ASHISH BAJRACHARYA, Ph.D. Population Council
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Bajracharya/May 2017 ASHISH BAJRACHARYA, Ph.D. Population Council #12Eo, Street 41, Sangkat Tonle Bassac, Khan Chamkar Morn Phnom Penh, Cambodia Phone: +855-10-330-184 Email: [email protected] Web : http://bit.ly/abajracharya ______________________________________________________________________________ EMPLOYMENT POPULATION COUNCIL, Phnom Penh, Cambodia Country Representative & Associate I Program on Reproductive Health August 2015- present POPULATION COUNCIL, Dhaka, Bangladesh Associate I Program on Reproductive Health October 2012 – July 2015 POPULATION COUNCIL, Hanoi, Vietnam Staff Associate Program on Reproductive Health January 2011 - October 2012 POPULATION COUNCIL, New York, NY, USA Fred H. Bixby Postdoctoral Fellow Program on Poverty, Gender, and Youth October 2008 - October 2010 EDUCATION CORNELL UNIVERSITY, Ithaca, NY, USA Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), August 2008 (conferred January 2009) Policy Analysis and Management. Minor Fields: Demography and Human Development Dissertation Committee: Rachel Dunifon (Chair), Daniel Lichter, Gary Evans, Donald Kenkel Dissertation Title: 'Essays on the Influence of the Nature and Conditions of Parental Work on the Wellbeing of Children and Adolescents: Perspectives from the United States and Nepal.' (ProQuest/UMI, 2009. Publication Number: 3388011) CORNELL UNIVERSITY, Ithaca, NY, USA Master of Science (M.S.), August 2007 Policy Analysis and Management OHIO WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY, Delaware, OH, USA Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Cum Laude, May 2003 Major: Economics and Management; Minor: Psychology (Research) PROFESSIONAL/RESEARCH EXPERIENCE Country Representative & Associate I Population Council, Phnom Penh, Cambodia Program on Reproductive Health Countries covered: Cambodia, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar Supervisors: Dr. John Townsend, Director, Country Strategy; Dr. Karen Hardee, Director, The Evidence Project. August 2015 to present Conduct research, implement and manage programs, support fundraising, and contribute to the overall goals of the Population Council as the Country Representative of the Council’s office in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Provide leadership to the establishment of the Council’s office in Cambodia under the WorkerHealth project, aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of female garment factory workers in Cambodia. Provide technical assistance and capacity building 1 Bajracharya/May 2017 support to national institutional research partners, manage all aspects of research and program implementation, and represent the Population Council in Cambodia as well as in the South and Southeast Asia region, including as lead on projects in Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar and on technical engagements in Thailand, Vietnam and Lao PDR. Work on research and programs across all three of the Council’s core programs: Reproductive Health, Poverty, Gender and Youth, and HIV and AIDS. Support fundraising and program development for the Evidence Project and the Population Council. Manage a combined portfolio of projects across Council programs totaling approximately $4 million. Projects: 1. The Evidence Project (Global Co-operative Agreement with USAID; 2013-2018): Implement research projects, manage field support grants, and support fundraising for the Evidence Project in the South and Southeast Asia region. Lead the field support funded WorkerHealth project in the Cambodia office and core and field supported implementation science research projects in the Bangladesh Country Office. Work closely with the Council’s Evidence Project management team in Washington DC to develop research proposals and protocols, liaise with USAID country missions in Cambodia and the region to garner field support, and participate in global knowledge generation, sharing and management activities to achieve the overall goals of the Evidence Project. In Cambodia as Principal Investigator . WorkerHealth (Cambodia; 2015-2017): Develop, implement and manage implementation science research to gain a formative understanding of the health and wellbeing of garment factory workers in Cambodia, particularly with a focus on Reproductive Health and Family Planning, and generate and disseminate rigorous evidence on the effectiveness of key strategies to improve the health and health-seeking behavior of workers through qualitative, quantitative and mixed methodologies. Support project components on health service delivery, worker- management engagement and the policy and enabling environment, led by partners Marie Stopes International Cambodia and The Meridian Group, through evidence based approaches for continued learning beyond the life of this project. Manage and disseminate knowledge to inform best