Sandhya Kajeepeta, MS

Director of Research and Evaluation
SKNYC Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence

Former Research Assistant
Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health

Email skajeepeta@mail.harvard.edu

Research Interests
While at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health, Sandhya contributed to multiple research projects focused on preterm birth. In collaboration with the Global Health and Population Department at the School, Sandhya conducted the largest systematic review of the data available on the effectiveness of the Kangaroo Mother Care method. Other projects involved analyses of a cohort study focused on the roles of adverse childhood experiences, intimate partner violence, and maternal sleep in shaping birth outcomes. Sandhya also contributed to other research projects in the field of reproductive health, including a nationwide survey of sexual and reproductive healthcare in the primary care field.

Upon graduating with a Master of Science in Epidemiology, Sandhya accepted a position as the Research Coordinator at the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence (OCDV) in New York City. She now serves as the Director of Research and Evaluation at OCDV where she manages the office’s citywide research initiatives, including the New York City Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee and a mixed-methods initiative with NYPD evaluating case reports of all family-related homicides over the past decade.

Publications

  • Gelaye B, Kajeepeta S, Williams MA. Suicidal ideation in pregnancy: an epidemiologic review. Arch Womens Ment Health. 2016 Oct;19(5):741-51. doi: 10.1007/s00737-016-0646-0. PubMed PMID: 27324912
  • Chan GJ, Valsangkar B, Kajeepeta S, Boundy EO, Wall S. What is kangaroo mother care? Systematic review of the literature. J Glob Health. 2016 Jun;6(1):010701. doi: 10.7189/jogh.06.010701. PubMed PMID: 27231546
  • Boundy EO, Dastjerdi R, Spiegelman D, Fawzi WW, Missmer SA, Lieberman E, Kajeepeta S, Wall S, Chan GJ. Kangaroo Mother Care and neonatal outcomes: A meta-analysis. Pediatrics. 2016 Jan;137(1). doi: 10.1542/peds.2015-2238. PubMed PMID: 26702029
  • Harvard Public Health Review Editorial Board. “Racism is a public health problem.” HPHR 2015: 3.
  • Gelaye B, Kajeepeta S, Zhong Q, Borba CPC, Rondon MB, Sanchez SE, Henderson DC, Williams MA. Childhood abuse is associated with stress-related sleep disturbance and poor sleep quality in pregnancy. Sleep Med 2015; 2015 Oct;16(10):1274-80. PubMed PMID: 26429757.
  • Kajeepeta S, Gelaye B, Jackson CL, Williams MA, Adverse childhood experiences are associated with adult sleep disorders: a systematic review, Sleep Medicine 2015, Available here.
  • Kajeepeta S, Sanchez SE, Gelaye B, Qiu C, Barrios YV, Enquobahrie DA, Williams MA. Sleep duration, vital exhaustion, and odds of spontaneous preterm birth: a case-control study. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2014 Sep 27;14:337. doi:10.1186/1471-2393-14-337. PubMed PMID: 25261975.