Dr. Shubh Aastha
Public Health Professional
Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar
Summary
Dr. Shubh Aastha is a dedicated public health professional with a BDS and MPH, currently serving as a Project Officer at UNDP in Punjab. She has experience in executing large-scale public health initiatives, including the COVID-19 vaccination drive. She has been honored for her exceptional contributions during the pandemic by State of Punjab. She aspires to utilize her technical expertise and strategic planning abilities to lead impactful health initiatives, promoting comprehensive well-being for individuals, families, and communities.
Overview
9
9
years of professional experience
2
2
Certifications
Work History
Project officer: Operations
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
12.2020 - Current
- Provided comprehensive technical assistance to the Department of Health and Family Welfare for the COVID-19 vaccination rollout, including training health officials, capturing and updating data, capacity building, conducting dry runs, monitoring, and maintaining a regular feedback mechanism.
- Coordinated with district-level officers to ensure the smooth implementation of the COVID-19 Vaccine Intelligence Network (CoWIN), a cloud-based IT platform for beneficiary registration, session microplanning, real-time vaccination reporting, and certificate issuance.
- Successfully implemented the Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN) to support the Universal Immunization Programme by enhancing health system strength and optimizing vaccine flow management through efficient data-driven approaches.
- Maintained supply chain balance through a push-pull mechanism, monitoring vaccine stores, cold chain equipment, session sites, and training personnel involved in the universal immunization program.
- Conducted regular documentation, report writing, and prepared brief notes for the Chief Minister's office, Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary, and other state officials.
- Performed regular data analysis to identify programmatic gaps and supported state health officials in implementing necessary interventions.
- Participated in state and district task force meetings to contribute to decision-making processes related to vaccination.
- Engaged in advocacy and liaised with government bodies and development partners at state and district levels to assess capacity needs and provide the necessary support for effective eVIN implementation.
- Facilitated communication and advocacy with government officials to secure the signing of Memoranda of Agreement (MOA), ensuring seamless eVIN project operations.
- Collaborated closely with regional and district health officials and coordinated with other immunization partners such as JSI and WHO.
- Compiled budgetary requirements for the eVIN project within the State Program Implementation Plan (PIP) and facilitated fund disbursement from NHM Punjab to UNDP.
- Shared timely field observations and established a feedback mechanism for quick troubleshooting.
- Assisted the Senior Project Officer in identifying and addressing capacity-building needs related to eVIN.
- Monitoring of vaccine logistics, inventory, and stock levels to prevent stockouts, low stocks, and excess stocks.
Public health Infosys fellow in the Tribal Health Team
Society for Education, Action, and Research in Community Health (SEARCH)
07.2018 - 07.2020
- Programmatic activities: Malaria epidemic control- strategic planning to control an epidemic, developing a dashboard to track village -wise malaria cases, conducting screening and treatment of malaria cases in high load villages through a rapid response team
- Tuberculosis control- strategic planning and developing measurable program indicators for monitoring and evaluation for early diagnosis and adherence to complete treatment, field team MIS and tracking of cases
- Diarrhoea epidemic control- investigated an epidemic of diarrhoea in a tribal village which included water testing, identifying the source, eliminating the cause, rumor control, and communicating the cause to the community
- Designing data-driven program strategies and implementation
- Monitoring and evaluation of the program using indicators
- Participation in a survey for mass screening and treatment of scabies
- Refresher training of community health workers and supervisors by using audio-visual aids
- Annual budging and costing of the tribal health program
- Preparing behavior change communication strategies for the community
- Verbal autopsy coding to provide a cause of death
- Involved in organizing two Public Health Practice Workshops at SEARCH
- Research activities: Designing, planning, implementing, training of research interns for data collection, supervision, data management, and analysis and manuscript writing of the following community-based studies in the tribal service area of SEARCH
- Other activities: Scientific paper presentations in the journal club.
