Associate Scholars

 Prof. Aringazina is Head of the Department of Population Health &Social Sciences at Kazakhstan 

Medical University, Kazakhstan School of Public Health in Almaty. She was elected as a member of the WHO Expert Advisory Panel on Health Promotion for 2009-2013. In this capacity she has actively participated in a number of WHO activities in the European Region and globally. She is a globally elected member of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) Board of Trustees for 2007-2013. She directs the professional preparation programs in public health and health promotion for MPH and PhD students and continuing education professionals from medicine and health administration at the KSPH. She has led studies of health promotion capacity and public health infrastructure in Kazakhstan and has been an instrumental force in designing elements of the reform of the current public healthcare system. As the principal author of several critical studies of health promotion capacity in Kazakhstan, Dr. Aringazina has emerged within the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as the Central Asian region, as a leading scholar of health promotion and public health. She holds a Doctor of Medical Sciences and is a manager in Public Health, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). Dr. Altyn Aringazina has published over 120 articles and book chapters in public health field. She conducted postdoctoral research as a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University in the City of New York. 

Assistant Professor

Dr Hamdia Mirkhan Ahmed has MSc and PhD degree in Maternity Nursing from Hawler Medical University/Kurdisatn region/Iraq and BSc Of Nursing from Islamic Azad University/Iran. She is assistant professor and she is head of Midwifery Department in college of Nursing and Director of the Center for Research and Education in Women’s Health in Hawler Medical University, Erbil, Iraq. He has more than 25 research papers in fields of women’s health, heath services research, conflict and health and medical education in Iraqi Kurdistan contexts that have been published in well reputed and highly accessible journals. Her current research interest is primarily related to women’s health in Iraqi Kurdistan Region. Dr Hamdia has obtained and successfully implemented a number of research and projects for improving nursing and midwifery care in Kurdistan region. 

Expert on women's affairs and female education   

Dr. Nahid Husseini , an acknowledged expert on women's affairs and female education in the Iranian media, holds a PhD and an MA in Education, Gender and International Development from Kingston University and Institute of Education in London. In addition, Nahid has gained a PGCE in teaching and has previously taught Information Technology at Further Education colleges in London.  Women’s issues, specifically Gender and Education in Middle Eastern countries, represent the focus of Nahid’s research interests. Her wider concern is to promote the positive benefits of women’s education in bringing about social change in society generally, with particular emphasis on its potential impact on the future of Iranian society.  Nahid is fluent in Farsi, English and Kurdish languages. She is the author of two books: “Impact of Culture on Iranian Female Education, 2010,” and “Higher Education, Gender and Social Change in Iran (1979-2017).”

Dr. Padmini (Mini) Murthy, Professor and Global Health Director at New York Medical College School of Health Sciences and Practice . 

Dr. Murthy is a physician (a trained obstetrician and gynecologist) and an activist who did her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology. She has practiced medicine and public health for the past 28 years in various countries. She has been working in various arenas of the health care industry. And workded as consultant for UNFPA. She has a MPH and a MS in Management from New York University. Dr. Murthy serves as the Medical Women’s International Association NGO representative  to the United Nations. She also serves a member of the Executive Council of the NGO CSW Committee of NY, and the DPI NGO executive committee of NY at the United Nations. Dr. Murthy is widely published and is the author and editor of Women's Global Health and Human Rights (Jones and Bartlett publisher) which is used as a text book worldwide and she serves as a peer reviewer for several publications. Her poetry book Mini’s Musings was published in 2012.She is currently working on her 3rd book on the use of technology in promoting health.  She has made over 150  presentations on women’s and children’s health nationally and internationally in scientific conferences and in the United Nations and countries where she has been invited.to. She has been working to promote safe motherhood and other health initiatives focused on women in India, Malawi and Grenada. Dr. Murthy has been the recipient of numerous  national and international awards. She was the 1st American woman physician to receive the Jhirad Oration Award (in Seoul, Korea) conferred at an international conference in recognition of her service and work to MWIA. She has also been the recipient of the Soujouner Truth Pin which is given to those women who excel in community service. In June 2015, she was presented Millennium Milestone Maker Award at the 9th Annual Women’s Symposium at Sias University, China. In 2016 She was  the first Indian born American in over 70 years to receive the Elizabeth Blackwell Medal from American Medical Women’s Association for her work in promoting womens health globally. She is the recipient of the Lalita Pawar memorial award in 2016 confered by the Association of Medical Women in India Nagpur for her work in promoting wome’ s health and human rights. In 2017 Murthy was conferred the prestigious Dr Homi Colabawall Oration in Mumbai India for her work on promoting women’s health. In 2018 she received a mentor ship award from the Australian medical students and Exceptional Woman of Excellence Award at the Women economic Forum in New Delhi. 

Murthy is currently chair elect of the International Health Section of the American Public Health Association which is one of the largest associations of public health profesioanls in the world. 

Murthy is married to a physician and is the mother of a daughter who works in international development and education.