Professor Nitya Kumar

Associate Professor in Public Health Epidemiology
nkumar@rcsi-mub.com
Office: +97316660138

Area of Expertise

Quantitative research in epidemiology and public health. Her work sits at the intersection of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), their interactions with infectious diseases, the exposome and mental health. She leads interdisciplinary teams that draw on large prospective cohort datasets and evidence synthesis to address these questions.

Qualifications

  • Fellow of Higher Education Academy, UK (FHEA), 2022
  • Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Baroda, 2015
  • Master of Science (MS), Harvard University, 2018
  • Master of Family and Community Sciences (MFCSc), University of Baroda, 2008
  • Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Baroda, 2006

Awards and Honors

  • 2008, Research Fellowship Award in Sciences for Meritorious Students, Government of India

Current areas of activity

  • Leads all teaching in Public Health Epidemiology for medical and nursing students.
  • Specialism Lead, Population Health and Healthcare Delivery (PHHD).
  • Module Lead, Student Selective Project (SSP). Year 3 research module.
  • Module Lead, Fundamentals for Practice 1 (FFP1). Year 1 module.
  • Statistics Advisor and Member, RCSI Research Ethics Committee

Current Research

  • Effects of non-nutritive sweeteners on glucose metabolism.
  • Exogenous hormone use and mental health outcomes in premenopausal women.
  • Incorporating health effects of climate change in medical and nursing curricula.

Previous Research

  • Kumar N, Ehsan S, Banerjee S, Fernandez Perez C, Lhuilier I, Neuner J, Friebel-Klinger T, Fayanju OM, Nair B, Niinuma SA, Nampoothiri S, McCarthy AM. The unique risk factor profile of triple negative breast cancer: a comprehensive meta-analysis. JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 2024 Mar 5:djae056.
  • Kumar N, Quadri S, AlAwadhi AI and AlQahtani M (2022) COVID-19 Recovery Patterns Across Alpha (B.1.1.7) and Delta (B.1.617.2) Variants of SARS-CoV-2. Front. Immunol. 13:812606. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.812606.
  • Kumar N, Phillip E, Cooper H, Davis M, Langevin J, Clifford M Stanistreet D. Do improved biomass cookstove interventions improve indoor air quality and blood pressure? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Environmental Pollution. 2021 Dec 1; 290: 117997. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2021.11799.
  • Kodumayil S, Gebril A, Nair S, Saifudeen I, Alhermi A, Shamsi N, Alamuddin N, Kumar N. Association of sucralose consumption with insulin response and sensitivity. Diabetes Metab Syndr. 2025;19(12):103343. doi:10.1016/j.dsx.2025.103343.
  • Mallah SI, Alawadhi A, Jawad J, Wasif P, Alsaffar B, Alalawi E, Mohamed AM, Butler AE, Alalawi B, Qayed D, Almahari SA, Mubarak A, Mubarak A, Saeed S, Humaidan A, Kumar N, Atkin AL and Qahtani M. Safety and efficacy of COVID-19 prime-boost vaccinations: homologous BBIBP-CorV versus heterologous BNT162b2 boosters in BBIBP-CorV-primed individuals. Vaccine. 2023 Mar 17;41(12):1925-33.
  • AlQahtani M, Kumar N, Aljawder D, Abdulrahman A, Alnashaba F, Fayyad MA, Alshaikh F, Alsahaf F, Saeed S, Almahroos A, Abdulrahim Z, Otoom S and Atkin S. Randomized controlled trial of favipiravir, hydroxychloroquine, and standard care in patients with mild/moderate COVID-19 disease. Scientific reports. 2022 Mar 23;12(1):1-0.
  • Kumar N, AbdulRahman A, AlAwadhi AI, AlQahtani M. Is glucose-6-phosphatase dehydrogenase deficiency associated with severe outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients? Scientific Reports 11, 19213 (2021).
  • Kumar N, AbdulRahman A, AlAli S, Otoom S, Atkin SL, AlQahtani M. Time Till Viral Clearance of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Is Similar for Asymptomatic and Non-critically Symptomatic Individuals. Frontiers in medicine. 2021;8.
  • Al-Hindawi A, Kumar N and Gaynor D (2022) Exploring changes in levels and patterns of physical activity in undergraduate medical and nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Front. Public Health 10:1042071. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.1042071.
  • McCarthy AM, Kumar NP, He W, Regan S, Welch M, Moy B, Iafrate AJ, Chan AT, Bardia A, Armstrong K. Different associations of tumor PIK3CA mutations and clinical outcomes according to aspirin use among women with metastatic hormone receptor positive breast cancer. BMC cancer. 2020 Dec;20(1):1-0.