Research Assistant (Intern)
Public Health Foundation of India, IIPH- B, Christian Medical College Vellore
02.2018 - 05.2018
- Context: The CMC Vellore along with the state government was involved in planning to implement a project on major hemoglobinopathies including thalassemia and Sickle cell disease in Odisha state, so comprehensive situational analysis was planned along with IIPH B in tribal areas including Burla, Koraput, Balasore, Bargarh, Sambalpur, Cuttack and Bhubaneshwar
- Key responsibilities: Designing study instruments and qualitative data collection for situational analysis of thalassemia and sickle cell disease in Odisha
- Assist in data analysis and preparation of a draft report
- Mapping all existing programmes, institutes and infrastructure (including diagnostics) for prevention, control and treatment of Thalassemia and Sickle cell disease
- Systematic review of the literature
- Management of various stakeholders in the research project.
Scientist B under the TB tribal project
Indian Council of Medical Research, Regional Medical Research Center (ICMR)
10.2015 - 06.2016
- (Project: To estimate the burden of TB among the tribal population and develop an innovative health system model to strengthen TB control) Planning and undertaking research on different aspects of the project in the Nicobar Islands
- Monitoring the process and timely evaluation
- Supervision, data verification and data validation
- Developing programmes for research and training in the project
- Management of various stakeholders
- Supervision of the research project team for delivering project needs
- Report writing, scientific proposal writing and policy brief preparation
- Event planning and organizing workshops under the project.
Education
Bachelor in Dental Surgery -
National Dental College And Hospital
DeraBassi 04.2001 -
Master in Public Health (MPH) With Fellowship - Health Economics, Financing And Policy
Indian Institute of Public Health, PHFI
Delhi 04.2001 -
Skills
Implementing large-scale public health programs
STATA and SPSS for data analysis
Tableau for data visualization
Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel
Epi collect 5 and Kobo tool for data capturing
Google Sheets for data management
Atlas Ti and NVivo for qualitative analysis
Liaisoning with State officials and development partners
Strong written and oral communication skills
Work collaboratively in a team and independently with minimal supervision
Quick learner and creative problem solver
Result-driven approach to tasks
Managing multiple priorities and work under tight deadlines
Language proficiency: English, Hindi, Punjabi, and Marathi
Certification
Monitoring and evaluation of Health programs (Distance learning) - Public Health Foundation of India
Conference Presentations
Abstract presentation of a study on barriers to diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis in a tribal community in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra: A qualitative study in 64th Annual National Conference of Indian Public Association, March 2020, AIIMS, New Delhi.
Research Papers
- Barriers to diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis in a tribal community in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra: A qualitative study (manuscript under preparation)
- Prevalence of selected Oral diseases in a tribal community in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra (manuscript under preparation)
- Health care-seeking pattern and expenditure on health care in a tribal community in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra (data under analysis)
Awards
- Awarded by Government of Punjab for Courageous and Dedicated services during the COVID-19 pandemic while working as Project officer-operations in UNDP.
- Infosys fellowship from the Infosys Foundation for pursuing Master’s in Public Health followed by two years of work in a grass-roots organization (only 4 students were awarded in batch 2016-18).
- Award by National Dental college, Derabassi for organizing and participation in various Dental camps in rural areas.
Training
- 64th Annual National Conference of Indian Public Association, March 2020, AIIMS, New Delhi.
- National Conference on Tribal Health Research- Issues, challenges and opportunities September 2019, Pravara institute of medical science, Loni, Ahmednagar.
- 2nd National Conference on Health Technology Assessment, February 2018, PGIMER, Chandigarh.
- National Conference on Financing Universal Health Coverage in India, September 2016, USAID & PHFI, Delhi.
Reference
- Dr. Manisha Mandal, Training officer UNDP,
Mobile: 8447798480
email:thedreamison8@gmail.com
- Dr. Yogeshwar Kalkonde, Team Lead, Tribal Health Programme, SEARCH,
email: yvkalkonde@gmail.com
Timeline
Project officer: Operations
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
12.2020 - Current
Public health Infosys fellow in the Tribal Health Team
Society for Education, Action, and Research in Community Health (SEARCH)
07.2018 - 07.2020
Research Assistant (Intern)
Public Health Foundation of India, IIPH- B, Christian Medical College Vellore
02.2018 - 05.2018
Scientist B under the TB tribal project
Indian Council of Medical Research, Regional Medical Research Center (ICMR)
10.2015 - 06.2016
Bachelor in Dental Surgery -
National Dental College And Hospital
04.2001 -
Master in Public Health (MPH) With Fellowship - Health Economics, Financing And Policy
Indian Institute of Public Health, PHFI
04.2001 -