Amita Vyas, Ph.D.
Amita N. Vyas is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Maternal and Child Health Program in the Department of Prevention and Community Health, at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services.
- Phone: (202)994-3695
- Email: avyas@gwu.edu
At the age of 20, Professor Vyas journeyed to Calcutta to work alongside Mother Teresa in the Missionaries of Charity. In one eye-opening summer, she saw what the social determinants of health and well-being really mean to vulnerable populations, and from that extraordinary experience decided to pursue a career in public health. Today, her work focuses on reproductive health care, adolescent health, and the health and development of immigrant children and adolescents. She is also an expert in multi-level research methods and evaluation. Dr. Vyas continues to hold an adjunct position in the Department of Population and Family Health Sciences at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. She was previously on the research faculty of that institution's Center for Adolescent Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, where she earned its Kann-Trowbridge Award for outstanding research in the area of population and family health.
Education
• Bachelor of Science (Biological Sciences), University of Connecticut, 1994 • Master of Health Science (Demography), Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, 1995 • Doctor of Philosophy (Population Dynamics), Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2001
Teaching
• PubH 207 – Social and Behavioral Approaches to Public Health, Department of Prevention and Community Health • PubH 369 – Adolescent Health, Department of Prevention and Community Health • PubH 372 – Reproductive Health, Department of Prevention and Community Health
Research
Dr. Vyas is principal investigator for Pathways to Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, a three-year longitudinal study jointly funded by the CDC and the Association of Schools of Public Health, which explores the multi-level influences on pregnancy ambivalence, contraceptive use, and unintended pregnancy among adolescents in Baltimore. Her other recent research has emphasized reproductive health, immigrant health, and disease prevention and health promotion in adolescent populations.
Community Service
Dr. Vyas is the Founder and Chair of the Global India Fund, a donor advised fund aimed at mobilizing resources to improve the health and well-being of people living in India. Professor Vyas served on the board of the South Asian Public Health Association, where she was co-editor of "The Brown Paper: The Health of South Asians in the United States," the first national initiative to evaluate existing knowledge about the health of this population. Dr. Vyas also serves as an advisor to YouthAIDS.
Expertise
- Maternal and Child Health
- Prevention
- Program Evaluation
- Reproductive Health
- Women's Health