Global Environmental Change, Nutrition and Health in Nepal

Dr. Meghnath Dhimal is an Environmental Health Scientist with over 20 years of experience across Nepal, the Maldives, Timor-Leste, Sri Lanka, Germany, and the United States. His work centers on health policy and systems research, burden of disease, global health, and planetary health, with a strong emphasis on environmental health and equity. He is Chief Research Officer at the Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC) and an Associate Academician at the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST). Internationally, he is a Fellow of the International Science Council and a member of the WHO Strategic Technical Advisory Group on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases. He also serves as Visiting Faculty of Environmental Health at Tribhuvan University, Course Director of “Climate and Health in South Asia” at the Yale School of Public Health, Yale University, and is a Fulbright Visiting Scholar for postdoctoral research in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University. As Principal Investigator, Dr. Dhimal has led numerous projects on environmental health, climate change, non-communicable diseases, neglected tropical diseases, burden of disease, and health systems in Nepal. He has played a key role in formulating national and international policies and strategic plans in health, population, and environment. His contributions have been recognized through major awards, including the NAST Young Scientists Award (2015), New Voices in Global Health Programme Winner at the World Health Summit (2017), NHRC Outstanding Health Research Award (2018), and the National Science, Technology, and Innovation Award in the Health Sector (2022). Dr. Dhimal has authored over 300 technical reports and peer-reviewed articles and has extensive collaboration experience with UN agencies and leading global organizations. He holds a PhD in Geo-Sciences (Environmental Health Sciences) from Goethe University Frankfurt (2015) and a Master’s in Environmental Sciences from Tribhuvan University (2004). ---- Dr. Mandira Lamichhane Dhimal is the Research Director at the Planetary Health Research Centre (PHRC), Nepal, and medical sociologist with over 15 years of experience in climate change, gender, migration, and health. She holds a PhD in Social Science from Goethe University Frankfurt, where her doctoral research examined the gender dimensions of climate change and health, including climate‑induced migration. Dr. Dhimal has led and contributed to numerous national and international research projects, including climate–health studies funded by the British Academy, Harvard University and Redcross, and has served as an Associate Research Fellow at the Policy Research Institute, a think tank of Nepal Government for three years before joining to PHRC as a Research Director. She has published widely on climate‑resilient health systems, infectious diseases, social determinants of health and NCDs, and is recognized for her expertise in mixed‑methods research, policy translation, and capacity building in planetary health.