After a long and successful career as a scientist and entrepreneur in the pharmaceutical industry in the United States, Dr. Seema Handu has shifted her focus to Global Health, specifically working on issues of Maternal and Child Health in India. She has been working with PRONTO International and University of California, San Francisco to provide obstetric and neonatal emergency solutions in the states of Bihar and UP. The programs are run in collaboration with CARE India (Bihar) and University of Manitoba (UP) in partnership with the State Ministries of Health and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. 

Dr. Handu’s focus has been on building the capacity of the local government staff (nurses and doctors) working in the public health system. As part of capacity building, Dr. Handu envisions changing the work culture and introducing empathy and respectful maternity care in the system, thus improving the quality of care that is provided to the women who come to deliver their babies in the public facilities. Dr. Handu has worked extensively with several nonprofits on their global health programs in India, Nepal, Ethiopia, and Fiji.