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Syeda Tahmina Ahmed

Senior Research Associate

Centre of Excellence for Urban Equity and Health (CUEH)

Short Biography

Syeda Tahmina Ahmed is a Senior Research Associate at BRAC JPGSPH, BRAC University, with a background in Architecture and Public Health; and 6 years of research experience at the school. She graduated from the flagship MPH program of the school in 2021 with “Amena Azfar and Hurmatunnessa Rob” scholarship for meritorious women pursuing Public Health education. Her expertise lies in designing, conducting, and mentoring Qualitative research methods and Scoping reviews. She also has extensive knowledge and exposure to Implementation, Mixed-method, and Quantitative research. Her interest areas of housing and environment converge with mainstream public health research, particularly through policy analysis and systems research. Her recent involvement in the CoE-UE&H is in designing and leading qualitative components across several studies under two consortia where she explores the prospects of strategic purchasing for Primary Health Care, cycling infrastructure for transportation and mobility, and ambient light in low-income households in the context of Dhaka. Earlier at the CoE-SISU, she participated in assessing the barriers to female birth and death registration. During the pandemic, she coordinated a mixed-method study in a group of 9 that explored the institutional, political, organizational, and governance factors of the COVID-19 response in Bangladesh. She has taught in a variety of Master’s level courses, facilitated short courses, tutored in lab classes, and mentored students with their thesis in the MPH program at the school. She received the ‘Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain’ Award for outstanding performance in teaching Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases in 2023. She has co-authored extensively and published in The Lancet Regional Health- Southeast Asia and Health Policy and Planning as a primary and first author.

Module(s) taught (in MPH)

  • MPH 501: Introduction to Public Health
  • MPH 512: Anthropological Approaches to Public Health
  • MPH 511: Qualitative Research Method
  • MPH 520: Quantitative Research Methods
  • MPH 620: Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases
  • MPH 700 Summative Learning project

Current Projects

1. Project: Community-led Responsive and Effective Urban Health Systems (CHORUS)
Donor: FCDO
Role: Co-I 

2. Pathways to Equitable Healthy Citites
Donor: Wellcome Trust
Role: Co-I

Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications

1. Ahmed, S. T., Haider, S. S., Hanif, S., Anwar, H. B., Mehjabeen, S., Closser, S., Bazant, E., & Sarker, M. (2023). A scoping review on integrated health campaigns for immunization in low and middle-income countries. Health Policy and Planning. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czad082

2. Mercado, V. J. P., Saha, A., Ahmed, S. T., Haider, S. S., Ghosh, P., & Hossain, S. S. A. (2022). HIV testing services for key populations in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: A Scoping Review. Journal for Service Quality Enhancement, 1(1), 117. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ze1O4KBEBiR3Lr8-PBzGfaiGnlx5znTb/view

3. Sarker, M., Hossain, P., Ahmed, S. T., Barua, M., Sutradhar, I., & Ahmed, S. M. (2022). A critical look at synergies and fragmentations of universal health coverage, global health security, and health promotion in delivery of frontline health care services: A case study of Bangladesh. The Lancet Regional Health. Southeast Asia, 7(100087), 100087. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lansea.2022.100087

Other Publications

1. Ahmed ST. Integrated Health Campaigns in Immunization: A Scoping Review of literature from Low and Middle-Income countries [Internet]. 2022. Available from: https://cugh.confex.com/cugh/2022/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/2247

2. Ahmed ST. Roles of Community Health Workers (CHWs) in COVID-19 Response and Routine Service Delivery during Pandemic: A Scoping Review of Literature for WHO South-East Asian Region (WHO SEAR) Countries with Existing CHW Programs [Internet]. 2022. Available from: https://cugh.confex.com/cugh/2022/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/1754

5) This point is a bit extra. As I have worked in both the Centers of Excellence for UE&H (Dec 2022- present) and SISU (2017-Nov 2022); it would have been great if I could give this entry as multiple answers, if not the period. I will leave it up to your better judgment. 

Awards

Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain' Teaching Fellow award, BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, 2023

'Amena Azfar and Hurmatunnessa Rob' scholarship for meritorious women in Public Health, BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, 2020

Research Interests


Health Policy and Systems Comparative analysis of Health Policies Urban Housing and Health Effect of poor urban spaces and policies on Health outcomes and systems Environmental pollutants' pathways to urban issues and spatial analysis and Climate Change

Education


  • MPH (BRAC University)
  • B.Arch (BRAC University)