Maj. General (Dr. Prof.) Atul Kotwal is a Public Health Specialist and Epidemiologist with 40 years of experience as medical professional, researcher, administrator, educator, mentor and a teacher with significant contributions in the field of public health. His areas of expertise include health systems, planning and implementation of healthcare policies, primary health care, urban health, epidemiology, health technology assessment, implementation research, and inter-disciplinary research. He has received his MBBS, followed by MD in Preventive and Social Medicine from Armed Forces Medical College, Pune. He also holds a post-doctoral fellowship in Epidemiology from Clinical Epidemiology Unit, All India Institute of Medical Sciences and Centre of Social Medicine & Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
He has extensive experience including his service in armed forces, working at the international level as Advisor to Government of Botswana, and in providing technical support to GoI as OSD (Public Health), Planning Commission where he was involved in planning and finalizing XI Five-year plan, reviewing NRHM and conceptualizing urban health. He has also greatly contributed in the formulation of several other policies and guidelines at the national level.
He has received numerous awards & recognitions over his career span including Sena Medal (Gallantry) and Vishisht Sewa Medal (VSM) from President of India and various other recognitions in the field of research and teaching. He has over 170 publications and has immensely contributed to evidence generation and knowledge sharing through designing and undertaking research and providing academic support in the field of public health and epidemiology.