Praveen Raja named chief operating officer for PATH; Jeff Bernson to lead Technology, Analytics and Market Innovation

Media contact: Kate Davidson | media@path.org

PATH has named Praveen Raja as its chief operating officer, and Jeff Bernson as vice president of the Technology, Analytics and Market Innovation division and chief data officer. Mr. Raja will continue to be based in the organization’s Seattle headquarters, while Mr. Bernson will be based in Nairobi, Kenya, until transitioning to Seattle in July 2019.

In addition to leading PATH’s global operations functions, Mr. Raja will play a leading role as an institutional officer guiding business development strategy. Mr. Raja draws on decades of expertise in driving business and operational excellence in leadership positions at organizations across the technology, health, and academic sectors, including the University of California, Los Angeles, Kaiser Permanente, Johnson & Johnson, Amgen, and several startup companies.

In his role at Johnson & Johnson, Mr. Raja served on the management team for a $3 billion global medical device business. In response to a challenging business environment, he helped implement new strategies for growth, driving efficiencies and consolidating operations. Mr. Raja also co-founded a medical software company that retooled its offshore operations to increase its product pipeline and lower costs, while investing in sales and marketing and other US-based capabilities to accelerate business development. In addition, Mr. Raja co-founded a successful nonprofit organization that has developed its first full K-12 school for 300+ underserved children in a rural area outside Bangalore, India.

Mr. Raja joined PATH in August 2017 as vice president of Technology, Analytics and Market Innovation. In this role, he led PATH’s technology development, commercialization, and market innovation functions, encompassing diagnostics, medical devices, data and analytics, and digital products. Simultaneously, Mr. Raja oversaw PATH’s global innovation hub in India and Impact Lab in South Africa.

“Praveen has demonstrated the type of focused, strategic, and adaptable leadership at PATH that fully leverages our capabilities and helps us build for a strong future,” said PATH CEO Steve Davis. “I’m extremely grateful for the work Praveen and his team have done in setting up our Technology, Analytics and Market Innovation division to achieve long-term success, and am excited to continue working together to improve PATH’s global operations in his new role as COO.”

Dr. Raja holds a PhD in clinical psychology (behavioral medicine) from the University of California, Los Angeles.

PATH is also pleased to announce that Jeff Bernson has been appointed vice president of the Technology, Analytics and Market Innovation division, in addition to his current role of chief data officer.

Mr. Bernson joined PATH in 2008 and brings more than 18 years of experience in designing and implementing programs, products, tools, and systems that measure and improve evidence-based decision-making by health service delivery practitioners working in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. As chief data officer, he assists the organization in curating and using data as an asset to shape more efficient operations and impactful projects. Mr. Bernson has promoted the relentless use of visual analytics, dashboards, and data products to improve project management, measurement, research, and knowledge management standards and practices across PATH’s global projects and operations.

Mr. Bernson has assembled cross-functional teams made up of disease specialists, policy experts, data engineers, visualization experts, methodologists, statisticians, storytellers, researchers, and technologists to solve some of the most vexing global health challenges. He designs projects that integrate data and digital products and capacity interventions into national and global health systems and promotes the use of data for decision-making across multiple health areas, including reproductive health, HIV prevention, and malaria elimination in Kenya and Zambia. Mr. Bernson has also led the creation of private-sector partnerships with the digital and data tech sectors that have led to award-winning programs in malaria elimination.

“Jeff has been at the forefront of deepening PATH’s relationships with our partners in the technology industry and developing data about our strategic partnerships with companies across the globe,” said Mr. Raja. “His passion, creativity, and experience will help us continue to lead partnerships across sectors and borders to deliver measurable and sustainable impact in global health.”

Before coming to PATH, Mr. Bernson designed, implemented, and evaluated programs focused on behavior change communication, HIV/AIDS, family planning, and capacity-building at Chemonics and the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs.

Mr. Bernson earned his MPH and MPA from the University of Washington in Seattle.