Dr. Purendra Prasad is a professor of sociology at the University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, Telangana. He has previously held positions at the Centre for Social Studies (CSS), Surat, and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. Dr. Prasad was a British Council grantee for medical anthropology research at Brunel University, West London, UK (1999-2000), and he also collaborated with the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), California Recovery and Reconnaissance team on the Bhuj Gujarat Earthquake in 2005. His research interests encompass critical agrarian studies, environmental studies, the political economy of health and development, and urban studies. His recent work investigates wealth accumulation and business elites in India as part of a broader research project on wealth inequalities in South Africa, Brazil, and India. Dr. Prasad has co-edited the book Equity and Access: Health Care Studies in India (Oxford University Press, 2018), and serves on the editorial advisory committee of the Sociological Bulletin. Additionally, he contributes to the academic and ethical advisory boards of various universities and institutions in India.
As Fulbright-Nehru Visiting Chair at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, Dr. Prasad is teaching and conducting research on how the intersection of caste/race, gender, and growing economic disparities shaped wealthy elites in India and the U.S.