Maj. General (Dr, Prof.) Atul Kotwal is a medical professional, public health researcher, administrator, educator, mentor, and a teacher with significant contributions in field of Public Health for over more than 37 years. His areas of expertise include health systems, planning & 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 & Centre of Social Medicine & Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Dr. Kotwal has a diverse experience including serving in the armed forces across all levels of medical corps in India, to being an advisor for public health in Botswana, Africa and in providing technical support to GoI as OSD-Public Health in the erstwhile Planning Commission. In his tenure as OSD- Public Health in Planning Commission, he was involved in planning and finalizing XI Five-year plan, reviewing NRHM and conceptualizing urban health in addition to WASH and WCD related activities.
Dr. Kotwal has received numerous awards for his contribution to the Armed Forces and towards his professional and research achievements. Notable ones being Sena Medal (Gallantry) and Vishisht Sewa Medal (VSM) by the President of India, Commendations by the Chief of Army Staff and Army Cdr (CC), eight best research paper awards and two best research project awards. He has also been awarded the prestigious Dr J E Park oration by the Indian Public Health Association. With more than 140 publications in indexed journals, he has contributed to the evidence generation and knowledge sharing through designing and undertaking research and providing academic support in the field of public health.
