Resume

Dr. Varuna Srinivasan is a physician by training with a degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University. With a strong focus on gender and sexuality, her work emphasizes the importance of understanding how social constructs impact individual rights and access to healthcare. Through her roles in academic settings and prominent forums, Dr. Srinivasan actively champions feminist causes and promotes the need for health systems to be more effective for all bodies. 

EDUCATION

  • Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery, SRM Medical College, India,  2015

  • MPH, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA, 2018

CURRENT PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 

  • High Maintenance (Releasing April 2027 with Harper Collins): Non-fiction book delivering an intersectional framework for personalized health and inclusive self-care for all people.

  • Co-founder, Fluid Health: A research collective examining how sex and gender shape medicine, healthcare systems, and lived health outcomes.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

  • “Women in Coffee: Rwanda” Photo Essay, Global Health 50/50: Selected among 20 works worldwide for the This is Gender exhibition at University College London, documenting women coffee workers’ daily rituals & collective care practices in Rwanda.

  • Resident Columnist, Allure Magazine: Monthly editorial series on inclusive sexual health, blending medical insight with lived experience from real people, with 30 published articles including interviews from 100 women across the world. 

  • Asian American Abortion Toolkit, Planned Parenthood Federation of America: Conceptualized and developed the first culturally tailored abortion resource for Asian American communities, with New York based advocacy group, South Asian SOAR, translated into 20 Asian languages.

  • Women’s Mental Health Conference, Yale University: Co-led conference between 2021-2023, curating panels and discussions on gender, mental health, and systemic inequities in care.

  • Parents Magazine, Expert Review Board Member, reviewed content for topic-level accuracy regarding sexuality & LGBTQ+ health for credibility, and comprehensiveness making sure the very best, unbiased parenting information gets into the hands of millions of users and helps create impactful, positive change. (2021–2025)

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 

Health Media and Communications Consultant, New York City‍ ‍ Jun 2019 – Present

Varuna Srinivasan, LLC

  • Creative communications and digital campaigning consultant for Ibis Reproductive Health, Lululemon, Bumble, Circles International, Too Young to Wed.

  • Published writer on intersectional feminism, reproductive health, gender & sexuality. Words as seen in Washington Post, Health Magazine, Parents Magazine, Paper Magazine, Good Trade, Well and Good, Inverse, and Giddy.

  • Recognized by Serena Williams for efforts in sexual health in the South Asian community with work also featured in Vogue, Elle, Cosmopolitan and Business Insider. 

Planned Parenthood Federation of America, New York City‍ ‍ Jun 2022 – Jun 2023

Associate Director, Communications, Health Media

  • Developed several 4 health campaigns to shape factual narratives around sexual and reproductive health while broadening Planned Parenthood’s brand awareness.

  • Staffed 60 multimedia requests with various national and international publications focused on covering reproductive healthcare and the current state of play in the US. 

  • Created Planned Parenthood’s first resource messaging guidance for South Asian communities translated into 20 languages through collaboration with the multiple stakeholders and South Asian SOAR, a national reproductive rights collective.

  • Co-led communication strategy for SXSW 2023, creating messaging guidance, talking points for spokespeople on panels and staffing people for various media opportunities

Women’s Mental Health Conference at Yale, New Haven, CT‍ ‍ Aug 209 – Apr 2023

Co-Chair 

  • Co-organized 4 conferences attended by 1000+ attendees while managing a team of 15. 

  • Oversaw a budget of over $100,000, coordinated educational programming for attendees, and implemented short and long-term communications strategy, and brand partnerships. 

  • Interviewed world-renowned feminist keynote speakers such as Dominique Jackson, Roxane Gay, Tarana Burke, and Eve Ensler. 

National Center for Health Research, Washington D.C. Jul 2018 – June 2019

Senior Fellow 

  • Managed media relations and press, interacting with 20+ media and news outlets from both the US & Canada disseminating essential and relevant health information. 

  • Authored advisories, letters to the editor, fact sheets, and briefings which I delivered testimonies at several health advocacy meetings hosted by the FDA and the US Preventive Services Task Force. 

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Chhattisgarh, India Nov 2015 – Apr 2016

Medical Doctor 

  • Worked as a Medical Doctor with MSF Holland in Bijapur, Chhattisgarh, in a Maternal and Child health clinic where I conducted deliveries, managed obstetric emergencies, as well as pediatric inpatient and outpatient departments. 

LECTURES 

  • 2024, Talk at Uber UBER ERG members, and leadership across Europe and Asia, Beyond the Rainbow: Unveiling the Many Identities of the LGBTQ+ Workforce. 

  • 2023, Guest Lecture for NYU Undergraduate Sex Matters Course, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Minor on Exploring the foundations of patriarchy: Reproductive Labour and Subjugation of Women Across Cultures.

  • 2023, Fireside Chat at Yale, Women’s Mental Health Conference, with Esmé Weijun Wang on Gender, Mental Health, Ableism and Spirituality.

  • 2021, Talk at Lululemon South Asian x LGBT ERG Panel, What is the Culture Cost of Coming Out?

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

  • 'Woman of Courage' title by Serena Williams with a Vogue Magazine feature in partnership with Bumble for my work in advancing sexual health in South Asian communities. 

  • One of 26 changemakers featured on Cosmopolitan India’s 26th anniversary cover issue for contribution towards LGBTQ+ rights in India. 

  • TEDx speaker at Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women, South Asia’s only engineering college for women. 

  • NHS UK Sexual Health Awards ‘Journalist of the Year’ Nominee.  

  • 'Women in Coffee: Rwanda' Photo Essay among 20 pieces of work selected from around the world by the Global Health 50/50 "This is Gender" exhibited at University College London. 

COMPLETE LIST OF ARTICLES & PUBLICATIONS 

Allure Sex Column “Doing It”:

Other journalistic articles  

Articles Medically Reviewed for Expert Review Board, Parents Magazine 

PRESS

Features

Podcasts