Departmental Affiliations
Anju Malhotra, PhD, connects research with practice to shape smart, scalable strategies for advancing gender equality in health, education, & opportunity in the global South.
Research Interests
Innovation in systemic reforms and measurement on gender equality, investment in adolescent girls' well-being and human capital, sexual and reproductive health--especially among adolescents, child marriage, women-friendly quality of services in maternal health and family planning, gender and the labor force in the health sector
Experiences & Accomplishments
Anju Malhotra, Ph.D is Distinguished Professor of the Practice in the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is also currently serving as Senior Gender and M&E Advisor to the Global Financing Facility at the World Bank. Dr. Malhotra is a recognized global leader on gender equality, reproductive health, and adolescent rights. Her programmatic and research work, as well as teaching focus on advancing the real life opportunities and health options for women's and girls in low and middle income countries, and in reshaping financing, capacity, research, and measurement systems to propel these efforts to deliver change at scale. Previously, Dr. Malhotra headed UNICEF’s work on gender equality, where she developed and implemented the game-changing Gender Action Plan (GAP), successfully building the organization’s resources, commitment, capacity, and results on gender equality. She has been a leader in shaping the SDG target and global movement to end child marriage, in establishing the multi-donor, multi-country global program to end child marriage, and in defining the research agenda on child marriage and adolescent health. As Vice President at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), she led multiple interventions and impact evaluations on adolescent sexual and reproductive health, the keynote paper for the landmark 2007 Women Deliver conference, and the “Fertility and Empowerment Network.” Dr. Malhotra began her career as Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland and NIH Post-doctoral fellow at the Carolina Population Center. She holds a Ph.D. in Demography and Sociology from the University of Michigan.
Select Publications
Malhotra A, Elnakib S "20 years of the Evidence Base on What Works to Prevent Child Marriage: A Systematic Review. Journal of Adolescent Health. 2021 May; 68(5):847–62." https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.11.017
Malhotra A, The Disconnect between Gender Transformative Language and Action in Global Health. September 2021. The Gender and Health Hub “The Power of Evidence Series.” UNU-IIGH Kuala Lumpur. DOI: 10.37941/RR/2021/3
Malhotra A. "Charting a Pathway to Multisectoral Investments in Adolescent Health in Low- and Middle-Income Countries." Journal of Adolescent Health. 2019 July; 65(1S): S1–2. DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.04.023
Pande R, Namy S, Malhotra A. "The Demographic Transition and Women’s Economic Participation in Tamil Nadu, India: A Historical Case Study. Feminist Economics." 2019 May 20;1–29. DOI: 10.1080/13545701.2019.160969
Malhotra A, Amin A, Nanda P. "Catalyzing Gender Norm Change for Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health: Investing in Interventions for Structural Change. Journal of Adolescent Health." 2019 April; 64(4S): S13–5. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.01.013