As the Network’s Executive Director, Dr. Vineeta Gupta oversees strategic planning, organizational growth and sustainability, partnerships, and programming. She is committed to advancing the Network’s mission to provide visionary leadership in the use of law to protect, promote and improve health and health equity. Dr. Gupta is a maternal and child health physician and human rights lawyer with three decades of experience in clinical and public health, health justice, and equity.
Before joining the Network, Dr. Gupta was Secretariat Director of the ACTION Global Health Advocacy Partnership where she headed the Secretariat team and facilitated a 15-member governing body spanning five continents. With health equity at the core of her work, Dr. Gupta led strategic communications, global program strategies, stakeholder engagement, and media advocacy. She developed and oversaw the planning, monitoring, learning, and evaluation processes for the partnership and engaged donors and sought business development opportunities to diversify the partnership’s funding portfolio.
Prior to ACTION, Dr. Gupta was director at the Global Health Advocacy Incubator, leading their work on Resolve to Save Lives. As Technical Director of Global Women’s Health at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and Senior Technical Advisor at University Research Co., she led projects globally to strengthen maternal and newborn capacity, integrate health equity into programs, improve quality of care, and build accountability platforms. In addition to having held senior positions at the Global Fund for Children, the Campaign on Microbicides, and the Global AIDS Alliance, Vineeta developed curriculum for Basic Emergency Obstetrics and Newborn Care for a USAID-funded project and has co-authored many capacity-building materials.
Her leadership on human rights issues includes her past role on the National Council for the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), one of India’s most well-known rights organizations, which involved research and investigation of numerous cases of rights violations and corruption. She was awarded the “Rotary Service to Humanity Award” in recognition of her work in human rights and advancing accountability.
As a leading global health expert and human rights advocate, Vineeta has conducted workshops on diversity, inclusion, and health disparities and has been invited to speak in over 60 universities in the U.S and Europe. She is widely covered in print and online media, including NPR, the Washington Post, The Economic Times, US News and World Report, FOX news, and CNN.
Fluent in four languages, Vineeta obtained a medical degree and a law degree in India and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a master’s degree in International Human Rights Law from Notre Dame University.
The universal themes of Spring: renewal, unity, and transformation, resonate deeply with our Network mission. Law itself can be transformative—both positively and negatively— so we were committed to joining other health advocates in signing on to an amicus brief in an important upcoming court case with the potential to negatively impact access to emergency medical care, including during pregnancy.
Network for Public Health Law Executive Director, Dr. Vineeta Gupta, explores the challenges and opportunities related to the new over-the-counter oral contraceptive Opill, including the potential for states to impose age-related restrictions on its purchase. Her perspective as a human rights lawyer and maternal health physician offers a comprehensive look at key areas to protect access to Opill.
“The year ahead is pivotal. The focus on public health has increasingly shifted to state legislatures, where ideological—rather than medical or scientific—considerations are shaping policies.” …
Before becoming a human rights activist, physician and lawyer, and a career that included leadership of projects and programs in over 30 countries, Dr. Gupta had her first advocacy win at age seven. Dr. Gupta shares insights from her remarkable journey in social justice, and how she gained a multifaceted perspective on the interplay between health, equity, social justice, and law and policy.
It is with great excitement and gratitude that I write to you as the new National Director of the Network for Public Health Law. I am taking on a role that was previously held by the brilliant Donna E. Levin, under whose leadership the Network has become an essential partner for public health. I feel extremely fortunate to join a team of eminent leaders and dedicated staff at the Network who are tireless in their pursuit of advancing law and policy that promotes public health and health equity.
