Dr. Shantidani Minz
Senior Public Health Consultant, Retired Professor in Community Medicine
MBBS, MD, MPH
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shantidani-minz-62b48b9/
Skills and Expertise
Dr. Shantidani Minz is a Senior Professor in the Department of Community Medicine at Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore. She joined CMC’s MBBS programme in 1988 and, driven by her passion for public health, pursued an MD in Community Medicine. Beginning as a Registrar in 1992, she steadily progressed to Tutor in 1999, Professor in 2010, and was elevated to Senior Professor in 2022. In 2018, she transitioned from the CHAD programme to RUHSA (Rural Unit for Health and Social Affairs), where she served as Head of Department until 2023. Over her seven-year tenure at RUHSA, she led numerous initiatives that strengthened institutional capacity and community well-being, introduced vocational training courses for local youth, and was the driving force behind the Annual KVK Run health promotion initiative. Her research interests span health equity, social change, sustainable livelihoods, and climate change effects on health. She has contributed to research on maternal and child health, congenital anomalies, sexually transmitted infections, nutritional status, COVID-19 in rural communities, and perinatal outcomes, reflecting a career rooted in service to marginalised and rural populations in South India.
Publications
1. Acharya Y, Luke N, Haro MF, Rose W, Russell PSS, Oommen AM, Minz S. Nutritional status, cognitive achievement, and educational attainment of children aged 8-11 in rural South India. PLoS One. 2019 Oct 9;14(10):e0223001. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0223001. PMID: 31596845; PMCID: PMC6784908. 2. Cherian AG, Jamkhandi D, George K, Bose A, Prasad J, Minz S. Prevalence of Congenital Anomalies in a Secondary Care Hospital in South India: A Cross-Sectional Study. J Trop Pediatr. 2016 Oct;62(5):361-7. doi: 10.1093/tropej/fmw019. Epub 2016 Apr 4. PMID: 27044502. 3. George K, Prasad J, Singh D, Minz S, Albert DS, Muliyil J, Joseph KS, Jayaraman J, Kramer MS. Perinatal outcomes in a South Asian setting with high rates of low birth weight. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2009 Feb 9;9:5. doi: 10.1186/1471-2393-9-5. PMID: 19203384; PMCID: PMC2647522. 4. Manjunath K, Cherian AG, Abraham V, Minz S, George K, Helan J. Trends of HIV prevalence in rural South India. J Family Med Prim Care. 2019 Feb;8(2):669-672. doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_326_18. PMID: 30984692; PMCID: PMC3064219. 5. R GM, Pricilla RA, Kurian S, Benjamin SJ, Rathore S, Yenuberi H, Minz SD, et al. Study protocol: ‘a large cohort study of postnatal events in a not-for-profit referral centre in Vellore, South India’. BMJ Open. 2022 Dec 19;12(12):e063497. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-063497. PMID: 36535722; PMCID: PMC9764659.