Centre for Health Research and Development, Society for Applied Studies

Dr. Nita Bhandari, Senior Scientist, MBBS, PhD, MNAMS, FASc, FNA

Nita has around four decades of experience of conducting large trials in child health and nutrition. Her research interests are child health and nutrition, development and evaluation of interventions to improve birth outcomes, survival, and growth and development in early childhood.

She is a leader in breastfeeding research in India, and one of her seminal works is promotion of exclusive breastfeeding through peer counsellors in rural Haryana. In addition to her content expertise in breastfeeding, complementary feeding and infant growth, she has substantial strengths in both quantitative and qualitative research methods. She is a member of several technical committees of Government of India including the National Technical Board on Nutrition of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), the premier policy making body of the Government of India.

Dr. Sunita Taneja, Senior Scientist, MBBS, PhD

Sunita is a public health researcher with over 25 years of experience in the areas of micronutrient research especially nutrition interventions on zinc, vitamin A and vitamin B12 and their impact on morbidity, growth and neurodevelopment outcomes. Some of her seminal works are on zinc and child growth and morbidity, KMC and child development, maternal food supplementation and impact on quality and quantity of breastmilk. She also leads the  data management and analysis centre in the organization.

Dr. Sarmila Mazumder, Senior Scientist, MBBS, DGO, MCH, PhD, Diploma in Epidemiology, LSHTM

Sarmila has over 25 years of experience in conduct of very large community trials and in supporting government programs through implementation research. Her expertise is particularly in the areas of qualitative research and in newborn interventions. Her salient work includes the first trial of community-initiated Kangaroo Mother Care in low birth weight infants, neonatal vitamin A supplementation and a large cluster randomized trial that demonstrated the impact of the integrated management of neonatal and childhood illness on morbidity and treatment seeking practices.

Dr. Temsunaro Rongsen-Chandola, Senior Scientist, MBBS, MSc Epidemiology, PhD
Naro has worked in the field of clinical research for around two decades. Her expertise is in implementation of large community- and hospital-based vaccine trials and surveillance of infectious diseases. She has strong design and implementation strengths and in managing large teams.

Manju Bagdwal, Head Administration

Manju has over 25 years of experience in planning, coordination and support for daily operational and administrative functions. She is highly focused and results-oriented in supporting complex, deadline-driven operations.

Swati Naik, Head, Human Resources

Swati, Head of Human Resources, is a management professional with around 15 years of work experience. Her key abilities include interpersonal and soft skills, employee engagement and team management. She leads the HR and has experience across the entire spectrum of HR roles.