Sharmila Mhatre joined the Public Health Program at the Open Society Foundations as the deputy director in July 2016. Her expertise in health systems and policy research in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is founded on over 20 years of experience leading, designing, and managing multi-sectoral health programs with government, donor, and civil society collaborators in Africa, South Asia, and Latin America. Sharmila worked at International Development Research Centre for over a decade heading the Governance for Equity in Health Systems program (2010-2016). The program supported scholars, policymakers, and civil society organizations from LMICs to redress health inequities and strengthen health systems. As a research fellow with the Community Information and Epidemiological Technologies, a NGO (1996-2003), she worked in the areas of primary health care, community-based information systems, and the prevention of sexual violence and HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Prior to this position, she worked with UNICEF.