Dr Mahua Das

Profile

Mahua has a background in Sociology and Social Policy with an experience of working in this sector with NGOs. Trained as a qualitative researcher, she has developed skills in policy research and understanding complex health system issues and interventions in Asia and Africa. She has an emerging expertise in embedding participatory community-based mechanisms to monitor and evaluate community engagement interventions focussing on promoting and preventing healthy behaviour within the existing health system and service infrastructure in LMIC contexts.  

She is presently working on the following research projects:

(a) As the qualitative researcher for the multi-country ( Nepal, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Ghana) urban health systems CHORUS programme

(b) Co-investigator on the MRC funded  COSTAR study “Community Solutions to Antimicrobial Resistance” (COSTAR), which is exploring the ways in which community dialogues can be embedded into the health system infrastructure to contribute to the prevention and control of antimicrobial resistance in Bangladesh and Nepal. 

(c) Joint PI on University of Leeds funded Crucible project for interdisciplinary research on “ A novel approach of engaging with poor urban communities to talk about Science : a scoping study to understand the perceptions of the key stakeholders in Bangladesh .

(d) Principal Investigator on the University of Leeds, Faculty of Medicine and Health International Researcher Mobility Awards funded study on “Using participatory learning approaches to address the misuse of antibiotics amongst marginalized populations in Jharkhand, India” 

Previosuly she has worked on :

(a)Principal Investigator on ESRC Impact Acceleration fund study on “Building collaborations to support sustainable day-care for under-5 year in disadvantaged communities in Jharkhand, India”  

(b) Sustainable day-care for 1-4 year olds in disadvantaged urban communities in Dhaka, Bangladesh. (Research Fellow)

(c) Community dialogues for preventing and controlling anitbiotic resisstance in Bangladesh (Research Fellow)

(d) Civil Society Organizations for Resource mobilisation, Empowerment, Advocacy, Training & Employment of people affected by leprosy in India  (Research Fellow)

(e)  Health & Eductaion Advice and Resource Team (Research Fellow)

(f) Role of evidence in health policy making in India and Nigeria ( Research Fellow)

Research interests

Mahua is co- leading on the qualitative research component of the CHORUS programme which is aimed at urban health system strengthening in Nepal, Bangladesh, Ghana  and Nigeria.  See CHORUS

Mahua is currently co- leading a MRC-funded study “Community Solutions to Antimicrobial Resistance” (COSTAR), which is exploring the ways in which community dialogues can be embedded into the health system infrastructure to contribute to the prevention and control of antimicrobial resistance in Bangladesh and Nepal COSTAR : Community Engagement for Anti-microbial Resistance (leeds.ac.uk).

Mahua is a Joint PI on the Crucible Programme for Inter-disciplinary research (UoL) funded study on “A novel approach of engaging with poor urban communities to talk about Science : a scoping study to understand the perceptions of the key stakeholders in Bangladesh”.

Mahua has successfully led a UoL School of Medicine funded grant exploring community engagement (CE) approaches used by Local non-governmental organisation in Jharkhand, India. As an outcome of this project, we have developed a partnership to work In Jharkhand on using CE approaches to address AMR and maternal health .

Mahua led ESRC funded project on “building collaborations to support sustainable day-care for under-5 year in disadvantaged communities in Jharkhand, India” .

Qualifications

• PhD in Sociology and Social Policy
• M.Phil in Social Medicine and Community Health
• Masters in Sociology
• BA (Hons) Sociology

Professional memberships

• Fellow at Higher Education Academy

Student education

In additon to her research role, Mahua is the Programme Director for the Masters in International Health programme

She teaches on a range of undergraduate and postgraduate modules and is interested in supervising students who are investigating areas around health systems, health promotion, research ethics, maternal health, sexual and reproductive health, community engagement, socio-cultural context of health behaviours in low- and middle-income countries

She teaches and marks along the various modules at the NCIHD and also is also the SoMREC chair for ethics for Nuffield. . 

Research groups and institutes

• Leeds Institute of Health Sciences
• International health research
• Research at the Nuffield Centre of International Health and Development