Faculty
Research Interests: Hematology, Non-Communicable Diseases, Climate Change, One Health, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Profile
Professor Ayesha Mukhopadhyay is an epidemiologist and physician with fifteen years of clinical and research experience across the United States and India. A DNB family medicine-trained physician, she holds an MBA in healthcare administration, an MPH, and a PhD in Epidemiology, specialising in advanced quantitative analysis. During her PhD at the University of Memphis, she focused her doctoral research on sickle cell disease, a project funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Professor Mukhopadhyay is a recognised leader in the field, having received the Highest Scoring Doctoral Abstract Award from the Community Health Planning and Policy Development Section of the American Public Health Association (APHA). Her professional experience in the United States includes serving as an Epidemiologist at the Shelby County Health Department in Memphis, where she led data-driven initiatives for chronic disease reporting. Currently, she balances her role as a Consultant Physician at Salubrity Clinic and as an Affiliate Faculty at the Foundation of Healthcare Technologies Society. She also actively participates in US-based public health work and global research collaborations.
Research
- Hematology: She has led extensive surveillance initiatives, specifically the Tennessee Sickle Cell Disease Surveillance Programme funded by the CDC. Her work examines acute care utilisation, the impact of housing discrimination on sickle cell patients, and the utilisation of therapies like Hydroxyurea.
- Non-communicable Diseases: She currently works on evaluating recent markers for obesity, including the weight-adjusted waist index and metrics for lung cancer screening.
- Climate Change: A significant portion of her recent work investigates the physiological impacts of climate change. Her research explores the health impacts of ambient heat on vulnerable women in the Sundarbans region and the effects of temperature on blood pressure and urinary electrolytes in coastal Bangladesh.
- One Health: She is a proponent of the "One Health" framework, particularly its application in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). Her research critically analyses One Health strategies in India.
- Social and Behavioral Sciences: Her research portfolio includes evaluating factors associated with waterpipe smoking, assessing the scope of nutritional counselling among nurses, and validating mental health screening tools for healthcare workers.
Publications
- Parks, P., Miller, J. I., Cromartie Jones, S., Attell, B. K., Brousseau, D. C., Clyde, C. L., Cooper, W. O., Dasgupta, M., Desai, J., Hardesty, B. M., Kayle, M., Latta, K., Mukhopadhyay, A., Plaxco, A. P., Reeves, S. L., Singh, A., Snyder, A. B., Valle, J., Zhou, M., & Sontag, M. K. (2025). Acute care use among people with sickle cell disease, Sickle Cell Data Collection Program, 8 US states, 2018. Public Health Reports. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/00333549251387081
- Mukhopadhyay A, Smeltzer MP, Dudley J, et al. (2025). Hydroxyurea utilization among individuals with sickle cell disease in Tennessee: A pooled analysis of claims data. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 16, Article 1693126. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2025.1693126
- Dobe M, Samanta I, Lahiri A, Mukhopadhyay A, Jha SS. (2025). Equitable One Health based approach in health care systems: Low- and Middle-Income Country (LMIC) perspectives. Journal of Global, Public and One Health, 2025, Article JGPOH-2025-18. https://doi.org/10.61034/JGPOH-2025-18
- Pimenta K, Madondo E, Mukhopadhyay A, et al. (2025). Association between weight-adjusted waist index and cardiovascular disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 16, Article 1644035. https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2025.1644035
- Kayle, M., Zhou, M., Attell, B. K., Valle, J., Reeves, S. L., Peng, H. K., Smeltzer, M., Mukhopadhyay, A., Amosun, T. A., Sergison, J., & Snyder, A. B. (2025). Pregnancy- and Disease-Related Morbidity Among Medicaid Enrollees With Sickle Cell Disease. Pediatric blood & cancer. 2025;72(9):e31857. doi:10.1002/pbc.31857
