Prativa Baral

Dr. Prativa Baral is an epidemiologist, global health scholar, and science communicator working at the intersection of research, policy, and strategy around health emergencies.

She is an Assistant Professor at McGill University’s School of Population and Global Health and a Faculty Associate at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her primary interests are centered on strengthening systems to respond more effectively to crises, focusing on emergency preparedness, health systems resilience, and misinformation and effective communication in crisis leadership. She has led research and strategy efforts across a range of global and domestic initiatives, often working at the nexus of evidence, policy, and implementation to improve real-time decision-making during public health emergencies. She is also the co-founder of Let Science Connect, a consultancy that trains researchers and technical experts to communicate their work more effectively across sectors and to the public. 

Dr. Baral has advised and collaborated with leading global institutions, including the World Health Organization, OpenAI, the United Nations, World Bank, Gates Foundation, the Global Pandemic Monitoring Board, and the Canadian COVID-19 Immunity Task Force, shaping global health research and policy at both domestic and international levels. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she played a key role in Canada’s national response, both as a trusted voice in the media and through her contributions to the Canadian COVID-19 Immunity Task Force. She also most recently served as Secretariat Lead for the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences’ expert panel on Canada’s role in global health, helping shape national recommendations and high-level policy discussions.

Dr. Baral has received several prestigious honours, including the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholarship, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Doctoral Foreign Student Award, and induction into Delta Omega Alpha, the US national public health honour society. In recognition of her excellence in public health and science communication, she was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal in 2025, a national distinction celebrating Canadians who have made significant contributions to the country.

Prativa holds a PhD in International Health from Johns Hopkins University, an MPH in Epidemiology from Columbia University, and a BSc from McGill University.