Prarthna Desai

Director, Health & Life Sciences
Gates Ventures
Prarthna Desai, Director, Health & Life Sciences, Gates Ventures
Prarthna Desai is a Director on the Health and Life Sciences team at Gates Ventures, the private office of Mr. Bill Gates. In 2017, Prarthna was named as one of Forbes’ 30 under 30 in Healthcare for her work as Zipline’s Health Operations Lead in Rwanda, where she led efforts to integrate the medicine-delivery-by-drone service with the country’s healthcare system. She also worked as a research assistant for Dr. Donald Kaberuka, former President of the African Development Bank and Minister of Finance in Rwanda. At the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), Prarthna vetted opportunities to expand the organization’s reach into new markets. She began her career as a management consultant at Bain & Company. Prarthna holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MPP from Harvard Kennedy School, and dual SB degrees in Materials Science & Engineering and Political Science from MIT.
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