- Mukhopadhyay A, Dobe M. (2025). One Health in India: A critical analysis. Journal of Global, Public and One Health, 2025, Article JGPOH-2025-23. https://doi.org/10.61034/JGPOH-2025-23
- Madondo, E., Mundagowa, P.T., Mukhopadhyay, A. et al. (2025). Association between weight-adjusted waist-index and symptoms of sleep apnea in US adults: Results from 2015–2018 national health and nutrition examination survey. Sleep Science Practice, 9, Article 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41606-024-00121-8
- Mukhopadhyay A, Haque Mondol M, Rahman M, Unicomb L, Khan R, Mazumder H, Nahian Ferdous M, Pickering EV, Makris KC, Caban-Martinez AJ, Ahmed F, Shamsudduha M, Mzayek F, Jia C, Zhang H, Musah A, Fleming LE, Smeltzer MP, Chang HH, Jefferies JL, Kovesdy CP, Mou X, Mohd Naser A. (2025). The direct and urinary electrolyte-mediated effects of ambient temperature on population blood pressure: A causal mediation analysis. Environment International, 195, Article 109208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2024.109208
- Ward K, Mukhopadhyay A, Lugemwa T, Vander Weg, M, Asfar T, Maziak W. (2024). Characteristics of waterpipe smokers who are willing to quit: Population-based findings from Syria. Addiction & Health, 16(3), 163–172. https://doi.org/10.34172/ahj.1526
- Hoimonty Mazumder, Momenul Haque Mondol, Mahbubur Rahman, Rizwana Khan, Solaiman Doza, Leanne Unicomb, Farjana Jahan, Ayesha Mukhopadhyay, Konstantinos C. Makris, Alberto Caban-Martinez, Romaina Iqbal, Faruk Ahmed, Lota Creencia, Mohammad Shamsudduha, Fawaz Mzayek, Chunrong Jia, Hongmei Zhang, Anwar Musah, Lora E. Fleming, Xichen Mou, Csaba P. Kovesdy, Matthew O. Gribble, Abu Mohd Naser. (2024). Sex-specific association of ambient temperature with urine biomarkers in southwest coastal Bangladesh. Kidney International Reports, 9(6), 1860–1875. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ekir.2024.03.002
- Reeves SL, Plegue M, Patel PN, Paulukonis ST, Horiuchi SS, Zhou M, Attell BK, Pace BS, Snyder AB, Plaxco AP, Mukhopadhyay A, Smeltzer MP, Ellimoottil CS, Hulihan M. (2024). Assessing patterns of telehealth use among people with sickle cell disease enrolled in Medicaid during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Telemedicine and e-Health, 30(7), e1971–e1979. https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2023.0422
- Kayle M, Blewer AL, Pan W, Rothman JA, Polick CS, Rivenbark J, Fisher E, Reyes C, Strouse JJ, Weeks S, Desai JR, Snyder AB, Zhou M, Sutaria A, Valle J, Horiuchi SS, Sontag MK, Miller JI, Singh A, Dasgupta M, Janson IA, Galadanci N, Reeves SL, Latta K, Hurden I, Cromartie SJ, Plaxco AP, Mukhopadhyay A, Smeltzer MP, Hulihan M. (2024). Birth prevalence of sickle cell disease and county-level social vulnerability - Sickle Cell Data Collection Program, 11 states, 2016-2020. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 73(12), 248–254. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7312a1
- Ogu UO, Mukhopadhyay A, Patel K, Nelson MN, Strahan KS, Wu L, Smeltzer MP, Ataga KI. (2024). Hydroxyurea at escalated dose versus fixed low-dose hydroxyurea in adults with sickle cell disease. European Journal of Haematology, 112(3), 466–474. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejh.14138
- Plaxco AP, Hankins JS, Robert D, Dudley J, Young AJ, Mukhopadhyay A, Carroll Y, Aguinaga MP, Takemoto CM, Nolan VG, Ray MA, Wiese A, Amosun T, Cooper WO, Smeltzer MP. (2023). Descriptive epidemiology of sickle cell disease in Tennessee: Population-based estimates from 2008 to 2019. Frontiers in Hematology, 2, Article 1277548. https://doi.org/10.3389/frhem.2023.1277548
- Elsherif L, Kanthakumar P, Afolabi J, Stratton AF, Ogu U, Nelson M, Mukhopadhyay A, Smeltzer MP, Adebiyi A, Ataga KI. (2023). Urinary angiotensinogen is associated with albuminuria in adults with sickle cell anaemia. British Journal of Haematology, 202(3), 669–673. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjh.18862
- Smeltzer MP, Liao W, Faris NR, Fehnel C, Goss J, Shepherd CJ, Ramos R, Qureshi T, Mukhopadhyay A, Ray MA, Osarogiagbon RU.(2023) Potential Impact of Criteria Modifications on Race and Sex Disparities in Eligibility for Lung Cancer Screening. Journal of Thoracic Oncology, 18(2), 158–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtho.2022.09.220
Teachings
- EPI712: Non-communicable Diseases