Swagata Banik

Dr. Swagata Banik is dean of graduate studies & research as well as professor of public health and prevention science. He also serves as the director for the Center for Health Disparities Research and Education at BW.

Banik teaches introduction to public health, global health, health and social justice and urban health and disparities.

Banik’s research examines HIV/STI prevention and care needs among racial/ethnic, sexual and gender minorities nationally as well as internationally.

His research on HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STI) prevention has been supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institutes of Health (NIH), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and private foundations.

He is a principle investigator of a study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) that examines the nature, causes and manifestations of HIV stigma and transphobia among healthcare providers in India (R21-DA 033719-01).

His current project, which informs a stigma reduction intervention to promote HIV care access among gender minority populations in India, is the first project of this kind funded by NIH in international settings.In addition, Banik’s research explores community-based participatory research (CBPR) strategies in substance use prevention among vulnerable populations.

Banik also currently serves as a hub-PI of a project funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration in collaboration with Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) that recruits and trains students from under-represented communities for the primary care–related health profession.

Banik serves in a leadership capacity in several local and national non-profit and professional organizations. He serves on editorial boards of a number of public health-related journals. Banik has published several research articles, reports and book chapters and has presented his research in numerous national and international conferences.