1. Summary:
- Work experience
Professor, Head Of Unit (Social & Cultural Dimensions Of Health Systems), Nossal Institute for Global Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Australia [2018 – Current].
Senior Advisor, Head Of Unit (Global Health Education), KIT Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands [2008-2017].
Senior Technical Officer, National Capacity Building Team, Family Health International (FHI), India [2006-2008].
Post-Doctoral Position: Research Team Leader, Institute of Global Health, University of California San Francisco (UCSF); Mumbai for an NIH research grant, a Randomised Control Trial of a behavioural intervention for HIV prevention amongst men in India [2004-2005].
Specialty/Doctoral Trainee; Resident Clinician, Department of Dermatology & Venereology; LTMM Medical College, Mumbai, India [2002-2004].
In-charge of Clinical and VCT Services at ‘The Humsafar Trust’, in Mumbai. The trust is a CBO working with the LGBTI community (largest CBO in South Asia) [2002-2005].
General Duty Medical Officer; Primary Care Physician, at different levels of the health system, in public and private services, in India [1997-2002].

- Positions, scientific ranks, and titles
Professorial Fellow, Centre For Health Policy & Systems, Gokhale Institute Of Politics And Economics, Pune, India
Professor, National Council For Applied Economic Research, New Delhi, India
Member - Scientific Working Group, WHO Kobe Centre For Health Development, Kobe, Japan.
Member - Consortium Advisory Group for CHORUS: Multi-country Consortium For Research On Urban Health.
Member – Scientific Investigators Group, The Lancet Citizens’ Commission, India.
Co-Founder (with collaborators at University Of Toronto): Multi-disciplinary Collaborative on Implementation Science for Universal Health Coverage.
Core Faculty: India Health Policy & Systems Research Fellowship Program.
Chair of Board of Studies, Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam (For MPH and MIH – 2010-2017)
Member of Examination Board (For: Master of Public Health; Master of International Health), Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), Amsterdam (2012-2017).
 

2. Main research and teaching directions
Professor Kane’s expertise is in Health Systems Research and Implementation Research on questions of equity, quality, and responsiveness of health systems in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC). His research is informed by theoretical insights from across the social sciences and by his experience of having worked as a healthcare provider at different levels of the health system, and as a public health practitioner in LMIC contexts. He has conducted studies on, the implementation of policies and regulations in Vietnam, India, and China, and the pathways to maximise the equity, effectiveness, and efficiency of close-to-community services provision in Asia and Africa. In India, Viet Nam, South Sudan, he has led research examining how social and gender norms shape health and care-seeking related decisions and actions of different groups. 

3. Research achievements:
- Main publications in international journals
Kane S. The Health Policy Process in Vietnam: Going Beyond Kingdon's Multiple Streams Theory; Comment on “Shaping the Health Policy Process in Vietnam”. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2016;4(11):741-766.
Samant M, Calnan M, Kane S. A critical analysis of newspaper accounts of violence against doctors in India. Soc Sci Med. 2024;340:116497. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116497
Mirzoev T, Kane S. What is health systems responsiveness? A review of existing knowledge and proposed conceptual framework. BMJ Global Heath. 2017 Oct. DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2017-000486
Kane S, Joshi M, Desai S, Mahal A, McPake B. People's care seeking journey for a chronic illness in rural India: Implications for policy and practice. Soc Sci Med. 2022 Nov; 312:115390.
Kane S, Joshi M, Mahal A, McPake B. How social norms and values shape household healthcare expenditures and resource allocation: Insights from India. Soc Sci Med. 2023;336:116286. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116286
Kane S, Jiang H, Tian Y, Mukhopadhyay M, Qian X Making effective referrals happen: a theory-informed policy analysis. Health Policy and Planning. 2021; 35(10): 1309-1317. doi:10.1093/heapol/czaa091
Mirzoev T, Kane S. Key strategies to improve systems for managing patient complaints within health facilities - what can we learn from the existing literature? Global Health Action. 2018; 11(1):1458938. doi: 10.1080/16549716.2018.1458938.
Calnan M, Kane S. Trust and regulation of health systems: Insights from India. In: Professional Health Regulation in the Public Interest: International Perspectives. Editors: Chamberlain JM, Saks M, Dent M. The Policy Press, University of Bristol. 2018. URL: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1xxs5q.19 [Independently Peer Reviewed]
Kane S, Ormel H, Kok M, Taegtmeyer M, Theobald S, Otiso L, Korrie de Koning. Limits and Opportunities to Community Health Worker Empowerment: A multi-country comparative study. Social Science & Medicine. 2016; 164: 27–34.
Santosh S, Kane S. Extending Kingdon's Multiple Streams Policy Framework Through an Analysis of How Community Health Workers in India Are Driving Policy Changes. Community Health Equity Res Policy.2023. doi:10.1177/2752535X231222654
Lakin K, Kane S. A critical interpretive synthesis of migrants' experiences of the Australian health system. Int J Equity Health. 2023;22(1):7. Published 2023 Jan 9.
Lakin K, Kane S. What can one legitimately expect from a health system? A conceptual analysis and a proposal for research and action. BMJ Glob Health. 2023;8(7):e012453. doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2023-012453
Lakin K, Ha DT, Mirzoev T, Ha BTT, Agyepong IA, Kane S. "We can't expect much": Childbearing women's 'horizon of expectations' of the health system in rural Vietnam. Health Place. 2024;85:103166. doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.103166
Do TTH, Bui QTT, Ha BTT, et al. Using the WHO Self-Reporting Questionnaire-20 (SRQ-20) to Detect Symptoms of Common Mental Disorders among Pregnant Women in Vietnam: a Validation Study. Int J Womens Health. 2023;15:599-609. Published 2023 Apr 14. doi:10.2147/IJWH.S404993
Calnan M, Kane S. Trust and regulation of health systems: Insights from India. In: Professional Health Regulation in the Public Interest: International Perspectives. Editors: Chamberlain JM, Saks M, Dent M. The Policy Press, University of Bristol. 2018. URL: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1xxs5q.19

