Thoai Ngo directs the Population Council’s Global Poverty, Gender, and Youth (PGY) Program – a research and innovation program that seeks to understand and address the social dimensions of poverty, the causes and consequences of gender inequality, and the disparities and opportunities that arise early in life and in adolescence.  Ngo oversees efforts to develop and test innovative solutions, and scale up successful strategies to improve the well-being of adolescents and young people, accelerate positive demographic trends, and strengthen the resilience of vulnerable populations to adapt to environmental shocks and stressors. In 2017, together with a team at the Council, Ngo established the Girl Innovation, Research and Learning (GIRL) Center, which generates and translates high-quality evidence  on adolescents to support investments that transform their lives.

Ngo is an epidemiologist and evaluation specialist; his research has mainly focused on the intersections between gender, health, and poverty in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Primarily, he has been designing and testing the most effective, affordable, and innovative sexual and reproductive health (SRH) interventions, programs, and policies, including cash transfers, health financing, mHealth, social franchising, and task-sharing of health service delivery. Ngo’s research on the expansion of family planning and safe abortion has been well-cited and used to inform international and national guidelines, policies, and programs.  His work has helped to improve the delivery of high-quality SRH services to men, women, and young people around the world.