Dr. A.K. Nandakumar is a Professor of the Practice at Brandeis University, where he is the Director of the PhD Program at the Heller School of Social Policy and Director of the Institute for Global Health and Development. In 2021, Dr. Nandakumar was appointed as the first Chief Economist at the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator. Prior to that, he served for four years as the first Chief Economist for the Global Health Bureau at USAID.

Dr. Nandakumar is an internationally recognized health-financing expert, known specifically for his work in resource tracking, health financing, and health care policy and research. A former Indian Administrative Service Officer, his thinking is framed around the importance of governance: driven by the need for greater accountability and arising from limited resources and a growing demand to demonstrate results. After leaving the Indian Administrative Service, he was an Assistant Professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, a Principal Associate with Abt Associates, and a Senior Health Economist with RTI International. At the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, he served as Senior Program Officer, assisting in the development of the Global Health Delivery Area strategy, India strategy, and represented the Foundation in international working groups. Dr. Nandakumar also worked as a Director in the Emerging Markets Group at Deloitte Consulting.

Dr. Nandakumar earned a Master of Science, Mathematics from Bangalore University and a PhD in health economics from Boston University.