Co-Principal Investigator
+1 734-763-8649
Director – Institute for Social & Environment Research – Nepal Research Professor, Population Studies Center Ph.D. Sociology and Demography, University of Michigan
Prof. Dr. Dirgha Jibi Ghimire studies social change, developmental idealism, family and demography, population and environment dynamics. His research within family and demography revolves around three sub areas- marriage (marital arrangement, marital relationship and relationship dynamics), childbearing (timing of first birth), and fertility limitation (contraceptive use). In addition, he also studies reproductive health, HIV/AIDS and mental health and well-being. Another major area of Dr. Ghimire’s research focuses on understanding of the interplay between population and environmental processes (reciprocal impacts of population processes on land use and terrestrial biodiversity, and environmental degradation on childbearing, contraceptive use, individual mobility and household energy use). More recently his work has focused on ideational aspects of these substantive areas.
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Co-Principal Investigator
+1 734-615-2134
Professor of Epidemiology, Ph.D., University of Michigan
Prof. Dr. Carlos F. Mendes de Leon is a Research Professor in the Department of Global Health at Georgetown University School of Health. Dr. Mendes de Leon is a social epidemiologist with a primary interest in the major health changes that affect people and populations as they age. His work focuses on a broad spectrum of social and psychological determinants that affect the development and progression of health outcomes in late life, including cognitive impairment and dementia, functional limitations and disability, longevity and quality of life. He co-directs population-based, international studies on dementia and aging in Nepal and Lebanon.
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Co-Investigator
+1 734-763-6496
Clinical Neuropsychologist and Clinical Associate Professor- in the department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Michigan.
As a clinical neuropsychologist, she has extensive training, and clinical and research experience in neuropsychology with diverse patient populations, including the neuropsychological assessment of dementia. She leads and contributes to several NIH-funded studies, including several studies that use the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP), the cognitive assessment protocol for the current project. Dr. Briceño is MPI of a NIA funded study that aims to utilize cultural neuropsychological procedures to classify cognitive impairment across studies within the HCAP International Network. She is a collaborator in the HCAP Network, which provides guidance to HCAP study investigators. As the neuropsychologist investigator for CVFS-SCAN, she is responsible for the implementation and interpretation of the HCAP assessments, particularly in considering the impact of demographic, linguistic, and cultural factors to optimize precision in measurement of cognition. She also developed and provided training for the field office staff on cognitive testing with the HCAP assessment instrument and oversees quality assurance. She is also involved in data analysis and presentation and publication of results.
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Co-Investigator
+1 734-615-1724
Associate Professor- in the Survey Research Center, PhD., University of Michigan
Prof. Dr. Colter Mitchell is Director of Population, Neurodevelopment, and Genetics Program; Research Associate Professor, Survey Research Center, Population Studies Center, and Department of Sociology; Co-Director, Institute for Social Research Bio specimen Lab University of Michigan. Dr. Mitchell’s research utilizes a range of biological data types such as epigenetics, neuroimaging, and genetics to better understand how social conditions shape population health. In particular his work uses these biomarkers to elucidate pathways by which social inequalities cause health inequalities. This research uses longitudinal population-based studies. He is Co-Investigator in the project and will be responsible for overseeing the analysis linking genetic propensity, international labor migration to ADRD.
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Co-Investigator
+1 734-647-8160
Cyrus Sturgis Professor- of Medicine at the University of Michigan, Associate Director- of the Institute of Gerontology and for the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Research Investigator- in the Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs (VA) Center for Clinical Management Research.
His research has focused on the risk factors and outcomes for chronic disease in older adults, with a special emphasis on Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, and has published more than 225 peer-reviewed articles on these topics. He has collaborated with the HRS study team since 1998. Dr. Langa was Lead Investigator on the original HRS dementia sub-study, the ADAMS, from 2002 through 2010, and a Co-Investigator on the HRS-HCAP competing revision, working closely with David Weir in developing the HCAP protocol fielded by the HRS in 2016. Dr. Langa currently serves as the Principal Investigator of the NIA-funded HRS-HCAP study. He will provide expertise in aligning the HCAP cognitive assessment and dementia algorithms in this study with those applied in other international studies of dementia, in particular the HRS Network of Studies on Aging. Dr. Langa will provide guidance on overall implementation of HCAP.
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Co-Investigator
+977 9849243809
Researcher .Phd.
Dr. Uttam Sharma is an applied economist with more than 10 years of experience conducting research in topics related to agriculture, education, and labor market in Bangladesh, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria and Tanzania. He was a Co-Principal Investigator (co-PI) on 3ie-funded projects in Kenya and Nepal, and a Co-Investigator in a DFID/ESRC-funded study in Nepal. As a Co-Investigator, his responsibilities on this project include overseeing field operation (acquiring ethical and necessary government approval, validation of research instrument, staff recruitment, training data collection staff and supervision of data collection and data management) in Nepal and coordinating between Nepali and US investigators. In addition, Dr. Sharma will be involved in all phases of data cleaning and coding, data analysis, writing manuscripts, and presenting scientific results. In the analysis portions of the project, he will collaborate with the research team on the analyses of the associations between socioeconomic status, family dynamics, and ADRD.
