Dr. Ghanshyam Gautam is a health economist with more than 20 years of experience in health policy and systems reform, social protection, evidence-based planning, and capacity development. His expertise spans policy and strategic reform, health systems strengthening, health financing and universal health coverage, social protection, and system and policy research. He is currently Lead—Health Economics, Systems and Social Protection at HERD International, contributing to multi-institutional projects, and in 2023 he was elected Secretary of the Nepal Health Economics Association.

Across his career, Dr. Gautam has provided technical assistance to governments, international organizations, and bilateral and multilateral agencies on health policy and strategy, health financing, UHC, social protection, and resource tracking. His experience includes embedded support to health ministries in Nepal and internationally, leading the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) for the health sector, and consulting for a wide range of national and global partners. He has played a key role in strengthening governance, policy, and legal frameworks during Nepal’s transition to federalism; supported national health insurance design and implementation while working with GIZ in Nepal; and contributed to health financing reforms, resource tracking, and health systems research for USAID-funded work in Afghanistan. He also manages HERD International’s business and partnership portfolio.