Dr. Raman Preet is a global health professional, trained as a dentist specializing in dental public health and public health. Her more than 25 years of work experience traverse that of a clinical dentist, global health educator, researcher, and research coordinator. She calls herself a ‘Global Health Optimist’.
At Umeå University, Sweden, Raman is a Senior Research Manager and Equal Opportunities Officer, based at the Department of Epidemiology and Global Health. Here she is an expert on the grants funded by the European Union facilitating from the pre-award stage of the proposal writing to post-award implementation and concluding them as successful projects. Having coordinated many EU projects ranging from social determinants of health, infectious diseases, and climate change while collaborating with multidisciplinary, multicultural, and multilingual research groups in the global north and south, Raman champions inclusiveness.
As a motivated professional with an impact-driven focus, Raman is committed to influencing diverse stakeholders to engage with positivity for the betterment of our people and planet’s health. For more than 15 years, Raman has taught various aspects of global health focusing on what it is and why it matters to medical students, longest serving in Sweden. To the dental and public health students, she introduces global oral health and the need for collaboration and communication in public health. Raman is a member of the Swedish Society of Medicine’s Committee on Global Health. She is acknowledged as a notable global health professional by the ‘Women in Global Health’ Sweden Chapter.
Raman worked as a dentist in India before coming to Sweden. After moving on from working in clinical dentistry, she started research and advocated for the inclusion of oral health in general health which led her to serve as one of the informal experts working for the WHO’s Global Oral Health Action Plan. She works as an expert evaluator for the WHO TDR and EU Commission. She provides consultancy as a specialist for gender aspects in infectious diseases. She lectures internationally as an invited keynote/plenary speaker. She is an academic board member of The International Institution of Knowledge Management, Sri Lanka, where she facilitates organizing public health conferences to strengthen the scientific dissemination culture in the global south.
Raman was born, raised, and educated in north India, in the state of Punjab. She moved to Umeå/Sweden in late 2005 and studied for master’s degrees in the UK and Sweden. She loves singing (Hindi and Punjabi) songs, cooking food, walking, and enjoys conversations about life. She calls Umeå home now where she lives with her husband and one daughter.
The Medical Faculty of Umeå University awarded Raman the Equal Opportunity award for 2023. Most recently, Raman took the Leadership Executive Education from the Harvard Kennedy School.