Summary
Asylgul Akimjanova is a doctoral student in public health at the University of Nevada, Reno, specializing in social and behavioral health. Her research interests center on vaccine hesitancy and vaccine equity, with a particular focus on the social, structural and policy-level determinants of vaccination behavior in low-resource and underrepresented settings, such as Central Asia.
Akimjanova's work draws on extensive experience in social and behavior change and community engagement through international public health and humanitarian programs. She has collaborated with communities, healthcare providers and policymakers on immunization, infectious disease control and health communication initiatives. Beyond vaccine-related research, her interests include universal free school meals as a structural public health intervention to improve child health and address health and social inequities. Through her doctoral training, she seeks to conduct applied, policy-relevant public health research grounded in social and behavioral science.
Faculty mentor
Education
- Ph.D. in social and behavioral health, University of Nevada, Reno
- Executive master's in development policies and practices, Geneva Graduate Institute, Switzerland
- Bachelor's and Master's degree in English language and literature, Jalal-Abad State University, Kyrgys Republic