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Professor Papreen Nahar

Dr Papreen Nahar

Professor Papreen Nahar (PhD, MA, MSc)

Research Professor (Medical Anthropology and Global Health)
E: p.nahar@bsms.ac.uk
T: 01273 075323
Location: Room 3.08, Medical School Teaching Building, BSMS, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9PX

Areas of expertise: Infertility/Childlessness, Women’s health, Social exclusion, Inequity in health

Research areas: Ethnography, Qualitative Research, Participatory Research, Co-Designing

Other relevant positions: Department representative, EDI, Member of Centre for Cultures of Reproduction, Technologies and Health (CORTH), Technologies and Health, School of Global Studies, NIHR-ICBS Training Lead.

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5817-8093

BACKGROUND IMAGE FOR PANEL

Biography

Papreen Nahar is Professor of Medical Anthropology and Global Health with more than twenty years of research experience spanning global health, women’s health and medical anthropology.

Her work focuses on infertility, gender, intersectionality, social exclusion and health inequities. Papreen holds a Master’s and PhD in Medical Anthropology from the University of Amsterdam, and an earlier Master’s in Child Development and Family Relations from the University of Dhaka.

She is currently leading global health projects on infertility, including co-designing art therapy interventions for women experiencing gender-based violence (GBV) in the context of infertility and assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) in Bangladesh; improving access to fertility services for infertile men in Bangladesh; and co-leading two projects: an infertility policy survey in SEARO countries, and racism and inequalities in mental health care in Brazil.

She specialises in ethnography, co-design in implementation research and participatory qualitative methods, with a strong commitment to community engagement, equitable partnerships, and capacity building in South Asia and East Africa.

Beyond infertility, her research spans a wide range of global health issues, including neglected tropical diseases (Mycetoma, Podoconiosis), antimicrobial resistance, diabetes, depression, cardiovascular disease, NHS patient feedback systems, m-health, stigma, self-management, reproductive health, acculturation, wellbeing of ethnic minoritised populations, adolescent sexuality, and the impacts of natural disasters.

She has led and collaborated on global health research and capacity –strengthening initiatives in Bangladesh, India, Sudan, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Brazil, the Netherlands and the UK.

Originally from Bangladesh, Papreen has published more than 55 journal articles and book chapters. She is the sole author of a book on infertility, Childlessness in Bangladesh (Routledge, UK), the first ethnography of infertility in Bangladesh and among the very few in South Asia, which advances a novel intersectional framework.

Papreen is currently Lead Guest Editor for a special collection in the International Journal for Equity in Health (IJEH). She is co-leading a Master's Module: MDM203 Medical Anthropology for Global Public Health. Papreen actively supervises and recruits PhD students. 

Research 

Papreen is currently leading several global health research projects:

  1. Infertility and Assisted Reproduction as Violent Experiences for Women in Bangladesh: Arts-based Intervention to Address GBV (Arts for I-ARTs). PI, AHRC Funded
  2. Lived Experiences of Infertile Men and Fertility Care Provision within the Biomedical Sector in Urban Bangladesh. PI, WHO Funded
  3. Intersectional and Intercultural approaches to tackle inequalities in mental health care in Brazil (ORI). Co-I, collaboration with University of Warwick. NIHR funded
  4. Consortium for the assessment and reporting of infertility policies and services in the 11 countries of the WHO South-East Asia Region. Co-I, collaboration with Canterbury Christ Church University. WHO Funded.

Recently completed selected research projects include:

  • Social Science for Severely Stigmatising Skin Conditions in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Rwanda [5-S Foundation]
  • Co-design Community Engagement for Cardiovascular Disorders Risk Prevention in UK: Implementation research – Belgium, France, South Africa, Uganda and UK [SPICES study]
  • Improving Co-morbidity and capacity building on Non-Communicable Diseases and common mental health conditions – Bangladesh, India, Pakistan [IMPACT study]
  • Morbidity management, and disability and stigma prevention [IMPRESS study]
  • Tackling AMR – Social Lives of Medicines – Bangladesh [PAUSE study]
  • Developing and enhancing the usefulness of Patient Experience and Narrative Data within the NHS system from Manchester University
  • A Trusted Mobile Platform for the Self-Management of Chronic Illness in Rural Areas of India and the UK from Newcastle University
  • Differential acculturation and its impact on well-being among Bangladeshi migrants in the North-East and South (London) UK, Durham University
  • Adolescent Sexuality project, Do they match? Young people’s realities and needs relating to sexuality and youth-friendly service provision in Bangladesh, IIPH
  • On the response of British Pakistani Muslims towards new reproductive technologies, Durham University
  • Meaning of health security for disaster resilience among Bangladeshi migrants, ICDDR,B and Northumbria University.
BACKGROUND IMAGE FOR PANEL

Teaching

Co-leading Module: MDM203 Medical Anthropology for Global Public Health.
Taught for both Master’s and Undergraduate courses, subjects include: Medical Anthropology, Global Health, Qualitative research methodology, International health and development, Health and society, Infertility in developing countries, Reproductive health and sexuality. Supervising PhDs, MSc, IRP.

Selected publications

Book:

Papreen Nahar (2022), Childlessness in Bangladesh: Intersectionality, Suffering and Resilience, Routledge, UK.

