Suvasini Balaji

Passionate about international health and committed to platforming community voices in social impact programs, with particular interest in gender equity, reproductive health, digital health, and health systems. Skilled in systematic literature review, quantitative and qualitative analysis, and project management. Spent 1 year in Nairobi, Kenya supporting an NIH R01 project on the dissemination and implementation of a web-based safety planning tool for women experiencing intimate partner violence, and 3 months in China supporting youth mental health. Looking for opportunities to continue to support evidence-based and community-driven projects in international development.

Ujamaa-Africa; Johns Hopkins School of Public Health
Nairobi, Kenya
Field Office Manager, Research Assistant; Mentored by Dr. Michele Decker
Summer 2022 - present

• Supporting NIH R01 project on the dissemination and implementation of myPlanKenya, a web-based safety planning tool for women experiencing intimate partner violence
• Train and manage 7 field officers to recruit a target of 100 organizations (in health and justice sectors and community-based networks) to refer women to the app and research study
• Establish relationships with NGOs, county and sub-county Ministries and health centers, and justice facilities to recruit disseminators to refer women to the app and study
• Held forum for 30 Ministry of Health officials to acquire MoU approving health facility rollout 
• Developing framework on eHealth/GBV intervention implementation for Master’s thesis paper

Johns Hopkins School of Public Health  
Baltimore, MD
Research Assistant; Mentored by Dr. Shannon Wood, Dr. Celia Karp                           
Fall 2020 – Spring 2022

• Conducted systematic literature review on the impact of COVID on contraception and abortion access worldwide; contributed to report for Bill & Melinda Gates Institute 
• Analyzed data and authored report for undergraduate Honors thesis on correlates of mental health outcomes among survivors of intimate partner violence in Kenya (paper under peer review)
• Analyzed data on Stata on correlates of reproductive coercion in Nigeria, Kenya, and Cote d’Ivoire

World Health Organization, Western Pacific Regional Office                                                             
Remote
Working Group Member/Consultant; Lead Consultant: Dr. Brian Hall
Summer 2020

• Contributed to scoping review of COVID-19-related psychosocial and community interventions in Western Pacific Region

Global and Community Mental Health Research Group
Macao SAR, China
Visiting Research Fellow; Mentored by Dr. Brian Hall
Summer 2019 

• Awardee of $3500 JHSPH Global Health Established Field Placement travel grant
• Used network analysis on R to investigate associations between addictive behavior and PTSD symptoms among Filipino migrant workers in Macao; contributed to published report
• Organized crowdsourcing contest in Macao for Chinese youth to market a culturally adapted WHO digital mental health intervention; contributed to published report
• Synthesized literature on cultural aspects of psychiatric illness for inclusion in the DSM-5-TR

TurnAround, Inc.
Baltimore, MD
Community Engagement Team Intern; Supervised by Angeles Evans
Fall 2021 – Spring 2022

• Analyzed quantitative and qualitative climate survey results from Baltimore schools to contribute to needs assessment report on sexual harassment, dating abuse, and discrimination
• Created surveys to gauge survivor needs for organization serving survivors of sexual violence

Performance Monitoring for Action, Data Management Team
Baltimore, MD
Research Assistant; Supervised by Dr. Shannon Wood, Dr. Aisha Siewe
Summer – Fall 2021

• Reviewed data briefs and developed indicator tables on reproductive health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries for project with Bill & Melinda Gates Institute
• Reviewed and updated code to clean and manage large-scale datasets on Stata and GitKraken
• Reviewed and tested ODK-based survey instruments

Rose: Smarter Mental Health
Baltimore, MD
Public Health Intern; Supervised by Dr. Atif Adam
Summer 2020

• Coded natural language processing (NLP) algorithm on Python to identify mobile app users’ journal entries that indicate suicide risk
• Adapted startup’s mental health mobile app facilitating feedback-informed care for clinicians experiencing burnout amid COVID-19: compiled mental health resource database and wireframes for the app

Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, GPA: 4.0
Baltimore, MD
MSPH in Population, Family, and Reproductive Health
Expected May 2023

Specializing in Evaluation of International Health Programs; Maternal and Child Health; Women's, Sexual, and Reproductive Health

Johns Hopkins University, GPA: 4.0    
Baltimore, MD
BA in Public Health Studies with Honors, BA in Psychology
May 2021

Outstanding Senior Award in Public Health Studies – awarded to one Public Health senior
Dean of Student Life Achievement Award – for significant contributions to the Hopkins community
Global Health Established Field Placement Grant – travel grant supporting research abroad