Biography

Savvy Brar is a public health data specialist and Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) candidate at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, with over a decade of experience advancing data-driven decision-making in HIV, mental health, and adolescent health. She currently serves as a Statistics and Monitoring Specialist at UNICEF, where she leads global and country-level HIV data initiatives with a focus on pediatric and adolescent populations. Her work focuses on turning complex data into clear, decision-oriented insights that shape programs, inform global guidance, and support countries to improve service delivery. She has been closely involved in HIV estimates, subnational analytics, and strengthening the use of routine data systems, particularly in high-burden settings. Prior to UNICEF, Savvy worked with UNAIDS across sub-Saharan Africa, supporting governments and partners to strengthen data systems and use evidence to guide national HIV responses. Her current work emphasizes integrated analytics across HIV, sexual and reproductive health, and adolescent wellbeing, alongside a growing focus on how shifts in global financing are reshaping HIV programs. Her doctoral research focuses on understanding adolescent mental health in HIV-affected communities in South Africa, using a syndemics lens to examine how intersecting social, structural, and behavioral adversities shape mental health outcomes, with the aim of identifying policy-relevant pathways to improve equity and outcomes.