As Equalize Health’s Research Associate, Ekta is part of the UQ team. She is responsible for gathering information on the prerequisites to conduct and execute primary and secondary research by providing extensive multi-dimensional research support that spans Equalize Health’s internal departments. She conducts literature reviews of existing and ongoing research to inform study designs.
Ekta joined Equalize Health to strengthen and improve the healthcare system and address the inequalities in India’s public health system to facilitate the delivery of equal health opportunities among the deprived.
Ekta has over four and a half years of ethnographic research work experience. She started her career in Medical Anthropology by conducting the studies entitled, "Community attitude towards abortions and functioning of medical termination of pregnancies (MTP) centers: A study in Lucknow city and presented the study entitled, "An analysis of youth awareness towards contraceptive use and role of counsellors in promoting reproductive health education in Lucknow, UP" at the Indian Anthropological Congress organized by Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, Maharashtra. 2019. She also holds a Diploma in Naturopathy from KEW academy. She has participated in the national seminar on "Facilitating Sustainable Livelihoods for the Impoverished: The Role of Education Process," organized by the Department of Lifelong Learning and Extension in Collaboration with Interdisciplinary School (IDS) (Humanities & Social Sciences), Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, Maharashtra, 2019 and international lectures on “Mental illness and eating disorders amongst adolescents,” organized by Harvard T. H. Chan Institute, School of Public Health India Research Center at the US Consulate, Mumbai, 2019. She has also participated in the Asian Youth for Sustainable Palm Oil Summit 2020 and has received training from Indian Institute of Bio-Social Research and Development (IBRAD), Centre of Excellence, recognized under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India on “Digital Ethnography for Climate-resilient Sustainable Tribal Development.” Prior to joining Equalize Health, Ekta has worked as a Senior Researcher, where she conducted ethnographic studies of tribal groups in Maharashtra in association with the Tribal Research and Training Institute, Government of Maharashtra. She was responsible for conducting ethnographic research, data collection, and analysis and has wide expertise in conducting ethnographic research and working among the indigenous population, along with rural regions. She also has experience in policy research and design for facilitating better healthcare and education policy in tribal and underdeveloped regions.
Ekta is a Ph.D. Fellow in Anthropology at Savitribai Phule Pune University, Maharashtra, and has worked on the “Assessment of menopause among Bhil women of Nandurbar district in Maharashtra from bio-cultural perspective.” She has her MA in Anthropology from Savitribai Phule Pune University and did her bachelors in Anthropology from Avadh Girls' Degree College, Lucknow University, and was honored with the Dilip Bhargava Memorial Medal and certificate of merit in Anthropology for securing the highest marks and Begum Habibullah Certificate of Excellency in 2014. She grew up in Lucknow, but has spent most of her time in Pune, Maharashtra and regions around. She likes exploring indigenous cultures, traveling to off-beat locations, is a big-time foodie, and an awesome cook. She loves to dance, sing, paint, free verse poetry that’s mostly because it’s the ‘Lakhnavi effect’ in her. She practices vipassana meditation and MMA for some calm. Her love for paw peeps is enormous, so is her love for people and the color yellow.