Faculty profiles
Allen P
Ugargol
Summary
Allen Ugargol is Associate Professor of Public Policy at IIM Bangalore. He is an applied demographer, a public health physician-scientist, and a health systems pracademic with over two decades of professional engagement across academia, research, multilateral agencies, the development sector and the public policy milieu in India. His interdisciplinary training navigates demography, public health and dental surgery and his research explorations span across ageing and social policies, leadership in healthcare, primary healthcare and universal health coverage, longevity, healthy ageing, home care and senior living.
Prof. Allen Ugargol received the Yusuf Hamied Faculty Fellowship Award for 2022-23 at the Columbia Aging Center, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. He also received the ICMR Prof. Surindar Mohan Marwah Award for 2020 for his sustained and significant research in the discipline of ageing and geriatrics in India. In 2012, he was awarded the ‘Ubbo Emmius’ Fellowship for his PhD at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands, where he was supported by the Indian-European Research Networking Grant: Ageing and Well-being in a Globalizing World funded by NWO-ESRC-ICSSR. He served as a Member of the Working Group that conceptualized the National Health Portal (NHP) under the direction of the National Knowledge Commission, India.
In 2011, he was awarded the ‘Jnana Fellowship’ by the Karnataka Knowledge Commission, Government of Karnataka. Prior to joining IIMB, he served as Dean-Academics and Associate Professor at IIHMR, Bangalore, as Associate Professor of Public Health at the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS), Bangalore, as Senior Resident and Lead Manager – Health Informatics Research at St. John’s Research Institute (SJRI) and has consulted as a technical expert for multilateral agencies including UNICEF and the World Bank in India.
Accomplishments
Prof. Ugargol’s interdisciplinary research forays blend quantitative and interpretive approaches in understanding the implications of the demographic and epidemiological transition - longevity, migration, urbanization, primary healthcare, universal health coverage and the dynamics of longevity across work, employment and society. His research has been published in several noteworthy journals including the BMJ, Social Indicators Research Journal, The Lancet Regional Health – Southeast Asia, Ageing and Society, Asian Population Studies, BMJ Open, and Ageing International. He has also published several commissioned chapters.
Selected Journal Articles:
- Annadurai, G., Ugargol, A.P. & Puri, P (2026). Safer among their own Caste? Everyday Discrimination and Mental Health among Community-dwelling Older Adults in Rural India. Soc Indic Res 183, 5. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-026-03851-7.
- Vijayan, A., Swain, A. & Ugargol, A.P. Augmenting primary care through family medicine-orientation of community health officers in India. J Public Health Pol 47, 113–123 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41271-025-00616-3.
- Rani, V., Ugargol, A.P. (2026). Sanctuary in Numbers or Security in Personal Income? Decoupling the Effects of Financial Independence and Family Size on the Mental Health of Older Adults. Economic and Political Weekly. Ageing Health and Social Security. 61, 9. https://doi.org/10.71279/epw.v61i9.48493
- Ugargol, A.P., Swain, A. & Sivaramakrishnan, K (2026). Evidence-led pathways adapting life course approaches to healthy ageing. J. Soc. Econ. Dev. 28, 298–313. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40847-025-00428-x.
- Rawat, R., Mukherjee, S., Ugargol, A.P. et al (2026). Silver linings for the silver economy: institutional and entrepreneurial responses to healthy ageing and long-term care in India. J. Soc. Econ. Dev. 28, 254–284. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40847-024-00411-y.
- Ugargol, A.P., Mukherji, A, Tiwari R (2023). In search of a fix to the primary health care chasm in India: Can institutionalizing a public health cadre and inducting family physicians be the answer?’ The Lancet Regional Health – Southeast Asia. 13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lansea.2023.100197.
- Ugargol, A. P., & Bailey, A. (2021). Reciprocity between older adults and their care-givers in emigrant households of Kerala, India. Ageing & Society, 41(8), 1699-1725.
- Ugargol, A. P., & Bailey, A. (2018). Family caregiving for older adults: gendered roles and caregiver burden in emigrant households of Kerala, India. Asian Population Studies, 14(2), 194-210.
- Ugargol, A. P., Hutter, I., James, K. S., & Bailey, A. (2016). Care Needs and Caregivers: Associations and Effects of Living Arrangements on Caregiving to Older Adults in India. Ageing International, 41(2), 193-213.
- Sood, N., Ugargol, A. P., Barnes, K. and Mahajan, A., (2016). Applying appropriate-use criteria to cardiac revascularisation in India. BMJ Open, 6(3), p.e010345.
- Raj, T.D.S., Sarah, T., Dhinagaran, D. & Ugargol, A. P. (2013), Design, Development and Implementation of a Touch-Screen Health Information Kiosk for Patients at the Outpatient Waiting Area in a Large Tertiary Care Hospital in India: An Evaluation of User Satisfaction, Journal of Health Informatics in Developing Countries, Vol. 7 No. 1, pp. 8-13.
- Ugargol, A. P., Doshi R, & Basu M. After The Tsunami. BMJ 2007; 335: 0712440.
Published Books / Chapters in Edited Books:
- Ugargol, A.P., D’Souza, P.M. (2024). Addressing Ageism in Healthcare: Insights for an Age-Inclusive Longevity Society. In: Handbook of Aging, Health and Public Policy: Perspectives from Asia. Springer, Singapore. Pp 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1914-4_234-1.
- Ugargol, A. P., & Poladi, S. (2024). Aging, Ageism, and Climate Change: From Climate Anxiety to Climate Hope Through Multigenerational Solidarity. In Handbook of Aging, Health and Public Policy: Perspectives from Asia (pp. 1-20). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1914-4_235-1.
