Arogya World Board of Directors
Select members of Arogya World’s Board.
The members of Arogya World’s Board of Directors bring years of experience and passion for public service to bear in the global fight against non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Dr. Nalini Saligram
Nalini Saligram, Ph.D, is the Founder & CEO of Arogya World, a global health non-profit committed to changing the course of chronic disease. She is an Ashoka Fellow.
Under Nalini’s leadership, Arogya World designs and implements scalable, science-based diabetes prevention programs in Indian schools, workplaces, and the community. As a tireless advocate for NCD prevention, Nalini leverages public-private partnerships and global platforms to improve the world we live in. Arogya World has made three Clinton Global Initiative Commitments (one in 2011, and two in 2013), a United Nations Every Woman Every Child Commitment (2014), was active with MIT’s SOLVE effort (2017), and was named a finalist for the Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation (2014). Her story and that of Arogya World has also been highlighted in a book – The Healthcare Gamechangers. In 2021, on her watch, Arogya World was chosen to be part of the Google AI for Social Good effort.
Nalini has lived and worked in many parts of the world, including Merck in Philadelphia, Merial in Atlanta, Glaxo Wellcome in London, and Hill & Knowlton in Hong Kong.
Nalini has a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. She serves on the Dean’s Council at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and is active with the Taskforce on Women & NCDs, Indiaspora, the India Philanthropy Alliance, Foresight Global Health and the Global Centre for Healthy Workplaces. She is based in Atlanta.
Pamela Yih
Pamela Yih serves as Chief Financial Officer of Arogya World, and has been serving in that capacity, working probono, right from the founding of the nonprofit in 2010.
Pamela is President of Pamela Y-F Yih, Inc., a life science consulting company. For the past 20 years, she has provided consulting services to start-ups, and pharmaceutical, biotech and med-tech/diagnostic companies of all sizes.
Pamela’s expertise is in strategic marketing, commercialization strategies and opportunity assessments, portfolio planning and development of cross-functional commercial planning and evaluation processes. Previously, as a Director at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pamela led global Product Planning and Business Planning for the flagship ACE inhibitors portfolio (hypertension, heart failure, diabetic nephropathy and post-MI).
Dr. Seema Bhatia
Seema is board certified in internal medicine and was in private practice for over 14 years. She currently sits on the board and serves as the chair of the medical committee of Health Reach Clinic, the only free clinic in Lake County, IL. She has been actively involved in recruiting other volunteer physicians and plays a proactive role on the executive board. She feels passionately about the role of preventative medicine in the fields of diabetes and hypertension.
Deepa Prahalad
Deepa is an author, business strategist and consultant specializing in opportunities at the intersection of consumer experience, technology and strategy. Deepa has worked as a management consultant with firms from start-ups to large multinationals.
Deepa has degrees in Economics and Political Science from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Deepa, who can be found on Twitter at @deepaprahalad, lives in Southern California with her husband and son.
Swati Chaudhary
Swati serves as a Director at Blue Meridian Partners (BMP). BMP is a pioneering philanthropic model for finding and funding scalable solutions to the problems that trap young people and families in poverty. At the nexus of economic mobility and venture philanthropy, she is committed to listening to the voices of the vulnerable in our society, and channeling philanthropy towards solutions that are rooted in the realities and experiences of communities.
Swati was formerly a Director in the Advisory practice at Synergos. She worked at the nexus of strategy building, systems thinking, and partnerships for social impact at scale. A generalist, she has worked in a diverse range of topics including financial inclusion, income inequality, gender equity, agriculture, and non-communicable diseases. Previously, Swati held the roles of management consultant at PwC Advisory and investment analyst at Acumen Fund and General Atlantic. She received a Bachelor of Arts from Franklin and Marshall College, and a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University. A Third Culture Kid, Swati was raised between Bihar, India and Manila, Philippines; she now lives in Brooklyn with her husband.
