Mayur Desai

Mayur M. Desai, PhD, MPH, is a Professor of Epidemiology and the inaugural Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) at the Yale School of Public Health. Professor Desai received both his MPH in health policy and his PhD in epidemiology from Yale. He then served for two years as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer at CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, before returning to New Haven to join the Yale faculty. 

Professor Desai’s expertise is in the application of epidemiologic methods to clinical and health services research. The overarching goal of his work – across various content areas – is to improve health equity in access, quality, and outcomes of care in a broad range of populations and settings. Professor Desai has extensive experience (1) conducting studies at the interface of mental health and primary care; (2) developing risk-adjusted quality-of-care measures for the Medicare program; (3) determining the incidence, trends, and outcomes of surgical procedures; (4) examining the health, health beliefs, and healthcare utilization of marginalized and stigmatized populations, including immigrants, refugees, and incarcerated individuals; (5) contributing to numerous projects in low- and middle-income settings on a range of topics, including child health, prisoner health, diagnosis and treatment of both non-communicable and infectious diseases, and health systems strengthening; and (6) examining DEIB-related issues in the biomedical workforce.

Professor Desai directs the accelerated, 11-month Advanced Professional MPH Program and is a core faculty member in Yale’s National Clinician Scholars Program and Global Health Leadership Initiative. He has a long and sustained history of global public health capacity-strengthening, having developed and taught innovative short courses and workshops on a range of topics – including epidemiology, biostatistics, monitoring and evaluation, strategic problem solving, and research mentorship and leadership – in over a dozen countries. He received the 2022 Drs. Anvar and Pari Velji Global Health Award for Teaching Excellence from the international Consortium of Universities for Global Health and is a 4-time recipient of YSPH’s Distinguished Teaching Award.