Departmental Affiliations
Center & Institute Affiliations
Astha Ramaiya, DrPH, is a scientist who studies the role of gender as a power system on health outcomes across the life course in LMICs.
Research Interests
adolescent health; maternal child health; mixed methods; reproductive health; menstrual hygiene and health management; monitoring and evaluation; life course; gender
Experiences & Accomplishments
Astha Ramaiya has a Dr.PH from the Department of Community Health and Prevention at Drexel University and a Masters of Science in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She has a background in maternal and child health and focuses on adolescent health and M&E. She is particularly interested in understanding how gendered systems affect health outcomes across the lifecourse from childhood to adulthood using mixed methods research.
Before joining the Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2009, Astha worked for nine years in Canada, Tanzania, Nepal, United States and India in the field of infectious diseases and maternal/child health. Her dissertation focused on evaluating the GARIMA program in Uttar Pradesh and its association with Menstrual Health and Hygiene Management behavior. She speaks seven languages, including Kutchi, Gujarati, Hindi, Urdu, Kiswahili and Nepali.
Honors & Awards
2024 Faculty Innovation Fund
2018 Beta Omega chapter of Delta Omega
2011 Young Alumni Award, University of Waterloo
Select Publications
Most recent and relevant publications
Ramaiya A, Fine S, Wheeler J, Stones W, Blum R. (in press). Understanding adolescents’ perceptions and experiences of violence victimization and its perceived impact on mental health and coping: a qualitative study across 13 countries. Journal of Adolescent Health.
Mmari K, Gayles J, Lundgren R, Barker K, Austrian K, Levtov R, Kato-Wallace J, van Reeuwijk M, Richardson L, Green J, Kagesten A, Ramaiya A. Implementing Interventions to Address Gender and Power Inequalities in Early Adolescence: Utilizing a Theory of Change to Assess Conditions for Success. Journal of Adolescent Health, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.10.032
Ramaiya A, Chandra-Mouli V, Both R, Beckwith S, Li M, Blum R. Assessing the health, social, educational and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescents in low-and middle-income countries: A rapid review of literature. SRH Matters, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1080/26410397.2023.2187170
Ramaiya, A., Zimmerman, L., Mafuta, E., Lulebo, A., Chipeta, E., Stones, W., & Moreau, C. (2021). Assessing the relationship between agency and peer violence among adolescents aged 10 to 14 years in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo and Blantyre, Malawi: A cross-sectional study. PLoS medicine, 18(12), e1003552.
Ramaiya A, Choiriyyah I, Heise L, Pulerwitz J, Blum R, Levtov R, Lundgren R, Richardson L, Moreau C. Understanding the Relationship between Adverse Childhood Experiences, Peer-violence Perpetration and Gender Norms among Very Young Adolescents in Indonesia: A Cross-Sectional Study. Journal of Adolescent Health, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.01.025
Sood S, Ramaiya A. On the Wings of Wishes” (Icchedana), Adolescent Girls in Bangladesh Taking Flight Using a Social Behavioral Change Communication Program to address Child Marriage Related Social Norms: A Longitudinal Panel Study. Journal of Health Communication, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2022.2104970