Chandika Shresta
Biography
Chandika Shrestha considers herself as a public health geographer focusing on gender, disaster, mental health, and wellbeing studies. Chandika has worked in the public health sector in Nepal for preventing diseases and promoting health since 2009. Chandika has had the privilege of working in remote regions of the country, where she has witnessed first-hand the immense challenges faced by communities in desperate need of health and wellbeing support.
Currently, Chandika is working with esteemed professors Rachel Kendal, Claire Horwell, and Judith Covey on an MRC-GCRF funded project titled “Factors affecting childhood exposures to urban particulates” (FACE-UP) at Durham University. She leads the research related to childhood exposure to urban air pollution in Kathmandu, Nepal. She is also a named researcher in this project.
Chandika is deeply grateful for the opportunity to pursue her Ph.D. at Durham University, made possible through the generous support of the Christopher Moyes Memorial Foundation’s scholarship. This funding has played a pivotal role in her career development, empowering her to delve deeper into her research and make meaningful contributions to the field
Research:
Chandika’s PhD is on post-disaster health and wellbeing of women in Nepal; A case study of Gorkha earthquake 2015. Her work complements and expands upon existing gender-related disaster studies, paying attention to the differentiated experiences of women, the psychological aspects of disaster recovery, and the processes of coping and resilience. Chandika’s research site is Dolakha district, one of the most severely affected mountainous regions of Nepal. Utilising a mixed-method approach, she conducted qualitative surveys, large-scale quantitative surveys involving 667 households, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and in-depth interviews with survivor women.
Images from PhD field work conducting focus group discussions with survivor women.
Publications and presentations:
- Book chapter, “Health in Nepal earthquake: ways forward (eds).” In: After the shaking stops: perspectives on the 2015 Nepal earthquake, 2018.
- Attended Conference on, “The Impact of Hazard, Risk and Disasters on Societies and Dealing with Disasters,” organised by Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience held from 19th – 22nd September 2017, Durham University, UK.
- Participated and presented research findings in the 17th International Medical Geography Symposium held from 2nd till 7th July, 2017, in Angers France.
- “Best Poster” award in ‘Wolfson Research Institute for Health and Wellbeing Early Stage Research Conference,’ June 2016.
- Shrestha, C. and Bhandari, R. (2013). “Insight into Human Resources for Health Status in Nepal.” Health Prospect 11: 40-41.
- “Working condition of Health workforce in Nepal”, May 2012 in Barriers to Effective Policy Implementation and Management of Human Resources for Health in Nepal,5, 62pp
