
Field of Study:
Community Health
Home Institution in the U.S.:
At-large
Host Institution in Nepal:
Chumnubri Rural Municipality, Sirdibas
Start Month/Year in Nepal:
July 2024
Duration of Grant:
Ten months
Ashira Weinreich
Ashira Weinreich is a Fulbright researcher who explores how women participate in and support health sovereignty in Nepal’s high-altitude Himalayan regions. She is also studying the role of ecological conservation in regional healthcare. Ashira collaborates with local communities to create context-specific, socioculturally informed prevention strategies, aiming to demonstrate the interconnectedness of community health, ecosystems, and lived experiences. She graduated from Cornell University in the College Scholar 4 of 4 program. She has research experience in neural stem cells, oncology, health and wellness, and plant sciences. Ashira firmly believes that research should be a collaborative and community-centered process, with a focus on giving back by sharing knowledge with the community.
Ashira’s Fulbright project is exploring how in Chumnubri Rural Municipality gendered knowledge is affecting communal performance in times of bio-cultural change. Her study methodology involves conducting interviews on topics such as: gendered responsibilities in healthcare; response to health concerns and implementation of health practices; accessibility or lack thereof to biomedical healthcare; sociocultural norms regarding access to and use of medicinal plants; and perceptions of environmental impact on health.