Faculty Receive Grant to Narrow Health Equity Gap in Chandigarh, India

Ligia Paina, PhD ’14, MHS ‘08, an assistant professor in the Department of International Health’s Health Systems Program at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and her co-PI Meng Zhu, PhD, MS, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, were awarded an Impact Grant from the Johns Hopkins Alliance for a Healthier World for their work aimed at narrowing the health equity gap in urban slums in Chandigarh, India. 

Paina said, “Our project will bring together slum-dwelling communities and health providers to engage in joint problem-solving and to develop a plan for overcoming bottlenecks for inclusive engagement in digital health initiatives.” 

The Johns Hopkins team will work with partners at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh. They plan to focus on a community engagement approach that prioritizes raising awareness of digital health interventions and creating meaningful partnerships with individuals, communities, and institutions while overcoming key barriers to help correct structural inequalities faced by marginalized communities.