Sapna Mishra
Areas of Interest & Expertise
- Work and Health
- Health Policy and System Research
- Philosophy of Research
- Rights-based Research
- Politics of Knowledge Creation
- Sexual and Reproductive Health
Biography
Prior to joining Azim Premji University, Sapna was working as a consultant for the World Association for Sexual Health (WAS). She was engaged in the mapping and review of grey literature on sexual justice with an objective to understand the conceptualisation of sexual justice. She has also worked as a consultant with Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters (SRHM) in the area of rights-based knowledge creation.
Sapna has a PhD in Public Health. She earned her doctoral degree from Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala (August 2016 – December 2021).
Her doctoral work explored the occupational health of workers engaged in e‑waste processing in the unorganised sector of a south Indian city. She approached this problem from a sociological perspective and concluded that the occupational health of workers could be shaped by the employment and working conditions which are firmly and deeply embedded in the existing institutional arrangements. These institutional arrangements are driven by national and state-level policies, which are in turn clearly reflective of the power relations existing at a macro-level.
She obtained her master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Hyderabad (2014 – 2016) and bachelor’s degree in Physiotherapy from Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Memorial Health Science and Ayush University, Chhattisgarh.
Courses
Intersectoral approach to public health actions
Discussing some of the long-standing as well as emerging public health concerns that need inter-sectoral thinking and actions.
Applied Epidemiology: Generating quantitative evidence in health
Understanding epidemiological research using health reports, analyzing secondary data and other biostatistical tools.
Understanding health systems and policy
This course examines different health systems frameworks to locate public health issues.
Methods for Social Research and Action
Learn how to define a problem, design research, collect data and present findings.
Journal Articles
- Mishra, S., Maringanti, A., Gaitonde, R. (2021). Coping with precarious work: A case of rampant use of Tetanus Toxoid (TT) injection by the workers in unorganized e‑waste sector in the slums of a South Indian city. Journal of Indian Anthropological Society. 56(3), 309 – 325.
- Mishra, S., Gaitonde, R. (2021). Challenges of informed consent during a political crisis: A case study of research with a marginalised group. Indian Journal of Medical Ethics. VI(3), 1 – 5. https://doi.org/10.20529/IJME.2020.130
- Mohan, M., Mishra, S. (2021). India’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic: A frontal assault on the “historically dispossessed.” International Journal of Health Services. 51(1),107 – 114. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0020731420968438
- Mishra, S. (2019). Perceived and manifested health problems among informal e‑waste handlers: A scoping review. Indian Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 23(1), 7 – 14. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijoem.IJOEM_231_18
- Mishra, S., Shamanna, B.R., Kannan, S. (2017). Exploring the awareness regarding e‑waste and its health hazards among the informal handlers in Musheerabad area of Hyderabad.Indian Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 21(3), 143 – 148. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijoem.IJOEM_116_17
Chapter in Edited Book
- Mishra, S., Mohan, M., Gaitonde, R. (2022) Covid-19 Pandemic and Interstate Migrants: Documenting the Response of the Health System and Civil Society. In S. Irudaya Rajan (Ed.), India Migration (pp. 162 – 180). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003287667
Other writings
Book Chapters and Articles accepted for publication
- Mini, G.K., Mishra, S., Lordson, J., Mohan, M. (in press). Exploring problematizations underlying Tuberculosis control strategies: A cross-country analysis of India and Kenya. Tuberculosis: Integrated studies for a Complex Disease. Springer Nature.
- Mohan, M., Mishra, S. (in press). Embodiment of caste: Decoding the underlying mechanisms of health inequity. EPW Engage (Economic & Political Weekly Engage).
Fellowships received
- India Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR) fellowship (2021 – 2022 cohort) for a period of 18 months.
- University Grants Commission – National Eligibility Test (UGC NET) for Junior Research fellowship (JRF) for full-time research in Public Health (2015).