Expertise: Ashata’s interest is to explore the health determinants by studying people’s experiences and perspectives. Her work centers around engaging communities and stakeholders to bridge the gap between research and communities and foster meaningful collaborations to improve public health outcomes. Her passion is translating research into practice, ensuring that health solutions are both effective and community driven.

Career and achievement: In 2013, Ashata graduated in public health with her enlistment in Dean’s List for her academic performance. She worked for the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH) project based in Kohalpur, Banke district. In 2015, she was awarded the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s Degree scholarship in public health. She completed her master’s degree from the University of Sheffiled (UK) and the University of Copenhagen (Denmark) with Merit.

Upon returning from Europe, she joined OUCRU Nepal as public engagement officer in 2018 for a large community based, randomized, controlled trial for a typhoid vaccine study. Since then, she has been leading and conducting public engagement events and has been a part of qualitative research ongoing at OUCRU Nepal.