Manisha Nair, Associate Professor and MRC Career Development Fellow

15 minutes with Manisha Nair 

The ’15 minutes with…’ blog series aims to provide a glimpse into the career paths and personal lives of the researchers and employees in our department and showcase the wide range of roles and science conducted. In this blog series, we ask researchers, non-research staff and students, nominated by the students themselves, to reflect on their career to date – their proudest accomplishments and their lowest points – and how they came to be where they are today.

We will publish on a regular basis in the coming months – we hope you will enjoy it.

Today, we continue this series with an interview with Manisha Nair, Associate Professor and MRC Career Development Fellow.

Could you describe your current role in one sentence?

Associate Professor, Senior Epidemiologist, Medical Research Council (MRC) Career Development Fellow, and Chief Investigator, Maternal and perinatal Health Research collaboration, India (MaatHRI).

What is your favourite thing about it?  

In my current role, I love the academic freedom to conceptualise and design studies to generate new evidence to improve maternal and child health, globally. I enjoy working with people from different disciplines and different countries which allows me to think out of the box. Another thing that makes me happy is analysing data using Stata.

...and what is your least favourite thing about it?

While I love meeting people and visiting countries in Asia and Africa as part of my research work, I don’t like flights. I love airports, but not flights.

Moving on to the science, could you tell us about what science you’re most excited about or interested in in your own work?

I am most excited about a project that we are undertaking through the MaatHRI platform since June 2017– heart failure in pregnant women. This project will define the incidence, characteristics, risk factors and outcomes of heart failure in pregnant women with anaemia.

Heart failure is a significant cause of maternal death in India, but we found that most pregnant women presenting with suspected heart failure did not receive echocardiography. This is because cardiologists and echocardiography machines were not available in many hospitals, or even if they were available, the demand was too high.

We trained obstetricians to use hand-held echocardiography machines at the bedside and experts interpret the images remotely. We have now trained 24 obstetricians in 10 hospitals across India to use the machines, which has paved way for testing the application of this simple intervention more widely.

And what about the science that you’re most interested in beyond your own work?

I am fascinated by artificial intelligence (AI) and hope to use this in my work. I believe that AI can be transformative and bring major breakthroughs in global health research. 

What’s the thing that you are most proud of in your professional life?

I am most proud of MaatHRI (the Maternal and perinatal Health Research collaboration, India) research platform that we established in India. This is a collaboration of 15 hospitals across five states in India and a national laboratory to undertake large-scale epidemiological studies to generate evidence to improve maternal and perinatal health. It is fostering a new research culture of co-creation of knowledge, and the evidence will be transferrable to countries with a high burden of maternal and perinatal deaths. MaatHRI also provides opportunities for DPhil and postdoctoral researchers at Oxford to develop skills in conducting research in a low- and middle-income country setting, and learn from expert clinicians and collaborators in India. I am also proud of my students and cherish the Asian Women of Achievement Award 2019 in the category of ‘Science.’ 

And your biggest failure or disappointment?

I cannot think of any at this point. I never give up and try to make the most of any failure. I have learnt a lot by failing many times. However, I am always disappointed when my funding applications are rejected, but I try to bounce back and look for better opportunities.

Could you outline your route to where you are today?  

I am from a small town in the state of Assam in India, and I never imagined that I would one day be an Associate Professor at Oxford. I have pasted my ‘career map’ below to show the long winding road that led me to this point in my career.    

Could you tell us one thing about you outside work?

I enjoy sketching and painting, especially oil on canvas. This helps me unwind and relax.

If you could give an advice to your 18-year-old self, what would that be? 

Don’t look back, keep going. The challenges, discrimination, abuse, bullying and harassment that you face as a woman will only make you stronger as you grow. 

Thank you!

Manisha can be found on LinkedIn. You can also read an open-access version of Maternal and perinatal Health Research Collaboration, India (MaatHRI): methodology for establishing a hospital-based research platform in a low and middle income country setting.