Karthik Adapa

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT KARTHIK ADAPA

Dr. Karthik Adapa is a physician-scientist and leader in digital health, artificial intelligence (AI), and governance, with over 20 years of transformative impact across government, academia, and international organizations. As an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, he served as Health and IT Secretary for Punjab, India, where he pioneered groundbreaking initiatives, including India’s first blockchain-based healthcare recruitment system, the first population-level real-world evaluation of AI-driven health interventions, and AI-powered fraud detection in health insurance. He also spearheaded digital public infrastructure for primary healthcare, digitizing services across 1200 facilities.Currently, as Regional Adviser for Digital Health at the World Health Organization (WHO) South-East Asia Regional Office, Dr. Adapa has led the development of national digital health blueprints for six countries across two continents, positioning the South-East Asia Region as the first WHO region with 80% member state coverage in digital health strategies. An accomplished academic and researcher, Dr Adapa holds a Ph.D. in Health Informatics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he also serves as an adjunct faculty member. A Fulbright Scholar, Chevening Gurukul Fellow, and recipient of prestigious awards like the Global Health Supply Chain Summit Prize, he is a thought leader serving on the editorial boards of five leading scientific journals, including Nature Digital Medicine and JMIR Human Factors. He has co-authored WHO technical briefs and delivered keynote addresses at global forums, such as the Global Partnership on AI Summit. As a practitioner, researcher, and educator, Dr. Adapa’s work focuses on leveraging AI and digital health to advance patient safety and equitable healthcare systems worldwide. Explore his extensive research and publications at