To introduce myself, I have a doctorate in Population Studies and Masters of Population Studies from the International Institute for Population Sciences, with a specialization in Biostatistics and an MPhil and a Master of Arts in Psychology. I am a trained health, nutrition, education and gender researcher, demographer and biostatistician with two and half decades of relevant experience of working at the international, national and regional levels in program management, monitoring, research, and evaluation, with a unique combination of analytical, program management and leadership skills.
I have led implementation research, impact evaluations studies, quantitative and qualitative research to generate evidence inform and improve program implementation to scale and policy making in ten countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines and Senegal in Asia and Africa regions. I have demonstrated expertise in managing large-scale projects, mobilizing funds, advising, designing, executing monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) frameworks, MEL plans, logframes, logic models, program impact pathways, theory of change, research and evaluation studies and surveys, advanced data analyses using different statistical softwares, estimating and projecting costs, preparing and managing budgets, advocating for funds, strengthening health systems. I have demonstrated strategic oversight, system-building, and learning dissemination emphasizing project scale, innovation, and influence. My research has influenced policy and programmes like introduction of Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS) among pregnant women in Pakistan. I have led and managed collaborative research partnerships with academic organizations, partners / Government departments, research agencies working across countries. I have managed and supervised diverse multi-cultural teams and demonstrated exemplary leadership skills. I have experience of handling advanced statistical data analysis of multi-country census, Global DHS data and other large-scale data sets and publishing 28+ publications based on data analyses of LMIC countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America & the Caribbean regions in scientific peer reviewed journals.
I am also certified in Project management for development professionals - level 1 (PMD Pro level 1), APMG International. I am also trained at the Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA on 6thannual WHO/ Cochrane/ Cornell University Summer Institute on Systematic Reviews on Nutrition in Global Policy Making and the Oxford University, Health Economics Research Centre, on Applied Methods of Cost Effectiveness Analysis and a certification from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on Data Science and Machine Learning: Making Data-driven Decisions, Social media, sentiment, data science, text Analyses using R from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and completed a Professional Certificate Program in Advanced Generative AI, Machine learning, Deep Learning Specialization using Neural Networks fromthe Government of India Department of Science & Technology (DST) and Indian Institute of Technology, India.
Conducted research and evaluations in ten countries across Asia and Africa, focusing on social sector statistics.
Managed Research and Evaluation portfolio for NI supported countries, delivering technical guidance throughout all phases.
Designed protocols, developed tools, and ensured data collection quality for various studies.
Authored compendium summarizing ten years of research and evaluation efforts across target regions.
Projected accurate cost estimates for surveys, optimizing budgeting processes for Asia program initiatives.
Engineered the SCoPE tool to enhance efficiency in survey design, sample size calculation, and population projections.
Utilized demographic techniques to estimate denominators for diverse indicators effectively.
Contributed expertise in understanding Sustainable Development Goals and Human Development Index.
Designed surveys and evaluations for seven countries in Asia region.
Developed Terms of References for various surveys and studies, including iodine stability.
Estimated sample sizes for multiple survey types to ensure statistical validity.
Analyzed data and prepared presentations for effective dissemination of findings.
Placed at the Directorate of Economics & Statistics (DES), Deptt. of Planning, Govt. of Rajasthan from UNFPA, Rajasthan. Responsible for giving technical support to the DES, Rajasthan to build capacity in the officials regarding demographic, health and data analysis and use and to strengthen the official statistical system of the state, civil registration and vital statistics, data analysis, use and planning and understanding of indicators to track population development programmes and draft publications.
In the Safe Motherhood & Child Survival Project in all the blocks of Vadodara District, based at Baroda, I was responsible for the following activities:
1. Overall implementation of the Safe Motherhood & Child Survival Project in 1.995 million population covering 1,548 villages in 12 blocks in the district of Vadodara in line with the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), which led to a significant reduction in infant and maternal mortality.
2. Management of MIS, Systems, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation
3. Designed and conducted two large scale baseline household surveys for the implementation of a Safe Motherhood & Child Survival Project covering more than two hundred thousand households covering more than 1.2 million population.
4. Designed and Conducted willingness to pay survey (WTP) for different health services
5. Conceptualization, planning, conducting and monitoring of surveys and studies
6. Data analysis including estimation of IMR and MMR, presentation, dissemination and report writing
7. Compilation, validation of MIS tracking data for monitoring inputs, processes, outputs and outcome indicators.
8. Field monitoring to support and give continuous feedback on programme monitoring activities
9. Overseeing, supervising and guiding the development, procurement and maintenance of systems administration, networking and connectivity
10. Data sharing and liasioning at district and state level with the Govt. health officials.
11. Preparation of MoUs with the local and state Governments for different projects and project components
12. Mobilization of funds to the tune of over INR 10 million for projects of emergency health and medical transport and Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric & Newborn Care (CEmONC) for the organization to address the delay to reduce maternal mortality.
In Population Services International, a leading social marketing organization in the world with programs in about 70 countries, in the PSI Gates Core Office in New Delhi, India.
Project : STI Franchise Clinics under the India AIDS Initiative, Avahan funded by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is implementing projects to scale up HIV/AIDS Prevention in India implemented by PSI
In Population Services International, a leading social marketing organization in the world with programs in about 70 countries, in one of its regional branch, in Odisha, India, involved in studies and research and communication activities.
In Asian Information Marketing & Social Research- Work involved carrying out both qualitative & quantitative research
Stata, SPSS, SAS, NVivo, Quanteda in R, Python 3.6, R, RStudio, Mortpak, Spectrum, Population Analysis Spreadsheets (PAS)