Journal Articles:

Nahar P, Shafique S, Satalkar-Götz P, Sultana F, Mburu G. (2024). Experience, access and utilisation of fertility care for infertile men within the biomedical sector in urban Bangladesh: protocol for a qualitative study. BMJ Open. 22;14(12):e092365. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-092365. PMID: 39806607; PMCID: PMC11664372

Nahar P., Sharma A., Sabin K., Begum L., Ahsan SK., Baqui AH. (2000). Living with infertility: experiences among Urban slum populations in Bangladesh. Reproductive Health Matters. 8(15):33-44. doi:10.1016/s0968-8080(00)90004-1 

Nahar P. and van der Geest S. (2014). How Women in Bangladesh Confront the Stigma of Childlessness: Agency, Resilience, and Resistance. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 28 (3): 381-398, doi.10.1111/maq.12094

Van der Geest, S. and Nahar, P. (2013). Understanding life through unwanted childlessness Ethnography and fiction from Ghana, Bangladesh and ‘Dystopia’. Anthropology Today, 29 (3): 3-7, doi: 10.1111/1467-8322.12027

Nahar P. and Richters A. (2011). Suffering of childless women in Bangladesh: the intersection of social identities of gender and class. Anthropology & Medicine, 18 (3): 327-338, doi.org/10.1080/13648470.2011.615911

Nahar P. (2010). Health Seeking Behaviour of Childless Women in Bangladesh: An Ethnographic Exploration. Social Science & Medicine, 71 (10): 1780-1787. doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.07.026

Nahar P. (2012). Link between infertility and poverty: evidence from Bangladesh. Human Fertility. 15 (1): 18-26, doi.10.3109/14647273.2012.658111

Nahar P. (2012). Invisible women in Bangladesh: Stakeholders’ views on infertility services. FVV in ObGyn, 4 (3): 149-156. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24753904/

Nahar P., Kannuri NK., Mikkilineni S., Murthy GVS., Phillimore P.  (2017). At the margins of biomedicine: the ambiguous position of 'Registered Medical Practitioners' in rural Indian healthcare. Sociol Health Illn. 39(4):614-628. Doi.10.1111/1467-9566.12521

Nahar P., Kannuri NK., Mikkilineni S.,  Murthy GVS., Phillimore P.  (2017).  m-Health and the management of chronic conditions in rural areas: a note of caution from southern India. Anthropology & Medicine. 24:1. 1-16,  doi.10.1080/13648470.2016.1263824

James LR., Sandra LL., Nahar K., Muna L., Nahar P., Pelto PJ. (1998). Women’s Health priorities: cultural perspectives on illness in rural Bangladesh. Health,  2 (1): 91-110. doi.org/10.1177/13634593980020010

Engdawork K, Tadele G, Davey G, Nahar P, Zaman S.  (2025). Interaction of contextual, setting and implementation factors on a podoconiosis intervention in Rural Ethiopia: Results from a qualitative study. PLoS One. 11;20(7):e0328237. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0328237

Bikorimana JP., Davey G., Mukabera J., Zaman S., Mugume PJ., Nahar P. (2024). Uncovering intersecting stigmas experienced by people affected by podoconiosis in Nyamasheke district, Rwanda. PLoS Negl Trop Dis, 18(10): e0012603. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0012603

Zaman S., Nahar  P., MacGregor H., Barker  T., Bayisenge J., Callow C.,  Fairhead J.,  Ahmed F.,  Hounsome N., Roemer-Mahler A., Mugume P.,  Tadele  G.,  Davey G. (2020). Severely stigmatised skin condition neglected tropical diseases: a protocol for social science engagement, Transactions of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Vol.114, Iss.12, 1013–1020. doi.org/10.1093/trstmh/traa141

Wright J., Mazumdar P.,  Barua D., Lina S., Bibi H., Kanwal A., Mujeeb F., Naz Q., Safi R., Ul Haq B., Rana RZ.,  Nahar P., Jennings H., Sikander S., Huque R.,  Nizami A., Jackson C. (2020). Integrating depression care within NCD provision in Bangladesh and Pakistan: a qualitative study. Int J Ment Health Syst,  14:63. ID: 10.1186/s13033-020-00399-y

Grice-Jackson T., Rogers I., Ford E., Van Marwijk H., Topham C., Musinguzi G., Bastiaens H., Gibson L., Bower M., Nahar P.  (2023). The Pre-Implementation Phase of a Project Seeking to Deliver a Community-Based CVD Prevention Intervention (SPICES-Sussex): A Qualitative Study Exploring Views and Experience Relating to Intervention Development. Health Promot Pract. 25(6):1009-1022. doi: 10.1177/15248399231182139


Ong BN, Hodgson D., Small N.,  Nahar P.,  Sanders C.  (2020). Implementing a digital patient feedback system: an analysis using normalisation process theory. BMC Health Services Research, 20:387. DOI: 10.1186/s12913-020-05234-1


Nahar P., Unicomb LE., Lucas PJ., Uddin MR., Islam MA., Nizame FA., Khisa N., Akter SMS., Rousham EK.  (2020). What contributes to inappropriate antibiotic dispensing among qualified and unqualified healthcare providers in Bangladesh? A qualitative study. BMC Health Serv Res.15;20(1):656. Doi.10.1186/s12913-020-05512-y 

Begum K., Cooper GD., Akhter N., Nahar P., Kasim A., Bentley GR. (2022). Early life, life course and gender influences on levels of C-reactive protein among migrant Bangladeshis in the UK, Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health, Volume 10, Issue 1, 2022, Pages 21–35, doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoab041

Nahar P., van Reeuwijk M  Reis,  R. (2013). Contextualising sexual harassment of adolescent girls in Bangladesh. Reproductive Health Matters; 21 (41):78-86, doi.10.1016/S0968-8080(13)41696-8

Nahar P., Collins AE., Bhuiya A., Alamgir F., Ray-Bennett N., Edgeworth R. (2012). Indigenous indicators of health security in relation to climatic disasters in Bangladesh. Environmental Hazards, 12(1), 32–46. doi.org/10.1080/17477891.2012.749029

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