Social Work from 2020 to 2023. Currently he is the Chairperson of Unit for Research and Development(URD).

His main research interests are Health, Vulnerability and equity issues, Trade and Public Health, Development Policy Analysis, IPR and Access to medicines, Issues in Healthcare Provisioning, Health and Gender, Political Economy of Health and Nutrition, Tribal health, Maternal and child nutrition and health and Trade and Gender.

Before joining TISS he was associated with research and advocacy organisations like CHSJ, CENTAD, FRCH and TWN. He has been part of many research projects and advocacy initiatives on trade and public health; specifically on access to medicines. He has been part of many national and international multi-disciplinary, multi-site research projects such as Tracing Pharmaceuticals in South Asia (TPSA), Accessing Medicines in Africa and South Asia (AMASA) in various capacities. He has worked with Third World Network (TWN) as a Fellow in 2012.

He has also been part of the following committees/Working Group

Member, Institutional Ethical committee of Srimanta Sankaradeva University of Health Sciences.

Member, Working Group on Access to Medicines initiated by TWN and JSA

Multi Actor Working Committee(MAWC) Member, Multi-Actor Working Committee (MAWC) on Realising the Right to Adequate Food and Nutrition, Voluntary Health Association, Assam (VHAA).

National CSO Coalition Experts group (Nominated Member), National CSO Coalition Experts Group, Oxfam, New Delhi.

Working Group Member, Working group on Essential Nutrition Intervention and Food Security. Coalition for Food and Nutrition Security (CFNS), New Delhi.

Research Interests

Trade and public health
Access to medicines
Pharmaceutical sector
Access to treatment
Social Inequities and health
Political economy of health
Health system
Environment and Health
Ethics and Health

Publications

Santhosh M.R(2021), Public Health, in BANS-184 Public Health and Epidemiology , IGNOU, New Delhi

Santhosh M.R (2020), Bottle Of Lies: The Inside Story Of The Generic Drug Boom, The Book Review, Volume.XLIV (2-3), 54-55

Santhosh M.R (2016), International Trade and Health: Uncharted Terrain for Social Workers?, Social Work Journal (Bi-annual), ISSN 0976-5484

With Gopakumar KM (2012), “An Unhealthy Future for the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry?”, Third World Resurgence, No.259, March 12, 2012

With Selvaraj et.al (2012), “Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy: A Critique”, Economic and Political Weekly, January 28, 2012 Vol XLVII no 4.

With Petra Brhlikova et.al (2011), “Trust and the Regulation of Pharmaceuticals: South Asia in a Globalised World,” Globalization and Health 2011, Volume.7, No.10 ,

with Ranja Sengupta (2011), Trade, Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) and Gender Issues in India, Trade and Gender Briefs No. 3, Third World Network (TWN) and Heinrich Boell Foundation (HBF) India.

With Y. Madhavi et.al(2010), “Evidence-based National Vaccine Policy” Indian Journal of Medical Research, 131, May 2010, pp 617-628,

With Roger Jeffery (2009), “Architecture of Drug Regulation in India What are the Barriers to Regulatory Reform?,” Journal of Health Studies Tracing Pharmaceuticals in South Asia: Drugs, Doctors and Public Policy, Vol.2, No.1,2,3, (2009)

Will be updated soon...

Current Courses

Phd Level

Theoretical Approaches to Social Science Research- 2023 Onwards

MA level

PH-2 Health and development(2013 onwards) -MASW (Public health),

PH 4- Health Services System (2018-onwards)- MASW (Public health)

SW-3 Social Work Practice: Principles and concepts 1(2021 onwards)

Ph-6- Epidemiology and Biostatistics (2023- )

PH 8 Health Policy, Programmes and Legislation (2019 onwards)- MASW (Public health)

Social Exclusion and Social Policy (2013-16)-Foundation Course

Development: Concepts, theories, dimensions and strategies (2014-17)- Foundation Course

LSSP 12 Introduction to Research Methodology (2023 onwards)

BA level

Introduction to Social work (2015-) BA/MA

Past Courses

Human Behaviour: Biopsychosocial Perspectives (2012-13)- BA

Social Policy (2012-13)-MA

History and ideologies of Social work (2013-17)- MASW

Environment, Livelihoods, Disasters, Displacement and Development (2013-14)-MASW

History and ideologies of Social work (2013-16)-MASW

Social Exclusion and Social Policy (2013-16)-FC

Project Planning and Assessment (2014-17)-MASW

Development: Concepts, theories, dimensions and strategies (2014-17)- FC

Social Action, Advocacy and Movements- MASW (CODP)-(2014-2019)

Vulnerable Groups and Health(2014-15) MASW (Public health)

PH-1Introduction to public health(2013- 2020)- MASW (Public health)

Trade union Movement (2015-16) MALSSS

Introduction to Social work (2015-16) BA/M1

Self-Study- BAMA

C5 Field Research Methods MA in Ecology, Environment and Sustainable Development (2016-18)EESD

Environment and Public Health MA in Ecology, Environment and Sustainable Development- (2017-19)-EESD

Philosophical foundations of social science research - Mphil/PhD- (2018- onwards)

Political Economy of Health Mphil/PhD (2018- 2020)

History and Philosophy of Social Scientific Ideas (2022-23), BASS