Kiruthika Selvaraj, PhD
What do you do at the Centre?
I bring expertise in public health nutrition and mixed-methods research to the Centre, with a particular interest in the connections between nutrition, injury, chronic disease and mental health. Nutrition can play an important role across the injury pathway—from prevention to recovery and rehabilitation—and these relationships may be especially important among vulnerable populations. Having recently joined the Centre, I look forward to developing this area of work and contributing to research that can inform prevention, care and health system policy and practice.
What draws you to this work?
Working with diverse populations across India has made me curious about the many factors that shape people’s health and behaviours. Personal circumstances, social environments and wider structural factors are deeply interconnected, yet we often study them in isolation. I am drawn to the Centre’s people-first approach and its emphasis on understanding health within the realities of people’s lives. I am particularly interested in exploring how nutrition intersects with injury, chronic disease and mental health, and how a better understanding of these connections can contribute to more effective prevention, care and policy.