I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. I am majoring in Population and Family Health, with minors in Applied Quantitative Methods and Nutrition. My primary research interests involve the comprehensive evaluation of multi-sectoral nutrition-sensitive programs, understanding their effectiveness, and the pathways or mechanisms through which they work to improve maternal and child health and nutrition in low- and middle-income countries. I am interested in assessing what types of interventions and packages of interventions can be effective, cost-effective, and scalable. My secondary research interests focus specifically on nutrition-sensitive agricultural programs, and the role of food systems, markets, and value chains in influencing the effectiveness and success of these interventions. My dissertation research centers on the factors and inputs needed to create an enabling caregiver environment to support child development and growth in early life.
Before beginning my PhD, I was at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) where I worked on several large-scale randomized controlled studies evaluating the impact of multisectoral agriculture-nutrition and health-nutrition programs on maternal and child health and nutrition during the first 1,000 days. Originally from Bulgaria, I received my Bachelor's from Georgetown University and my Master's from The Fletcher School at Tufts University.