- Ugargol, A.P. & Harshith PD (2024). Ageism and Ableism - Entwined, Intertwined, or Disparate: A Critical Discourse Analysis, In: Handbook of Aging, Health and Public Policy: Perspectives from Asia. Springer, Singapore, pp 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1914-4_233-1
- Ugargol, A.P., Bailey, A., Hutter, I., James, K.S. (2023). The Changing Nature of Home-Based Care for Older Adults in Goa’s Emigrant Households: Implications for Policy and Practice. In: Handbook of Aging, Health and Public Policy: Perspectives from Asia. Springer, Singapore. https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-981-16-1914-4_172-1.
- Ugargol, A.P., Nair, V.S. (2023). Intersectionality and Cumulative Disadvantage in Access to Healthcare for Older Adults in India. In: Handbook of Aging, Health and Public Policy: Perspectives from Asia. Springer, Singapore. Pp 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1914-4_236-1.
- Ugargol, A.P., Parvathy, L. (2023). Precarity of Informal Work, Absence of Social Security, and Ageism: The Persistence of Social Inequalities and Challenges for Older Adults’ Labor Force Participation in India. In: Handbook of Aging, Health and Public Policy: Perspectives from Asia. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1914-4_173-2.
- Ugargol, A.P., Kashyap, G.C., & Shaw, S. (2023). Exploring the Influence of Work, Retirement, and Pensions on the Self-Reported Health of Older Adults in India. In: Handbook of Aging, Health and Public Policy: Perspectives from Asia. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1914-4_172-1.
- Ugargol, A. P., Bailey, A., Hutter, I., & James, K. S. (2022). Care arrangements for older adults: exploring the intergenerational contract in emigrant households of Goa, India. In Care for Older Adults in India (pp. 86-117). Policy Press. https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/edcollchap/book/9781447357414/ch006.xml
- Ugargol, A. P. (2018). Medical Practitioner Series - Management of Common Oral and Dental Conditions, (2018; vol. VIII). Printed by Karnataka Medical Council, Bangalore, Karnataka, India (Chapter in Book). http://www.karnatakamedicalcouncil.com/KMCPublication.aspx
- Health Economics: Theory and Practice in Fragmented Markets (PGP)
- Foundations of Development Economics (PGP)
- Business, Government and Society (PGP)
- Demographic Change, Ageing and Urbanization (PhD)
- 2025- Member of the WHO’s Working Group on focused on ageing trajectories and transitions using longitudinal data across the life course & Member of WHO’s B5 Working Group tracking real time data to measure person-centered outcomes for all life stages across the life course, Geneva, Switzerland.
- 2025-: Invited Member of policy development committee under SJE vertical on ‘Senior Citizen Zones’, NITI Aayog (Social Justice and Empowerment).
- 2024-: Nominated to Expert Committee under Karnataka Private Medical Establishment (KPME) Rules, Government of Karnataka
- 2024-: Member, EPGP Program Committee, IIM Bangalore
- 2024-2027: Appointed to the Academic Council of the Institute for Health Management Research (IIHMR), Bangalore.
- 2023-: Appointed to the Editorial Board of Journal of Global Ageing (JoGA), British Society of Gerontology.
- 2022-2024 : Chairperson, Postgraduate Program in Enterprise Management (PGPEM), IIM Bangalore
- 2022- : Member, Institutional Research Ethics Committee at the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bengaluru
- 2022- : Member, Institutional Review Board, Institute of Health Management Research Bangalore (IIHMR-B)
- 2021- : Member of Academic Council, Karnataka State Rural Development and Panchayat Raj University (KSRDPRU), Gadag, Karnataka, India
- 2019- : Member, Board of Studies for the Master of Public Health (MPH) Programme at the Karnataka State Rural Development and Panchayat Raj University (KSRDPRU), Gadag, Karnataka, India.
- 2019- : Chairperson, Board of Examiners (2019-) on the Master of Public Health (MPH) Programme for Karnataka State Rural Development and Panchayat Raj University (KSRDPRU), Gadag, Karnataka, India
- 2014: Member of the NSQF Technical Advisory Committee for Healthcare, Government of Karnataka on Skills Development
- 2010-11: Member of the Working Group from St. John’s Research Institute (SJRI) that conceptualized the National Health Portal (NHP) under the National Knowledge Commission (NKC), Government of India
Dr. Ugargol has consulted as a technical expert for multilateral agencies such as UNICEF and the World Bank in India and as a public health expert for international and national non-profit social sector organizations in India.
- PhD, Demography, University of Groningen (RUG), The Netherlands
- Fellowship in Health Informatics, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom
- MPH, Public Health, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, India
- BDS, Dental Surgery, M.R. Ambedkar Dental College & Hospital, Bangalore University, India
- 2023: Awarded the distinguished ‘Yusuf Hamied Fellowship 2022-23’ and invited as Visiting Fellow to the Columbia Aging Center at the Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health
- 2022: Awarded the prestigious Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Prof. Surindar Mohan Marwah Award for 2020 for sustained and significant research on Ageing and Geriatrics in India
- 2012-2016: Awarded the Ubbo Emmius PhD Fellowship, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
- 2012: Awarded the Jnana Fellowship by the Karnataka Knowledge Commission, Government of Karnataka
- 2005: Awarded Fellowship in Health Informatics, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), London, United Kingdom
- 2005: Awarded Visiting Research Fellowship, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), London, United Kingdom