With over thirty years of experience in the field Dr Nair has worn multiple hats: community physician, academician, public health researcher and administrator. She currently heads the school of public health, a constituent unit of the DY Patil Deemed to be University, Navi Mumbai.

She has been the recipient of various honours and awards, reflecting her contributions to teaching, research, and global health. These include the Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility Fellowship awarded by the European Commission; Mobility Fellowship from the Scottish Funding Council to visit the University of Aberdeen, UK for collaborative research and invited talks; Excellence in Teaching Award conferred by Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE); McGill Global Health Fellowship; International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy (PACT) nominee for the Cancer Prevention Course at the National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, USA; Fellowship from the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK, under the Effective Health Care Research Programme Consortium, for training in systematic review methodology.

Dr Nair has led population-based research in the areas of public health nutrition, cancer screening, point of care diagnostics for viral and bacterial infections and digital health for sexual and reproductive health.

She has published in high impact journals and has received research support from various research organisations such as the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Department of Science & Technology (DST), IndiaClen Programme Evaluation Network (IPEN), Intel Digital Health Platforms Research Group, MGH – CAMTech India, IC Impacts, Canada and so on. She serves as the Associate Editor with PLOS global public health.

Link to research output:

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Suma-Nair-4/research

Prior to joining DY Patil School of Public Health, Dr Nair was affiliated with Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Manipal wherein she held several leadership positions as the Professor & Head in the Department of Community Medicine, Director- Student Affairs of the University, and the head of the Centre for Community Oncology.  Her clinical engagements across a range of healthcare settings, complemented by formal training in community medicine, have collectively shaped her commitment to advancing a career dedicated to preventive medicine and public health.

She also serves in various capacities as an expert committee member for Network of Schools of Public Health in India, governing committee member for One Health Network of India, External expert for Research Committee of Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS), Thesis committee member for McGill University students for the degree of Master of Science in Epidemiology. She also served as the Chairperson, Udupi District Advisory Committee for COVID 19 prevention & control, 2020-2022 and as the  District COVID 19 Expert Committee member in the capacity of an epidemiologist and community physician for Udupi District, 2020-2022.

Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) – Kilpauk Medical College, University of Madras

Doctor of Medicine (MD) in Community Medicine- Kasturba Medical College, Manipal,  Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal.

Epidemiology (infectious disease & NCD), Health promotion & communication, public health nutrition, Quantitative research methods, Scientific writing, Health programmes design & implementation, Community Oncology, Environment & Health, Sexual & reproductive health