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Co-Investigator
+977 9851022035
Sociologist and Research Scientist at ISER-N
Dr. Meeta Sainju Pradhan is a sociologist and Research Scientist at ISER-N and contributes her expertise on gender equality and social inclusion in the social, economic and political life in Nepal. Dr. Pradhan’s research focuses on poverty alleviation, gender equality, and social inclusion (encompassing exclusion from basic rights of groups based on differences in gender, caste, ethnicity, class, geography/region, sexual and gender minorities, persons with disabilities, elderly populations, etc.). The combination of her experiences and insights adds value to this project. As a Co-Investigator, Dr. Pradhan’s responsibilities on this project include providing gender perspective on research instrument translation, validation, and research staff training. She will also be involved in data analysis, writing manuscripts, and presenting scientific results. In the analysis portions of the project, she will collaborate with the research team on the estimation of associations between gender, disadvantage status and ADRD.
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Co-Investigator
+977 9813935810
Neurologist
Dr. Pankaj Jalan is a neurologist and has over a decade of experience in evaluating and treating patients with cognitive disorders from all over Nepal and encounters many patients with Alzheimer disease and related dementias. Dr. Jalan has completed neurology training at S.I.U. School of Medicine and is a board-certified neurologist. He provides expertise in an S.I.U. Memory and Aging Clinic which included training and research on ADRD. As Co-Investigator, his responsibilities on this project include overseeing the translation of the cognitive assessment tools, testing and validating the cognitive assessment tools, blood sample collection and shipping protocol and training Nepali research staff on the cognitive assessments. Dr. Jalan will work in close collaboration with the research team, especially Dr. Sharma, Rai, Pradhan, and the ISER-N research staff on translating the cognitive assessment tools; Dr. Briceno and the ISER-N research staff on testing and validating the cognitive measures; and Dr. Briceno on training of the cognitive assessment and ADRD measures. His extensive experience in evaluating and treating patients with cognitive disorders is particularly valuable for this project. Dr. Jalan will also be involved in writing manuscripts, and presenting scientific results. In the analysis portions of the project, he will collaborate with the research team on estimation of population based ADRD prevalence rate and the analyses of the associations between international migration, armed conflict and ADRD.
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Co-Investigator
+977 9851177687
Cultural Anthropologist and Associate Professor, Tribhuvan University
Prof. Dr. Janak Rai is a cultural anthropologist and Associate Professor at Tribhuvan University and has extensive knowledge on the fabric of the Nepali population and culture to inform the content and translation of survey instruments. As a Co-Investigator, his responsibilities on this project include providing cultural perspective on research instrument translation, validation, and research staff training. Dr. Rai will be involved in qualitative data analysis, writing manuscripts, and presenting scientific results. In the analysis portions of the project, he will collaborate with the research team on the analyses of the associations between religio-ethnic status, armed conflict and ADRD.
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Research Affiliate
+977 9851010574
MBBS, MD Griatric Medicine
Dr. Umesh Bogati is a consultant, he brings essential geriatric expertise to the project, addressing a critical gap in the original proposal. Currently an Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute at the University of California, San Francisco, Dr. Bogati has been working as a Geriatrician and COVID Coordinator at NAMS, Bir Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal. He is also actively involved with the National Health Training Center, the Ministry of Health & Population, and the Ministry of Women, Children & Senior Citizen as an expert. Including Dr. Bogati in the team significantly enhances the project's focus on geriatric care.
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Research Affiliate
+977 9841281688
MBBS, MD, MIPH, Geriatric Fellowship
Prof. Dr. Lochana Shrestha is a consultant on the project and is currently the Head of the Department of Community Medicine at the Nepalese Army Institute of Health Sciences, Kathmandu. She also serves as the Chairman of Health Home Care Nepal (Elderly Care Home) and is the President of the Nepalese Society of Community Medicine (NESCOM). With over 25 years of professional experience, Dr. Shrestha has dedicated her career to Preventive Medicine, Public Health, International Health, and Geriatric Health.
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Research Affiliate
+1 513-282-5472
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Usha Dhakal is a registered nurse and a trained gerontologist. She completed her Ph.D. in Social Gerontology at Miami University of Ohio. Currently, she works as a postdoctoral fellow in epidemiology of aging under the mentorship of Dr. Carlos Mendes de Leon at Georgetown University. Dr. Dhakal's research focuses on the health and well-being of older adults, primarily examining social and behavioral risk factors that impact their physical and cognitive health. Other areas of her work include aging in place, long-term care, evaluation research, and the use of longitudinal methods. In CVFS-SCAN, she will work with research investigator team in designing and adoptation of survey questions. Additionally, Dr. Dhakal will be involved in data analyses, writing manuscripts, and presenting at scientific conferences.
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Research Affiliate
+977 9868153654
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Abha Sharma was a Postdoctoral Fellow at ISER-N from August 1, 2023 to July 31, 2024. During her fellowship, she was involved in the Chitwan Valley Family Study – Study of Cognition and Aging in Nepal (CVFS-SCAN) under the supervision of Dr. Dirgha Ghimire and Dr. Uttam Sharma. In the CVFS-SCAN study, she contributed to the development, translation, testing, and validation of research instruments. She actively participated in interdisciplinary collaborations, mentored junior researchers, and ensured strict adherence to research protocols and ethical standards, with a strong emphasis on participant confidentiality.
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