Past Awardees
We are delighted to announce the 2025 recipients of the GKII Sunil Kumar and Sumati Murli Research Award: Rose Pollard Kaptchuk and Prakhar Misra, two outstanding PhD students at Johns Hopkins University engaged in high-impact India-focused research.
Each award includes an $8,000 grant to support research and travel. We congratulate Rose and Prakhar for their outstanding contributions to public health and governance in India.
2025 Sunil Kumar and Sumati Murli Fellows
Rose Pollard Kaptchuk
Research Aligning HIV Services with Transgender and Gender Diverse Community Needs in IndiaRose’s study explores how person-centered transgender healthcare centers — known as Mitr clinics — can improve HIV service access for transgender and gender-diverse communities in India, using participatory methods to drive inclusive and community-driven care models.
Prakhar Misra
Research Patronage v. Meritocracy: Recruitment in the Indian GovernmentPrakhar’s research addresses a long-standing paradox in Indian governance: why bureaucratic understaffing persists despite widespread political patronage. His study investigates recruitment institutions in states like Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh to uncover structural and institutional factors shaping state capacity.