Dr. Sunaina Dhingra

Dr. Sunaina Dhingra is an Associate Professor at the Jindal School of Government & Public Policy. Her research interests are in the area of development economics, heath economics, education and public policy. Prior to joining JGU, she was a Post-Doctoral Associate with the Tata Cornell Institute (TCI) in the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University. She completed her Ph.D. in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi (2018).

Sunaina’s current research focuses on addressing questions broadly related to health, nutrition and educational outcomes, and how they interface with poverty reduction. She has extensive field work experience in the villages of Bihar for her Ph.D. dissertation which evaluates the principal drivers of nutritional and education outcomes for children in rural India in general, and for girls in particular. At TCI, her research analyzed the drivers of child stunting and other forms of undernutrition, including new concerns on rising adult overweight and obesity issues in developing countries. Apart from these topics, she is working on the role of women’s bargaining power in intra-household decision making and how it may influence the gender bias in human capital investments on children. Through her research, she has contributed to, and is building on, the understanding of nutrition and educational challenges in India with a special focus on the disadvantaged and vulnerable population.

Along with research, Sunaina has mentored Ph.D. and other graduate students at Cornell University on developing research and planning field visits. She also brings wide-ranging undergraduate and graduate teaching experience to JGU. She has taught courses at IIM Rohtak, the Delhi School of Economics, and various undergraduate colleges of Delhi University.

Sunaina has earned her B.A. (H) in Economics from Delhi College of Arts & Commerce, University of Delhi in 2007, and M.A. in Economics from Jamia Millia Islamia in 2009.