- Highlight project topics hosted/participated (abroad, in Vietnam)
Study title: Tobacco Free Cities (2024-2028). Researching approaches to loosening implementation constraints to policies prohibiting smoking in public places in Vietnam, Bangladesh, Pakistan. Role: Co-principal Investigator; Summary: This study involves a critical examination of approaches to loosening implementation constraints to policies prohibiting smoking in public places in low- and middle-income countries.
Study title: rTribe (2024-2027). Making the health system responsive to the needs of indigenous communities in India. Role: Co-Principal Investigator. Summary: Informed by critical social theory, this study will co-produce a practice model for a health system responsive to the needs of indigenous communities in India and beyond.
Study title: Enhancing responsiveness of health systems in Vietnam and Ghana (RESPONSE) (2020-2025). Role: Co- Principal Investigator, and Joint Lead. Summary: The RESPONSE study which aims to inform improvements to responsiveness of health systems. Using a theory driven inquiry approach examines how relational arrangements between people, between people and organisations, between organisations, shape service delivery and the care experience. The study is funded by the Joint Health Systems Research Initiative, Medical Research Council UK.
Study title: A critical examination of Urban Community Health Worker programs in LMICs. Role: Principal Investigator. Summary: This study involves a critical examination of Urban Community Health Worker programs using an urban sociology lens. Case studies in India and Vietnam.
Study title: Collaboration on One Health Economics Research for Systems (COHERES) (2019-2022). Sites: Cambodia (Vietnam and Lao PDR to follow). Role: Co- Investigator. Summary: The COHERES study will identify synergies, disconnects and contradictions with a view to improve the effectiveness of regulations, and to enhance the workplace experience and performance of workers across health, veterinary and agricultural systems. Within COHERES, I lead an analysis of the implementation of policies and regulations to unpack how various actors experience the regulatory apparatuses across human health and agricultural systems.
Study title: HESVIC – Health Stewardship in Vietnam, India & China (Consortium partners: Hanoi School of Public Health, Fudan University, IPH India, ITM Antwerp, NCIHD University of Leeds, KIT) (2009-2012). Role: Co-Investigator. Summary: Study analysing the implementation of maternal health policies in Vietnam, India, China.
Study title: Trust Relations in Health Systems: Case study research in LMICs. Role: Principal Investigator; Collaborators: Prof. Michael Calnan, University of Kent, UK (Co- Principal Investigator); Prof. Anjali Radkar, Gokhale Institute of Politics & Economics, Pune, India. Summary: The study entails a sociological analysis of trust relations within the health system, with a view to understand the nature and salience of these relations; it seeks to identify opportunities and entry points to rebuild trust.
Study title: REACHOUT: Funded by the European Commission Framework Program 7. Role: Co-Investigator. I played a key role in conceptualizing the study and in developing the research proposal. Summary: The 8-country study examined the ways and means through which close-to-community (CTC) health services can support universal healthcare coverage in challenging circumstances.
Study title: Performance and motivation of community health workers in LMICs. Role: Principal Investigator; Co-Investigator: Prof. Anjali Radkar, Gokhale Institute of Politics & Economics, Pune, India. Summary: The study entailed a sociological analysis of the relations community health workers and other cadres with a view to provide insight into improving these relations and eventually improving health workers performance and health system responsiveness.

4. Collaboration activities at VNU-USSH:
- On-going projects funded by the University of Melbourne (2023-2026):
Sub-Project 1: Exploratory study of the current state of responsiveness of the health system to the unique needs of the elderly in Vietnam;
Sub-Project 2: Study to examine how ethnic minority communities navigate the Vietnamese health system;
Sub-Project 3: Exploratory study to develop a model for enhanced responsiveness of the health systems to the needs of ethnic minority communities
- Capacity building for USSH faculty staff on international publications;  
- Connecting training and scientific research cooperation with universities and scientific organizations around the world: organizing seminars, exchanging lecturers, helping students in internships; connecting lecturers and students to participate in international projects (in Vietnam and abroad).
5. Contact information:
Email: Sumit.Kane@unimelb.edu.au
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