Vinayak Bhardwaj is the executive director of Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) Africa, at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. He oversees the strategic and technical components of J-PAL Africa's work, and fosters relationships and partnerships with policymakers.
Vinayak was previously a senior health economist at University of Witwatersrand and served in various capacities including policy advocacy to the South African government at Médecins Sans Frontières.
Vinayak holds a master's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Cape Town and a master's and doctoral degree in public health, with a focus on statistics and health economics, from Johns Hopkins University.