Dr. Sarker is a Professor and Acting Dean at the James P. Grant School of Public Health at BRAC University, Bangladesh. She is a Bangladeshi physician with a Master's in Public Health (MPH) from Harvard University and a PhD in Public Health from University of Heidelberg, Germany. She has been a Population Council Fellow and Fogarty Fellow at the University of Alabama, USA.
After medical school, Dr. Sarker worked as a community-based reproductive health programmer at the Marie Stopes Clinic Society, an international organization in Bangladesh. In 1992, she joined the BRAC health program as a Junior Consultant, and was later promoted to Zonal Health Manager. In 2001, she joined the Institute of Public Health (IPH) at the University of Heidelberg as a Researcher, and was later promoted to Senior Lecturer. Since her appointment at IPH, she has conducted research on prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV, and quality of maternal care in several Sub Saharan African countries.
In July 2011, Dr. Sarker was appointed as a Professor at BRAC University. She also currently holds the position of Adjunct Faculty at the Institute of Public Health, Heidelberg University. She has published in several international peer-reviewed journals, authored book chapters, and specializes in mixed-methods research. Dr. Sarker has taught on four continents, with a focus on reproductive health, monitoring & evaluation, and research methodology. Her scholarly interests include impact evaluation, universal health coverage with minimal economic compromise and the role of Information Communications Technology (ICT) in improving health information systems.
