Background and activities

Research areas/methods/contexts of interest: global health, gender-based violence, reproductive health, migration and health, medical anthropology, resilience, implementation/applied research, narrative research, arts-based research, Nepal, South Asia.

 

Current research funding & project management:

2020-2025  Co-Principal Investigator of the second phase of the Addressing Domestic Violence in Antenatal Care Environments study (ADVANCE 2)

  • Awarded 5-years of funding from the Research Council of Norway (FRIPRO)
  • Collaboration between the Department of Public Health and Nursing at NTNU, University of South-Eastern Norway, Linnaeus University (Sweden), Kathmandu Medical College and Teaching Hospital (Nepal), Dhulikhel Hospital-Kathmandu School of Medical Sciences (Nepal), and Johns Hopkins University (USA).

2019-2022  Principal Investigator of the OPTIMISE study - Optimising pregnancy and childbirth care for immigrant women in Central Norway

  • Awarded 3-years of funding from the Regional Health Authority of Central Norway/Samarbeidsorganet
  • Collaboration between the Department of Public Health and Nursing at NTNU and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (Kvinneklinikken) at St. Olavs University Hospital

Current supervision of research students:

  • PhD candidates: 3 (main supervisor), 1 (co-supervisor)
  • Research-medical students (medisinstudenter i forskerlinje): 1 (main supervisor)
  • Master's students: 1 (main supervisor), 1 (co-supervisor)

Academic & professional history:

I completed my doctoral degree in social anthropology in New Zealand (2004-2008). My PhD research explored children's capacities for resilience in the context of domestic violence and other life adversities through a community-based intervention and life-story interviews.

I worked at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Geneva, Switzerland from 2008-2011 in project officer roles in the proposals, performance and strategic information teams. This work experience reinforced the challenges of providing global health financing and policy guidance that reflects the needs of intended beneficiaries; of fostering local participation and leadership in aid-donor relationships; and of accurately and meaningfully evaluating project results. I continue to explore these challenges in my current research.

I was postdoctoral researcher at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) from 2011-2013, in the interdisciplinary Atlantic Diabetes in Pregnancy (ATLANTIC-DIP) project team. This project investigated screening and lifestyle modification to reduce long-term diabetes risks among women with gestational diabetes in two randomised controlled trials.

In 2014, I moved to Norway to take up a position at NTNU as postdoctoral researcher and project coordinator for the first phase of the Addressing Domestic Violence in Antenatal Care Environments (ADVANCE) study, led by Professor Berit Schei. I am now co-leading the second phase of the ADVANCE project, funded by the Research Council of Norway from 2020 to 2025.

In addition to my research activities at NTNU, since 2016, I have been involved in the establishment and evolution of NTNU's master of science degree program in global health, sharing responsibilities for lecturing, input on student research protocols, grading assignments, developing examinations, course coordination, and supervising and examining thesis research projects. Since August 2021, I have been the scientific leader of the study program.

Scientific, academic and artistic work

A selection of recent journal publications, artistic productions, books, including book and report excerpts. See all publications in the database

Journal publications

Books

Part of book/report