Aradhana Thapa Wins 2026 Mariam K. Chamberlain Dissertation Award

We are pleased to announce Aradhana Thapa, a PhD candidate in Global Health and Development at Emory University, as the recipient of the 2026 Mariam K. Chamberlain Dissertation Award.

The Mariam K. Chamberlain Dissertation Award is named in honor of the founder of Re:Gender (formerly the National Council for Research on Women), a U.S.-based gender research institution that merged with ICRW in 2016. Mariam helped shape and launch the women’s studies academic and research movements in the United States and around the world. Through the Mariam K. Chamberlain Dissertation Award, Mariam’s work fostering high-level scholarship and promoting mentorship continues through its support of a first-generation doctoral student conducting research to advance gender equality and social inclusion.

We are proud to honor Aradhana as she proceeds with her doctoral research. Her dissertation examines the use of AI-powered sexual and reproductive health chatbots among women living in underserved urban communities in India.

Through partnerships with community-based organizations, Aradhana studies how women engage with AI systems for sensitive health needs, how social and structural inequities shape their experiences, and what safeguards are necessary to ensure that AI-enabled health interventions are trustworthy, inclusive, and equitable.

Aradhana is committed to ensuring that advances in technology expand access, dignity, and opportunity rather than amplify existing disparities. Through her research, leadership, and advocacy, she seeks to shape a future in which digital health technologies, including AI, are deployed responsibly and serve as tools to empower communities and improve health outcomes worldwide.

Before her doctoral studies, Aradhana held leadership roles in healthcare delivery and community health programs in Nepal. She has worked with nonprofit organizations, government stakeholders, researchers, and community partners across multiple countries to strengthen health systems, advance community-centered approaches, and promote health equity. She continues to contribute through advisory roles supporting community health initiatives.

Aradhana has an MPH from the University of Washington and a BPH from Purbanchal University.

SELECT HIGHLIGHTS OF ARADHANA’S WORK:

• Dey, S.K., S, M., Thapa, A., Shah, M., Mehta, Z., Kapile, S.K., Divate, T., Jalota, S. and Ismail, A. (2026). Understanding User Intent in Code-Mixed Sexual and Reproductive Health Queries in Urban India: Hierarchical Classification Approach Using Large Language Models. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 28, p.e86545.
• Shervinskie, A., Negi, J., Bhandari, A., Sah, N., Thapa, A., … & Clark, C. J. (2025). Impact of the Change Starts at Home Intervention on Intimate Partner Violence and Related Outcomes: A Mixed Methods Analysis. Journal of Family Violence, 1-13.
• Choudhury, N., Wu, W. J., Khatri, R., Tiwari, A., Thapa, A., Adhikari, S., … &Sapkota, S. (2024). “Even things they won’t share with their sisters-in-law”–Assessing an integrated Community Health Worker intervention on person-centered postpartum contraception in rural Nepal. medRxiv, 2024-05.
• Ballard, M., Olaniran, A., Iberico, M., Rogers, A., Thapa, A., Cook, J., Aranda, Z., French, M., Olsen, H.E., Haughton, J. and Lassala, D. (2022). Community Service or Labour Exploitation? A Systematic Review of’ Dual Cadre Community Health Worker Programmes. The Lancet Global Health, 11 (10), e1598-e1608.
• Tiwari, A., Thapa, A., Choudhury, N., Khatri, R., Sapkota, S., Wu, W. J., … & Maru, S.(2023). A Type II hybrid effectiveness-implementation study of an integrated CHW intervention to address maternal healthcare in rural Nepal. PLOS Global Public Health, 3(1), e0001512.