Dr Nitya Rajeshuni
Dr. Rajeshuni is a Clinical Instructor in the Department of Pediatrics at Stanford University. She is faculty with the Stanford Center for Asian Health Research and Education (CARE), the Center for Innovation in Global Health (CIGH), and the Maternal Child Health Research Institute (MCHRI). Dr. Rajeshuni earned her BS, MS in Epidemiology and Clinical Research, and MD from Stanford University. She completed residency training at the University of Pennsylvania and a Biodesign innovation fellowship at Harvard University. Her research centers on advancing health equity among racial and ethnic minorities, with a particular focus on Asian populations.
Outside academia, Dr. Rajeshuni is an accomplished vocalist, performing professionally with world music ensembles Wobbly World and San Francisco’s Peña Pachamama Carnaval Arts Program.
Mandeep Kaur, MD, MS
Mandeep Kaur has built her career on a distinctive reputation for bridging science and commercialization by helping biopharma organizations translate strong R&D pipelines into market success, enterprise value, and meaningful outcomes for patients. Known for thriving in complexity, she has led 19 product launches, shaped global strategy across multiple therapeutic areas, and guided four major M&A integrations for companies undergoing critical moments of transformation. Over two decades, Mandeep has earned recognition as a trusted leader who aligns innovation, execution, and culture in high-stakes environments.
Today, in addition to her corporate leadership, she contributes to global health and equity efforts through roles with the United Nations Women’s Peace & Humanitarian Fund, the World Health Organization’s Fides Initiative, and the World Economic Forum. Mandeep is a frequently invited panelist and speaker at industry events, most recently addressing topics such as AI and Launch Readiness. As a board member, she is passionate about helping us accelerate growth and readiness while preserving our scientific and patient-centered integrity.
Dr. Kashmira Date
Kashmira Date is a physician, epidemiologist, and global health leader with over 20 years of experience and leadership in the public and private sectors with clinical development/medical/scientific affairs in infectious diseases, vaccines, epidemiology, real-world evidence, pandemic preparedness, emergency response, global health security, women’s health, and health equity. She currently serves as a Senior Director – Respiratory Vaccines (Pipeline), Global Medical Affairs, Pfizer Vaccines, responsible for the medical/scientific strategy, evidence generation and scientific engagements related to pipeline assets. Prior to her current role, she led the vaccines medical and scientific strategy at Johnson and Johnson Global Public Health and served as the Strategy and Operations Lead for J & J Innovation – Blue Knight program. Dr. Date is an alumnus of CDC’s Flagship Epidemiology Fellowship – Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS), and led CDC’s new vaccine portfolio on typhoid, cholera, and other new vaccines for over a decade before joining the private sector. She has worked closely with several ministries of health and multiple global health partners.
Dr. Shivani Patel
Dr. Shivani A. Patel is an Associate Professor in the Hubert Department of Global Health and holds a joint faculty appointment in the Department of Epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University. She is also graduate faculty in the Nutrition and Health Science and Epidemiology Programs at Emory’s James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies. Dr. Patel’s research focuses on cardiometabolic health, with a particular emphasis on the role of socio-contextual factors in the development and management of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
In addition to her research, Dr. Patel is committed to teaching and mentoring the next generation of global health leaders. She teaches graduate-level courses on epidemiologic methods and leadership for global health and development collaborations. She has mentored students and postdoctoral fellows from diverse backgrounds and is the Associate Program Director for the COALESCE postdoctoral training program.
Dr Nitya Rajeshuni
Dr. Rajeshuni is a Clinical Instructor in the Department of Pediatrics at Stanford University. She is faculty with the Stanford Center for Asian Health Research and Education (CARE), the Center for Innovation in Global Health (CIGH), and the Maternal Child Health Research Institute (MCHRI). Dr. Rajeshuni earned her BS, MS in Epidemiology and Clinical Research, and MD from Stanford University. She completed residency training at the University of Pennsylvania and a Biodesign innovation fellowship at Harvard University. Her research centers on advancing health equity among racial and ethnic minorities, with a particular focus on Asian populations.
Outside academia, Dr. Rajeshuni is an accomplished vocalist, performing professionally with world music ensembles Wobbly World and San Francisco’s Peña Pachamama Carnaval Arts Program.