Shobhana Nagraj

My professional background is in primary care with a special interest in global maternal child health.  My research focuses on the theory-informed design and evaluation of complex interventions and implementation science. I have worked closely with rural communities and community healthcare workers (CHWs) in low-resource settings globally. I am passionate about providing high quality, evidence-based care to rural populations.  

My DPhil in Women's & Reproductive Health (2017-2021) involved adopting a life-course approach to women's health and the prevention of non-communicable diseases. I designed and evaluated a complex intervention (SMARThealth Pregnancy), using mobile clinical decision support for CHWs in rural India to screen, refer and counsel women with high-risk pregnancies in the antenatal and postpartum periods. The evaluation demonstrated a reduction in maternal anaemia in the intervention group. The work was foundational for a large-scale trial and expanded programme of work. 

Between 2021-2024, I worked as a postdoctoral clinical researcher in the Health Systems Collaborative, Centre for Global Health Research, University of Oxford, and was co-Director of the Oxford University Global Surgery Course (2021-2023), which brought together clinicians and academics working in surgery, anaesthesia, obstetrics & gynaecology and trauma care from across the world. I have taught on the MSc in Clinical Embryology, MSc in International Health & Tropical Medicine and MSc in Translational Health Sciences courses at the University of Oxford. 

My research interests include: global maternal child health, health inequalities, interprofessional education and mHealth.