Brief Bio

• Dr. Joe Thomas (MSc. PhD) is the Executive Director of Partners in Population and Development (PPD). PPD is an inter-governmental alliance of 26 developing countries mandated to promote South-South Cooperation in the area of Reproductive Health, Population and Development and has a Permanent Observer status at the United Nations General Assembly. PPD has Diplomatic Status in Bangladesh, New York and Geneva, and offices in Uganda and China.
• Dr Thomas is an outstanding global leader with excellent advocacy and representational skills in the areas of Public Health, Population and development. He is experienced and highly skilled in program development, program management and in providing high-level advice to the ministerial, diplomatic staff, senior officials, and elected representatives.
• As the Executive Director of PPD, he provides leadership and is the representative voice of the 26 governments of the global south on sexual and reproductive health, family planning, gender, equity, and rights and population dynamics.
• He has extensive experience in facilitating the translation of global goals, multilateral instruments, and agreements into effective political and legislative initiatives. He has work experience in Australia, India, Africa, Hong Kong and East Timor. He has long and short term work experience in population and development issues in over 20 countries in the Asia and Africa regions.
• Dr. Thomas is an author of three books and has published more than 50 articles in peer-reviewed journals. He has served as the Senior Research Officer of Indian Council of Medical Research, HIV Program Director of National Addiction Research Centre in Mumbai, Research Fellow of Chinese University of Hong Kong and City University of Hong Kong.
• He has served as an HIV/AIDS advisor to the Ministry of Health in East Timor, Technical advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO), regional manager of Northern Territory AIDS and Hepatitis Council in Australia. He has also served as the Asia regional advisor of Save the Children and FXB International. He is the founding director of Jodhpur School of Public Health (JSPH) at the Jodhpur National University in India, where, as the Professor of Public Health he taught and supervised several masters and PhD students in Public Health. Before joining PPD Dr. Thomas served as the Director of the UNAIDS Technical Support Facility for South Asia (TSF-SA) based in Kathmandu, Nepal.