Dr Anand Ahankari
Academic and research departments
School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences.Biography
Anand is trained in dentistry (BDS, 2005-2010), and during his undergraduate studies he had an opportunity to volunteer through health and development projects in central India. On graduation, he worked as a Programme Associate with the Halo Medical Foundation (HMF) on maternal health and rural development programmes in India (2010-11), and as a result developed an interest in Public Health. He started his postgraduate studies in Public Health (MPH, 2011-12) at the University of Nottingham, UK. After his MPH, Anand worked as a full-time Research Associate with the university before starting his PhD in Epidemiology and Public Health at Nottingham (2013-17). Following his PhD, Anand joined the University of Hull as a Postdoctoral Researcher (2018-20), and then joined the University of Surrey in February 2020.
Anand has over seven years of research and project management experience. Broadly his research areas include maternal, child and adolescent health topics. His current projects are investigating anaemia, physical and cognitive growth in Indian adolescents, environmental & socioeconomic exposures and anaemia, gender equality and community intervention programmes.
Anand won various scholarship awards at national and international level (~ £57K). One of his most distinct awards include the Vice Chancellor Scholarship for Research Excellence (International) awarded by the University of Nottingham, UK. He also received several research and development project grants to support his UK-India collaboration work (~ £605K). His past honorary appointments include Associate Editor with the BMC Public Health, Academic Visitor with the Radcliffe Department of Medicine University of Oxford, and Honorary Fellow at the University of Hull. His current honorary appointments are with the NNEdPro, Cambridge to advance his research in India and UK. He is currently involved as a Senior Collaborator as well as Advisor to support initiatives in India and UK especially for the NNEdPro Global Centre’s India & South Asia Regional Network.
My qualifications
Affiliations and memberships
Research
Research interests
Anand has over seven years of research and project management experience. Broadly his research areas include maternal, child and adolescent health. His current projects are investigating anaemia, physical and cognitive growth in Indian adolescents, environmental & socioeconomic exposures and anaemia, gender equality and domestic violence prevention research.
He has developed special interests and skills in field based research through his previous work on concept development, design, collaboration, grant application, capacity building, data collection, analysis, dissemination and project life cycle management. He implemented three projects in the capacity of a primary investigator and project manager, and worked as a lead co-investigator and manager on three research grants.
Research collaborations
UK collaborations
- Dr Andrew Fogarty and Dr Laila Tata, Division of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Nottingham.
- Prof Mark Hayter and Dr Clare Whitfield, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Hull.
- Dr Charles Marshall, Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, Queen Mary University of London.
- Dr Pavel Ovseiko, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford.
- Dr Parveen Ali, Division of Nursing and Midwifery, Health Sciences School, University of Sheffield.
- Prof Sumantra Ray, NNEdPro Founding Chair and Executive Director, NNEdPro Global Centre for Nutrition and Health, Cambridge.
- Dr Sarah Bath, School of Biosciences and Medicine, Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Surrey.
International collaborations
- Dr Kranti Rayamane and Dr Vijay Gaikwad, Halo Medical Foundation, India.
- Ms Sneha Giridhari, SWISSAID India and Switzerland.
- Prof Chittaranjan Yajnik, Kind Edward Memorial Hospital and Research Centre, India.
Supervision
Postgraduate research supervision
Anand is actively involved in postgraduate dissertation/research projects at Surrey. Students with similar research interests can contact by email for further discussions.
Student project completed at the University of Surrey, UK.
1. Exploring Health Visiting teams’ experiences of promoting dental health, and approaches used to identify families requiring targeted dental health promotion in Surrey, UK (2020-21)
Student projects completed at the University of Nottingham, UK (2012-17).
1. An investigation to identify potential risk factors associated with common chronic diseases among the older population in India.
2. Household air pollution and lung function in Indian adults: a cross-sectional study.
3. Prenatal maternal smoking and stillbirth: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
My teaching
Anand is involved in the following teaching programmes at the University of Surrey.
