Tina D. Purnat

New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene | New York, NY

Addressing information ecosystems as social determinants of health

Tina D. Purnat is a Doctor of Public Health candidate and Prajna Leadership Fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. With over two decades of international experience, she has led major initiatives at the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, and in academic and policy settings to modernize how public health systems use data, technology, and evidence.

Tina’s work focuses on strengthening public health systems and shaping policies that are adaptive, data-informed, and grounded in a deep understanding of societal context. She has been at the forefront of integrating digital innovation into public health infrastructure, and has consistently worked at the intersection of technology, policy, and systems innovation.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, she helped craft WHO’s global approach to managing infodemics in the modern digital information ecosystem, ensuring public health institutions could respond to the deluge of health information, questions and concerns with clarity, credibility, and coordination.

Tina serves as Vice President of the Global Health Section of the European Public Health Association (EUPHA), is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Digital Health, and sits on the editorial boards of JMIR Infodemiology and BMC Public Health. Her contributions span digital public health, health systems strengthening, pandemic preparedness, and public sector transformation.

Across her work, Tina is driven by a commitment to building resilient, people-centered systems that are equipped with the policies, tools, and technologies needed to meet today’s challenges—and anticipate tomorrow’s.