Pragati Creations

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Vishal Tikhute

Dr. Vishal is the founder and Managing Director (MD) of Pragati Creations. In addition to his administrative responsibilities, he oversees the Research and Development (R&D) wing of the organisation. For more than 11 years, Dr. Vishal has shared his expertise with researchers from prestigious international institutes like Friedensau Adventist University (Germany), Pathfinder International, New Delhi, Linpico SARL (a French consultancy), UNDP India, and multiple universities and NGOs from Africa and Southeast Asia. He is a public health professional with expertise in statistical analysis, programme management, and scientific writing. Through his extensive international publications, he always advocates for quality healthcare delivery and human development for all sections of society.

Komal Devkate

Ms. Komal is a director at Pragati Creations; she looks after the community development and communications wing of the institute. She is visiting faculty at multiple universities and also associated with TISS, Mumbai, as a PhD scholar. Her research and project management experience exceeds 10 years of impressive work at various renowned institutes across India. Her research areas involved health equity, promoting women’s health rights, and improving healthcare access for rural, marginalized tribal communities, specifically adolescent girls and women from NTDNT communities. Through both academic inquiry and field engagement, she strives to contribute meaningfully to public health discourse and to advocate for equitable access to healthcare for marginalized communities.

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Balaka Chattaraj

Ms. Balaka is an active member of Pragati Creations (PC), she is a research consultant at our R&D Wing. She is also a TISS alumna and currently pursuing her PhD from Tezpur University, India. She has command over social research, multilingual communication, multi- and trans-sectoral coordination, and establishing rapport with policymakers. As an active member of PC, she has jointly published multiple research papers covering health equity, health tourism, and sustainable human development of marginalised tribal labour communities. Impressed by her research work, recently she has been invited as a discussant at the IPSA World Congress 2025 in Seoul, South Korea. At PC she is actively involved in the designing of new research projects and other developmental activities at the institute.

Prashant Gawai

Mr. Prashant secured his master's in Cities and Governance from the prestigious TISS, Hyderabad. Currently, he is a research consultant at Pragati Creations. He is also associated with multiple national and international institutes as a policy analyst. He contributes his expertise in health system strengthening by analyzing policies for gaps and exploring potential for reforms. He has command over social research, project management, and advanced data analytics tools. His areas of interest include sustainable human development through urban planning, housing, occupational safety, and mitigating environmental degradation.

Fortune Okafor

Dr. Fortune is a Nigeria-based data scientist and a research consultant, he has jointly published research papers with PC members (Dr Vishal). He has a profound interest in cardiology, data science, and machine learning. He has international publications covering broader areas of public health, clinical cardiology, and data science.

Boluwatife Fatokun

Mr Boluwatife is a young, enthusiastic Nigerian researcher. At Pragati Creations, he has been a part of several international publications, covering public health issues in LMICs like Senegal, Ghana, Lesotho, and Jordan. He prefers working with multidisciplinary teams and has published several clinical studies, including recent acute spinal cord injury (ASCI) research in Africa. His academic achievements included a bachelor's degree in medical laboratory science (Kwara State University, Nigeria) and a PGD in project management from the Chartered Institute of Project Management, Ghana. He has a keen interest in cardiovascular medicine, genomics and health policy.