Dr Kumar holds expertise in Demographic and Public Health issues. Possessing his academic training in disciplines such as Geography, Population Studies, and Development Economics, Dr. Kumar embraces an authentic command in dealing with a wide spectrum of population development research with the application of a multidisciplinary approach. He is an alumnus of University of Oslo, Norway and University of Dundee, Scotland, where he has completed his course work in “International Development Studies” and “Epidemiology and Global Health”, respectively.

Before joining to TERI SAS, Dr. Kumar dispensed his services to the Uttar Pradesh-Technical Support Unit (UP-TSU), Lucknow Office, at the behest of the India Health Action Trust under the supervision of the University of Manitoba, Canada. He also led the Monitoring and Evaluation Team of UP-TSU, covering 25 High Priority Districts of Uttar Pradesh, for a short period. However, his major contributions were in the strategic analyses of the two-fold interventions implemented in the community and at the health facilities. Dr. Kumar has also taught at the Central University of Karnataka, Kalaburagi during August 2013-April 2016. He has been instrumental in preparing State Reports of National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-3 (2005-06), and in the preparatory works of the first Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) – India (2009-10).

His research interests comprise of Population and Development related issues at large. However, his research contributions till now have been mainly in the domain of Public Health and Nutrition studies, focusing on analysing disparities in health outcomes, risk factors, and the utilization of healthcare services. Dr. Kumar’s epistemic investigation ranges from exploring neonatal and under-five mortality to the coverage of healthcare services in the reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health (RMNCAH) continuum to malnutrition among adults and children, to the burgeoning prevalence of lifestyle-related/non-communicable diseases, to the health challenges faced by the elderly population, in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) including India. His approaches to understanding and exploring these dimensions of public health has been epidemiological, applied, and to the most extent spatial with a view to supporting health programmes and interventions in the community and in the health system. More than two dozen research papers published in reputed International Journals, two books and two survey reports are to his credit at present. In addition, Dr. Kumar is also providing his services to a few International Peer-Reviewed Journals as Associate Editor, Topic Editor, and Academic Editor.

Publications:

• Singh PK, Singh L, Wehrmeister FC, Singh N, Kumar C, Singh A, Sinha DN, Bhutta ZA, Singh S (2022) Prevalence of smoking and smokeless tobacco use during breastfeeding: A cross-sectional secondary data analysis based on 0.32 million sample women in 78 low-income and middle-income countries. eClinicalMedicine, 53:101660
• Rai RK, Kumar SS, Kumar C (2022) Factors associated with minimum dietary diversity failure among Indian children. Journal of Nutritional Science, 11, E4.
• Rai RK, Kumar C, Singh PK, Singh L, Acharya SK, Singh S (2020) Rising Burden of Overweight and Obesity among Indian Adults: empirical insights for public health preparedness. Journal of Biosocial Science, 53(5): 709-723
• Rai RK, Kumar C, Singh PK, Singh L, Barik A, Chowdhury A (2020) Incidence of Prehypertension and Hypertension in Rural India, 2012-2018: A Sex-Stratified Population Based Prospective Cohort Study. American Journal of Hypertension, 33(6): 552-562.
• Kumar C, Rai RK, Singh PK (2013) Reducing infant (0-11 months) and child (0-4 years) mortality in India: a disposition from the Sample Registration System. Journal of Public Health (Springer), 21: 575–582
• Kumar C, Rai RK, Singh PK, Singh L (2013) Socioeconomic Disparities in Maternity Care among Indian Adolescents, 1990-2006. PLOS ONE, 8(7): e69094.
• Kumar C, Singh PK, Rai RK (2013) Coverage gap in maternal and child health services in India: assessing trends and regional deprivation during 1992-2006. Journal of Public Health (Oxford Uni. Press), 35(4): 598–606
• Kumar C, Singh PK, Rai RK, Singh L (2013) Early Neonatal mortality in India: 1990-2006. Journal of Community Health, 38(1): 120–130
• Kumar C, Singh PK, Rai RK (2012) Under-five Mortality in high focus States in India: A District level Geospatial Analysis. PLOS ONE, 7(5): e37515