Sukumar Vellakkal
Associate Professor
Department of Economic Sciences
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
Kalyanpur PO, Kanpur 208016
Uttar Pradesh
Email: <vellakkal> add @iitk.ac.in
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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
Professional experiences
July 2021 - Present: Associate Professor, Department of Economic Sciences, IIT Kanpur
Dec 2020-June 2021: Assistant Professor Gr-1, Department of Economic Sciences, IIT Kanpur
2017-20: Assistant Professor Gr-1, Department of Economics, BITS Pilani Goa Campus
2016-17: Assistant Professor, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
2010-2016: Health Economist & Adj. Asst Professor, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), New Delhi
2008-2010: Fellow, Indian Council for International Economic Relations (ICRIER), New Delhi
Other professional experiences
Academic Editor: 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), 2019 (Basel), 2021 (Virtual) and 2023 (Cape Town)
Governing Council Member (2010 to 2013), Health Insurance Program, Govt of Delhi NCR
Founder Team Leader (2008 to 2013), tutor for the course of Health Economics of the online program of Master of Public Health - MPH (the 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
Select fellowships and awards
PHRI Fellow (2019-2020) by IIPH Gandhinagar with the financial support of the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
OPERA (Outstanding Potential for Excellence in Research and Academics) Award by BITS PILANI (2018-22)
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)
MSc 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
Research and Publications
Research Focus
Macroeconomic policies and health
Impact evaluation of public policies and development programs
Universal healthcare coverage and health policies
Select Publications
Acharya A, Vellakkal S, Taylor F, Masset E, Satija A, Burke M, Ebrahim S. The Impact of Health Insurance Schemes for the Informal Sector in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review. World Bank Research Observer (Oxford Journals). Volume 28 (2), 236-266. doi: 10.1093/wbro/lks009.
E Aurino, J Fledderjohann, Vellakkal S. Inequalities in adolescent learning: Does the timing and persistence of food insecurity at home matter? Economics of Education Review (Elsevier). Volume 70, June 2019, Pages 94-108. doi: j.econedurev.2019.03.003.
Vellakkal S, Khan Z, Alavani H, J Fledderjohann, Stuckler D (2022): Effects of public policies in preventing cardiovascular diseases. Public Health (Elsevier). Volume 207, June 2022, Pages 73-81. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2022.03.021
Vellakkal S, Gupta A, Khan Z, Stuckler D, Reeves A, Ebrahim S, Bowling A, Doyle P . Has India’s National Rural Health Mission reduced inequities in maternal health services? A pre-post repeated cross sectional study. Health Policy and Planning (Oxford Journals). Volume 32 (1), 79-90. doi: 10.1093/heapol/czw100.
A Singh & Vellakkal S. Impact of public health programs on maternal and child health services and health outcomes in India: A systematic review. Social Science & Medicine (Elsevier). Volume 274, April 2021, 113795, ISSN 0277-9536, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113795.
Vellakkal S, Fledderjohann J, Basu S, Agrawal S, Ebrahim S, Campbell O, Doyle P, Stuckler D. Food price spikes are associated with increased malnutrition among children in Andhra Pradesh, India. The Journal of Nutrition (Elsevier). Volume 145 (8), 1942-1949. doi:10.3945/jn.115.211250.
Sassi F, Belloni A, Mirelman A, Suhrcke M, Thomas A, Salti N, Vellakkal S, Visaruthvong C, Popkin BM, Nugent R . Equity impacts of price policies to promote healthy behaviours. The Lancet (Elsevier). Volume 391, Issue 10134, P2059-2070 DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)30531-2
Vellakkal S, Millett C, Basu S, Khan Z, Aitsi-Selmi A, Stuckler D, Ebrahim S. Are Estimates of Socioeconomic Inequalities in Chronic Disease Artefactually Narrowed by Self-Reported Measures of Prevalence in Low-and Middle-Income Countries? Findings from WHO-SAGE Survey. Journal Ep. Comm. Health (BMJ). Volume 69. PP:218 225. doi: 10.1136/jech-2014-204621
Basu S, Vellakkal S, Agrawal S, Stuckler D, Popkin B, Ebrahim S . Averting Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes in India through Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxation: An Economic-Epidemiologic Modelling Study. PLoS Med(Public Library of Science USA). 11(1):e1001582. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001582
Vellakkal S, Subramanian SV, Millett C, Basu S, Stuckler D, Ebrahim S. Socioeconomic Inequalities in Non-Communicable Diseases Prevalence in India: Disparities between Self-Reported Diagnoses and Standardized Measures. PLoS ONE (Public Library of Science USA). 8(7): e68219. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0068219
Vellakkal S, Ebrahim S. Publicly-Financed Health Insurance Schemes: Concerns about Impact Assessment, Economic & Political Weekly, January 5, 2013 vol xlviIi (1)
Full List of publications at Google scholar: Google Scholar-Sukumar Vellakkal
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