Harsha Thirumurthy

Harsha Thirumurthy is member of the 2018 Guideline Development Group (GDG) of the WHO. The GDG's task is to develop updated recommendations on safe male circumcision for HIV prevention and related service delivery for adolescent boys and men in generalized HIV epidemics.

Biography

The WHO published the following biography of Harsha Thirumurthy:

Thirumurthy, Harsha

• Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States [current]

Department of Health Policy and Management, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States [until August 2017]

• BA, MA, MPhil, PhD (economics)
• Philadelphia, United States

Dr. Harsha Thirumurthy is Associate Professor in the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also Associate Director of the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics. Previously, he was on the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and also worked at The World Bank.

Dr. Thirumurthy is an economist whose research lies at the intersection of economics and public health. His prior work includes several studies of the causal effects of large-scale health initiatives on population health and economic outcomes in low-income countries. He also has extensive experience leading randomized controlled trials of financial incentive interventions and mobile technology-based approaches to achieve changes in health behaviors related to HIV prevention and treatment. This work includes several randomized trials of economic interventions to promote uptake of medical male circumcision in Kenya and Zambia. His recent research has also explored the HIV prevention potential of HIV self-testing. He has authored over 75 peer-reviewed articles in economics and health journals. Dr. Thirumurthy has engaged with government and donor organizations on various aspects of health policy and served on review panels at the National Institutes of Health and other funding agencies.