Professor D. Prabhakaran is a cardiologist and epidemiologist by training. He is an internationally renowned researcher and is Distinguished Professor, Public Health Foundation of India, Executive Director of Centre for Chronic Disease Control, New Delhi, India and Professor (Epidemiology) London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. He heads the NIHR Centre for Global Health at PHFI. These centres conduct cutting edge research in the prevention of chronic diseases in India and the developing world.

His work spans from mechanistic research to understand the causes for increased propensity of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) among Indians, to developing solutions for CVD through translational research and human resource development. Prof. Prabhakaran is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, UK, Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India, Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy  and an Adjunct Professor at the Emory University. He is member of Executive Council of the International Society of Hypertension (ISH) and the International Society of CVD Epidemiology and Prevention (ISCEP). He has received funding from NHLBI, Wellcome Trust, European Commission and several other international and national funding bodies.  He has mentored over 50 post-doctoral and doctoral students so far. He has authored several chapters and over 700 scholarly papers with an H index of 110. Listed as the topmost researcher in Medicine in India terms of publications for the years 2009-2014 by Scopus and Department of Science & Technology, Government of India. He is the lead editor of the Cardiovascular Disease Volume of the latest Disease Control Priorities Project. He is the lead editor of Tandon’s text book of Cardiology a comprehensive book on Cardiology for Indian Cardiologists and Fellows. In recognition of his work in Chronic Diseases and Global Health he was conferred an Honorary Doctor Of Science by the Glasgow University.