Nafisa Halim
Profiles

Nafisa Halim, PhD

Research Associate Professor, Global Health - Boston University School of Public Health

(617) 414-1279
nhalim@bu.edu
Crosstown Center
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Biography

Nafisa Halim, MA, PhD is an applied sociologist with research interests in developing and testing interventions to improve pregnancy and childbirth outcomes among women with a history of abuse. Halim’s most current work focuses on the effect of antenatal screening for sickle cell disease on intimate partner violence in the sickle cell belt in central India. Since 2009, Halim has worked on numerous IPV studies involving quantitative and qualitative methods on topics ranging from IPV correlates, consequences, and measurement methodologies.

Most recently, Halim led a systematic review documenting evidence of IPV effects on maternal mental health during pregnancy and the postnatal period; led a formative evaluation study using qualitative methods, which aims to inform the development of an intervention for men to prevent women’s IPV victimization in Bangladesh; examined using a cluster randomized controlled trial the efficacy of a gender-training intervention targeting men and community leaders to improve gender attitudes and reduce IPV perpetration in men in Tanzania.

Her prior research examined the associations between public-private partnerships and primary schooling in Bangladesh, maternal education and child survival in Nepal, intimate partner violence against women and child nutrition in Liberia. Since joining BUSPH in 2011, Halim has worked on numerous clinical trials and large-scale program evaluations in Tanzania, South Africa, Vietnam, Zambia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, and Bangladesh. Halim has consulted with the World Health Organization, and served as a co-Investigator on research projects funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the United States Agency for International Development, and private foundations. Halim’s research has been published in Demography, Population Research and Policy Review, Social Science & Medicine, Health Policy and Planning, Journal of International Development, Environment and Development Economics, Social Science Quarterly, Social Science Research, Social Indicators Research, PLOS One, BMJ Global Health, and BMC Women’s Health.

Currently, she serves as an Associate Editor of PLOS One and PLOS Global Public Health. Halim received her postdoctoral training in Social Demography at Emory University, and a Ph.D. in Sociology and M.A.s in Sociology and Economics (with distinction) from the University of New Mexico.

Education

  • University of New Mexico, PhD Field of Study: Sociology
  • University of New Mexico, MA Field of Study: Economics
  • University of New Mexico, MA Field of Study: Sociology
  • University of Dhaka, BS Field of Study: Sociology

Websites

Classes Taught

  • SPHGH745
  • SPHGH854
  • SPHSB753

Publications

  • Published on 12/10/2024

    Erin K. Fortunato, Carol A. Dolan, Jennifer Beard, , Jacob Bor, , Nafisa Halim, Monica A. Onyango, Junenette L. Peters, Jennifer Schlezinger, and Sophie Godley. Balancing Faculty Autonomy with Collaboration, Course Updates, and Consistency in Core Courses: Recommendations for Teaching Teams and Administrators of Schools and Programs of Public Health. Pedagogy in Health Promotion: The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. 2024.

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  • Published on 11/18/2024

    Nafisa Halim, Fan Jiang, Sisi Meng, Pallab Mozumder, and Chengxue Yao. Traveling for Safety: Price and Income Elasticities of Hurricane Evacuation Behavior. Transportation Research Record. 2024.

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  • Published on 10/7/2024

    Nandini Agarwal, Nafisa Halim. Lifetime Violence and Perinatal Sleep Quality: A Scoping Review. Sleep Science. 2024.

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  • Published on 8/3/2024

    Mohammad Asif Hasan Khan, Pallab Mozumder, Nafisa Halim & Sisi Meng. Understanding Evacuation Behavior During Cyclones: Evidence from Bangladesh. Economics of Disasters and Climate Change. 2024.

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  • Published on 4/27/2024

    Killian C, West RL, Orrell C, Gifford A, Haberer JE, Halim N, Jennings L, Berkowitz N, Fourie S, Sabin L. Negative clinic experiences as a barrier to care for people with HIV and their impact on patient preferences for intervention support: a qualitative study in Cape Town, South Africa. AIDS Care. 2024 Apr 27; 1-10. PMID: 38676915.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 3/1/2024

    Sisi Meng, Nafisa Halim, Mahesh Karra, Pallab Mozumder. Understanding household evacuation preferences during the COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto Rico. Safety Science. 2024; 171.

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  • Published on 2/1/2024

    Nafisa Halim, Mukitul Islam, Nandini Agarwal. Social Transformation in Bangladesh: Pathways, Challenges and the Way Forward. Adverse Birth Outcomes in Bangladesh: A Public Health Model of Prevention. Routledge. London. 2024.
  • Published on 5/5/2023

    Jennings L, West RL, Halim N, Kaiser JL, Gwadz M, MacLeod WB, Gifford AL, Haberer JE, Orrell C, Sabin LL. Protocol for an evaluation of adherence monitoring and support interventions among people initiating antiretroviral therapy in Cape Town, South Africa-a multiphase optimization strategy (MOST) approach using a fractional factorial design. Trials. 2023 May 05; 24(1):310. PMID: 37147725.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 4/25/2023

    Larson BA, Tsikhutsu I, Bii M, Halim N, Agaba P, Sugut W, Muli J, Sawe F. The effects of revised peer-counselor support on the PMTCT cascade of care: results from a cluster-randomized trial in Kenya (the EMMA study). BMC Infect Dis. 2023 Apr 25; 23(1):257. PMID: 37098468.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 1/1/2023

    Stone, R., Halim, N., Campbell, J.K., Kinney, D. and Rothman, E.F. ‘Nowhere to Go’: Intimate Violence and Opioid Use in Rural Vermont. Gender-based Violence and Rurality in the 21st Century. Bristol University Press. 2023; pp. 168-182.

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