- NUR1025- Understanding Research and Evidence Based Practice
- NUR1026- Public Health: Promoting Health and Wellbeing
- NURM141- Research Design Methods
- NURM187- Public Health and Health Promotion Intervention
- NURM112- Dissertation
My publications
Publications
I) Published Journal Articles
Buckner L, Carter H, Ahankari A et al. Three-year review of a capacity building pilot for a sustainable regional network on food, nutrition and health systems education in India. BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health 2021. doi: 10.1136/bmjnph-2020-000180
Ahankari AS, Kabra P, Tata LJ, Hayter M, Fogarty AW. Two measures of systemic inflammation are positively associated with haemoglobin levels in adolescent girls living in rural India: A cross‐sectional study. Tropical Medicine and International Health 2020. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/tmi.13524
Ovseiko PV, Ahankari A. We all progress through progress towards gender equality. EClinical Medicine 2020. doi:10.1016/j.eclinm.2020.100306
Ahankari AS, Tata L, Fogarty A. Weight, height, and midupper arm circumference are associated with haemoglobin levels in adolescent girls living in rural India: A cross‐sectional study. Maternal & child nutrition 2019. doi:10.1111/mcn.12908
Ahankari AS, Wray J, Jomeen J, Hayter M. The effectiveness of combined alcohol and sexual risk taking reduction interventions on the sexual behaviour of teenagers and young adults: a systematic review. Public Health 2019. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2019.05.023
Ahankari A, Hayter M, Whitfield C et al. aDolescents gEnder surVey, rEsponsible coupLes evaluatiOn, and capacity building Project in India (DEVELOP): a study protocol. F1000Research 2019. doi:10.12688/f1000research.19521.2
Hayter M, Ahankari A, Jamadar K et al. Growth, challenges and opportunities in Indian nursing. J Advanced Nursing 2019. doi:10.1111/jan.13978
Ahankari AS, Myles PR, Dixit JV et al. Consanguinity is a risk factor for maternal anaemia and low birth weight in pregnant women living in rural India: A prospective study. Public Health 2017. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2017.06.023
Ahankari AS, Myles PR, Tsang S et al. A qualitative study exploring clinical reasoning for influenza-like illness in Solapur city, Maharashtra, India. Anthropology and Medicine 2017. doi: 10.1080/13648470.2017.1321459
Dave M, Ahankari AS, Myles PR et al. Household air pollution and lung function in Indian adults: a cross-sectional study. The Int J of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease 2017. doi: 10.5588/ijtld.16.0615
Adaji EE, Ahankari AS, Myles PR. An investigation to identify potential risk factors associated with common chronic diseases among the older population in India. Indian J Community Medicine 2017. doi: 10.4103/0970-0218.199802
Ahankari AS, Bapat S, Myles PR et al. Factor associated with pre-term delivery and low birth weight: a study from rural Maharashtra, India. F1000Research 2017. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.10556.1
Ahankari AS, Fogarty AW, Tata LJ et al. Healthcare benefits linked with below poverty line registration in India: Observations from Maharashtra Anaemia (MAS) Study. F1000Research 2017. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.10556.1
Laur C, Ball L, Ahankari AS et al. Proceedings of the inaugural international summit on medical nutrition education and research. Public Health 2016. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2016.08.023
Ahankari AS, Myles PR, Tata LJ et al. PCPNDT seems to benefit India’s birth sex ratios. BMJ 2016. doi: 10.1136/bmj.i5194
Ahankari AS, Myles PR, Fogarty AW et al. Prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia and risk factors in 1,010 adolescent girls from rural Maharashtra, India: a cross-sectional survey. Public Health 2016. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2016.07.010
Ahankari AS, Dixit JV, Fogarty AW et al. Comparison of the NBM 200 non-invasive haemoglobin sensor with Sahli’s hemometer among adolescent girls in rural India. BMJ Innovations 2016. doi: 10.1136/bmj innov-2015-000139
Ahankari AS, Fogarty AW, Tata LJ et al. Assessment of a non-invasive haemoglobin sensor NBM 200 among pregnant women in rural India. BMJ Innovations 2016. doi: 10.1136/bmj innov-2015-000085
Ahankari AS, Myles PR, Tata LJ et al. Banning of fetal sex determination and changes in sex ratio in India. Lancet Global Health 2015. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(15)00053-4
Marufu T, Ahankari A, Coleman T et al. Prenatal maternal smoking and stillbirth: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Public Health 2015. doi: 10.1186/s12889-015-1552-5
Ahankari A, Marufu T. India’s progress towards 5th Millennium Development Goal: A critical review. Indian J Maternal Child Health 2015;16:1-11. 19
Ahankari AS, Leonardi-Bee J. Maternal hemoglobin and birth weight: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Med Sci Pub Health 2015. doi: 10.5455/ijmsph.2015.2212201489
Ahankari AS, Fogarty A. Association of Socioeconomic status with sex ratio at live birth in Individuals living in the slums of Sholapur city, India. Int J Med Sci Pub Health 2015. doi:10.5455/ijmsph.2015.1109201428
Otete H, Ahankari AS, Jones H et al. Parameters for the mathematical modelling of clostridium difficile: A systematic Review. PLoS ONE 2013. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0084224
II) Training Manuals
Ahankari AS (Eds). Life free from violence: training manual for village-based dispute resolution committee members. Halo Medical Foundation, 3rd Edition. June 2014. 2.
Dixit JV, Ahankari AS. Maternal and neonatal health training manual for grass root health workers. Halo Medical Foundation, India. April 2013. 3.
Dixit JV, Ahankari AS. Adolescent health dialogue booklet. Halo Medical Foundation, India. April 2013.
III) Upcoming Research Articles
1. Access to a piped water supply is positively associated with haemoglobin levels in females living in rural Maharashtra State, India.
2. Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviours Related to Gender Equality: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Adolescents from Rural India.
3. Experiences of domestic violence prevention interventions and gender equality promotion work: A qualitative study of Nirdhar Groups in rural India.