Sanyukta Mathur

Sanyukta Mathur is a social and behavioral scientist. Her research focuses on individual, interpersonal, social, and structural determinants of health behaviors and outcomes. She focuses on applied research, generating evidence in collaboration in partners and stakeholders to inform programs and policies. She led the Population Council’s DREAMS implementation science research portfolio assessing the outreach, approach, and effectiveness of a comprehensive HIV-prevention program aimed at reducing HIV risk for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) and their male partners in sub-Saharan Africa. She also served as the senior gender and youth technical advisor for Breakthrough-RESEARCH, a global initiative focused on strengthening social and behavior programming. Currently, she co-leads research studies assessing the acceptability of new multi-purpose prevention technologies that offer protection against HIV, unintended pregnancy, and STIs; assessing a chatbot to promote HIV prevention services uptake; and leads a portfolio focused on evidence synthesis to enhance HIV prevention strategies.

Prior to the Council, she was an assistant professor at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Her research included examining risk factors associated with HIV acquisition among youth and exploring the intersection between fertility desires/intentions and HIV. Prior to Columbia University, Dr. Mathur was a public health specialist at the International Center for Research on Women where she worked on child marriage, integrated interventions for youth, HIV-related stigma and discrimination, and youth sexual reproductive health and rights. She is part of the WomenLift Health 2023 North America Leadership Cohort.

Dr. Mathur received her Doctorate in Public Health from Columbia University and Master of Health Science from Johns Hopkins University. She has published in many peer-reviewed publications including the American Journal of Public Health, Culture, Health & Sexuality, JAIDS, and Lancet HIV. She is also a children’s book author.