practices for national and international scale-up. Strengthen the capacity of national and international stakeholders and research institutions to conduct and consume research for evidence based programming, policy and decision-making [Principal Investigator; Budget $1.8 million; Field Support] In Bangladesh as Technical Adviser/Co-Principal Investigator . Improved Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health in Bangladesh (Bangladesh; 2014-2017): Conduct a review of existing programs and research on adolescent sexual and reproductive health to identify research and evidence gaps and identify successful programs that can go to scale. Support the Directorate General of Family Planning, Ministry of Health, Government of Bangladesh to facilitate the national Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) Networking Forum and to coordinate partners working on ASRH issues. [Technical Advisor; Budget: $700,000; Field Support] . Evaluation of the BSR HERproject Intervention in Garment Factories in Bangladesh (Bangladesh; 2014- 2017): Design and implement a mixed methods quasi-experimental evaluation study of the impact of the HERproject Intervention implemented by BSR in garment factories on SRHR knowledge, service and family planning uptake and health and wellbeing of factory workers in Bangladesh. [Technical Advisor; Budget: $350,000; Core] Global Projects . WHO Systematic Review of Financing in Family Planning: Conduct a systematic review of the evidence on the most current evidence on healthcare financing models related to family planning with a specific focus on voucher or demand side financing programs. Co-funded with the World Health Organization (WHO) by the Evidence Project. [Co-Principal Investigator; Budget: $15,000; Core] 2. Married Adolescents, Pregnancy and School Dropout in South Asia (South Asia Region; 2017): Conduct analyses to examine the trends and relationships between school dropout, marriage and childbearing in the South Asia region in collaboration with UNICEF Regional Office South Asia (ROSA). Identify and analyze longitudinal /panel data to establish causal links between these constructs. Countries in the region covered include Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and the Maldives. [Principal Investigator; Budget $125,000; Funded by UNICEF ROSA] 2 Bajracharya/May 2017 3. The Demographic Transition and Opportunities for Nepal (Nepal; 2016-2017): Conduct detailed analysis on the demographic transition in Nepal in collaboration and with support from UNICEF Nepal. Validate preliminary analysis of demographic trends and processes such as the length of the window of opportunity for the demographic dividend and the speed of ageing to develop recommendations for policies and programs to ensure that Nepal is well positioned to reap its demographic dividend and is adequately prepared for a rapidly aging society. Work closely with key stakeholders in Nepal, including the Government of Nepal to ensure demographic analyses become a part of the conversation of the development agenda [Co-Principal Investigator; Budget: $57,000; Funded by UNICEF Nepal] 4. Link Up: Integrating HIV and Sexual & Reproductive Health Services for Young Key Populations in Myanmar (Myanmar; 2013-2016): Design and implement operations research and evaluation studies of Link Up, an intervention utilizes advocacy and the integration of HIV and SRH services through peer and home outreach to increase access to critical services for young key populations (YKP) in Myanmar including Female Sex Workers, MSM, and young people living with HIV. Manage the Council’s Myanmar evaluation study of MSM interventions as well as a process documentation of advocacy capacity building of the Myanmar Youth Stars network, as part of a five-country program being implemented by the International HIV and AIDS Alliance and Marie Stopes International and advocacy partners in Africa and Asia. [Principal Investigator for Myanmar; Budget: $360,000; Funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs] Associate I Population Council, Dhaka, Bangladesh Program on Reproductive Health Countries covered: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Nepal Supervisor: Dr. Ubaidur Rob, Country Director October 2012- July 2015 Conduct research, implement and manage programs, support fundraising, and contribute to the overall goals of the Population Council in the South and Southeast Asia Region as well as to the operations of its Representative Office in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Provide technical assistance and capacity building support to national institutional research partners, manage all aspects of research and program implementation, and represent the Population Council in Cambodia, Myanmar and Nepal. Work on research and programs across all three of the Council’s core programs: Reproductive Health, Poverty, Gender and Youth, and HIV and AIDS. Support fundraising