I am a nutritionist working towards addressing structural determinants of food and nutrition security in low and middle-income countries. My current work includes the design and evaluation of complex nutrition-sensitive agriculture programmes; and the development of methods and metrics to study multisectoral approaches to improve nutrition outcomes.
Prior to joining LSHTM, I was a Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), New Delhi and Washington DC. I have PhD in Food Policy and Applied Nutrition from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University.
Affiliations
Teaching
MSc in Nutrition for Global Health
Module Organizer: Fundamentals in Public Health Nutrition
Teaching on the following modules: Fundamentals in Public Health Nutrition, Maternal and Child Nutrition, Nutrition Related Chronic Diseases, and Nutrition Programme Planning
Chair, Exam Board for MSc in Nutrition for Global Health
Member of the MSc in Nutrition for Global Health Course Committee
Tutor to 3 students/year on average
Research
I am a nutritionist with research interests focusing on the intersection between agriculture/food systems, gender relations, and nutrition. My expertise spans methods and metrics in agriculture-nutrition research, program design, operations research and theory-based policy and program impact evaluation to inform policy investments for improved nutrition outcomes. In addition to the classic experimental and quasi-experimental methodologies, my scientific inquiry also draws from econometric methodologies and mixed methods.
II am the principal investigator of IMMANA (Innovative Methods and Metrics for Agriculture and Nutrition Actions), a FCDO-BMGF funded partnership to stimulate the development and application of scientifically sound methods and metrics in agriculture, health and nutrition research. IMMANA includes the Agriculture, Nutrition and Health (ANH) Academy, a global network of over 9000 researchers and practitioners from 145+ countries working at the nexus of food systems, nutrition and health.
I am the co- principal investigator on Indian Food Systems for Improved Nutrition (INFUSION). INFUSION seeks to improve understanding of the functioning of rural food markets from a nutrition perspective. It is establishing, testing and delivering evidence for market interventions that improve the availability and affordability of nutrient-dense foods (especially fruits, vegetables and animal-sourced foods) in rural communities in Bihar and Odisha in India.
I was the principal investigator of UPAVAN (Upscaling Participatory Action and Videos for Agriculture and Nutrition), a four-arm cluster RCT integrating maternal and child nutrition objectives into a participatory low-cost video-driven agriculture extension platform in Odisha, India. I also the co-principal investigator of a large-scale program impact evaluation of a video-based maternal and child nutrition behaviour change communications programme, SAMVAD, in 5 Indian states using an innovative evaluation methodology.
I was a co-investigator of MINI (Market Interventions for Nutritional Improvement), a system dynamics modelling study examining the potential for market-based interventions to improve availability of fruits and vegetables in nutritionally vulnerable areas in Bihar, India.
I co-lead the food systems theme of the UKRI GCRF Action Against Stunting Hub
Selected Publications
