Summary
Sifat Sheikh is an incoming Ph.D. student within the Department of Social and Behavioural Health at the School of Public Health at the University of Nevada, Reno. Her research interests include cervical cancer screening using HPV-DNA among underserved women, particularly indigenous population groups. Previously, she worked as a research investigator at the Maternal and Child Health Division of International Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research, Bangladesh. Sheikh has obtained her dual Master of Public Health-Master of Health Administration (MPH-MHA) from the University of South Florida. Her MPH special project was on "the impact of the patient protection and Affordable Care Act on care-seeking patterns among patients with motor vehicle accidents-related injuries."
Sheikh's current work focuses on adolescent health, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and use of self-sampling method for Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)-DNA testing for detection of cervical cancer in rural Bangladesh. She is a physician by training and a public health researcher with more than 7 years of working experience in health systems, policies and programs relating to nutrition, digital health, antimicrobial prescribing patterns, non-communicable diseases, environmental pollutants and reproductive and child health. Her main research focus is on strengthening SRHR services in Bangladesh, policies that support breastfeeding and socioeconomic determinants of health. Sheikh is experienced in combining quantitative and qualitative research methods and conducting policy and stakeholder analysis. Her current responsibilities include coordination of research activities: identifying research questions, protocol writing, submission for IRB approval, formulation and validation of tools, data collection, data analysis and report writing. She has been successful in applying as a co-investigator for multiple research grants, multiple funders and UN organizations located in Bangladesh (UNICEF, UNFPA). Sheikh has been published in multiple peer-reviewed international journals including Springer, Environmental Science and Pollution Research, Wiley Maternal and Child Nutrition, Frontiers in Public Health and PLOS One.
Courses taught
- Teaching assistant for the following courses in Spring 2026:
- PBH 315: Social and Behavioral Health
- PBH 470: Public Health and Aging
Professional affiliations
- Registered medical practitoner, Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council
- Member, Public Health Association of Bangladesh
Awards and major honors
- Graduate Dean's Merit scholar, University of Nevada, Reno, 2025
Sponsored research projects
- Feasibility, acceptability and use of self-sampling for GeneXpert-based HPV-DNA testing for Cervical Cancer screening in selected rural areas of Bangladesh
- Funding agency: Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Development (DFATD)
- Role: Co-Investigator
- Baseline HPV prevalence urine-based survey among general population in Bangladesh
- Funding agency: Gates Foundation
- Role: Co-Investigator
- Enabling Adolescent Friendly Health Services in a Rural Area in Bangladesh: An Implementation Research
- Funding agency: Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
- Role: Coordinating research activities
- Assessment of Commercial Violations of Breast Milk Substitutes Code in Bangladesh
- Funding agency: FHI 360
- Role: Data collection, data analysis, manuscript writing
- Pattern of dispensing antimicrobials for acute respiratory illnesses by pharmacy medicine sellers in urban slums of Dhaka city
- Funding agency: Swedish International Cooperation Agency
- Role: Co-Investigator
- Tracking clinically suspect COVID-19 cases using existing national teleconsultation services in Bangladesh
- Funding agency: Swedish International Cooperation Agency
- Role: Coordinating data collection, report writing
- Situational assessment on lead poisoning: awareness and capacities in the health sector and targeted communities
- Funding agency: UNICEF
- Role: Co-Investigator
- Situation analysis on use of digital tools in SRHR in Bangladesh
- Funding agency: Global Affairs Canada
- Role: Co-Investigator
- Action-oriented operations research 1: Urban Health and Demographic Surveillance System
- Funding agency: Asian Development Bank through Government of Bangladesh
- Role: Conducting surveys
- Implementation research on Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPDSR) in Bangladesh
- Funding agency: UNICEF
- Role: Conducting scoping review and stakeholder engagement
- Understanding the barriers and facilitators of post-partum family planning for first-time parents in Bangladesh (Shongzog project)
- Funding agency: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
- Role: Coordinating project activities
Selected publications
Journal articles
- Alam, A., Shiblee, S.I., Rana, M.S., Sheikh, S.P., Rahman, F. N., Sathi, S.S. & Nahar, Q. (2025). Baseline sociodemographic and sexual and reproductive health characteristics of the AdSEARCH adolescent cohort study participants in rural Bangladesh: A cohort profile. BMJ Open, 15(9), e102156.
- Islam Anne, F., Akter, S.M., Sheikh, S.P., Ireen, S., Escobar-DeMarco, J., Kappos, K. & Rasheed, S. (2022). Quality of nutrition services in primary health care facilities of Dhaka city: State of nutrition mainstreaming in urban Bangladesh. PLOS ONE, 17(12), e0278621.
- Nahar, Q., Alam, A., Sheikh, S.P., Shiblee, S.I., Khan, S. & Rahman, M. (2025). The prevalence, types, and risk factors of urinary incontinence among Bangladeshi women aged 15–49: A study based on a nationally representative survey. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, 170(1), 233–241.
- Rahman, H.H., Sheikh, S.P. & Munson-McGee, S.H. (2023). Arsenic, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and metal exposure and risk assessment of stroke. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 30(37), 86973–86986.
- Sheikh, S.P., Akter, S.M., Anne, F.I., Ireen, S., Escobar-Alegria, J., Kappos, K. & Rasheed, S. (2022). Violations of international code of breast-milk substitutes (BMS) in commercial settings and media in Bangladesh. Maternal & Child Nutrition, 18, e13351.
- Tariqujjaman, M., Sheikh, S.P., Smith, G., Hasan, A.R., Khatun, F., Kabir, A. & Rasheed, S. (2022). Determinants of double burden of malnutrition among school children and adolescents in urban Dhaka: A multilevel analysis. Frontiers in Public Health, 10, 926571.
Book chapters
- Khatun, F., Rasheed, S., Sheikh, S.P., Saqeeb, K.N. & Reidpath, D.D. (2021). Digital health and elderly care in low- and middle-income countries: Opportunities and challenges.
Education
- Master of Public Health/Master of Health Administration, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, F.L., 2013 to 2017
- Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery, Armed Forces Medical College, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2005 to 2010