Nepal

Prof. Dr. Shiva Raj Adhikari is a distinguished economist and policy leader who serves as a Professor of Economics at Tribhuvan University, Nepal. Renowned for bridging academic excellence with high-level public policy, his expertise spans public finance, social protection, and macroeconomic strategy. Between 2025 and 2026, he served as Vice Chairperson of the National Planning Commission, where he shaped Nepal’s Sixteenth Plan and aligned national development with the Sustainable Development Goals and LDC graduation strategies.

Throughout his career, Prof. Adhikari has been a pivotal figure in fiscal federalism and public expenditure reform, serving on the Intergovernmental Fiscal Council to strengthen financial management. As the former Head of the Central Department of Economics, he fostered research excellence and policy-oriented scholarship. His extensive global footprint includes collaborations with the World Bank, WHO, and ADB, alongside participation in the Ministerial Leadership Program at Harvard University. With over 200 publications and thousands of citations, he remains a leading voice in evidence-based policymaking. Currently, he chairs the Nepal Chapter of the Lancet Commission on Investing in Health and leads the Nepal Health Economics Association, continuing his commitment to sustainable development and equity analysis.

Ms. Chalise is a highly committed nursing professional/educator with over 30 years of experience in teaching and academic leadership for middle-level to postgraduate nursing education. She led and contributed to multiple research studies focused on the prevention of severe pre-eclampsia and eclampsia in Nepal and played a key role in developing an anesthesia assistant training manual and quality improvement tools for maternal and newborn health services. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she actively served as a national-level trainer, delivering capacity-building programs to more than 2,500 health professionals across Nepal. Her core areas of expertise include health services management, training, and research, with strong professional interests in leadership, human resource management, and health system strengthening. She is highly motivated and well-equipped to contribute effectively to development partner–supported programs through strong coordination, capacity building, and the application of evidence-based practices.

Mr. Shah is a public health professional with extensive experience in health policy, systems strengthening, and multisectoral development programming. He holds a Master of Public Health from the School of Public Health, BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal, and is a Life Member of the Nepal Public Health Association. His professional work spans health and rehabilitation system strengthening, health sector emergencies, sexual and reproductive health and rights, inclusive disaster risk reduction (DRR), social protection, economic integration, peace building, and gender-based violence response. His significant engagement also includes human capability development by means of academic and professional activities. He is trained in child development and survival, health sector emergency, inclusive DRR, mental health and suicide prevention, health economics research, health rights programming, interpersonal communication and teaching/learning approaches from academic institutions in Sweden, Rwanda, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Canada, USA, India and China.

Ms. Maskey is a public health professional with a Master’s in Public Health and a strong foundation in Nursing (Bachelor’s degree), both from Tribhuvan University. Over the past decade, she has built a unique blend of experience across clinical practice, research, and program coordination. She has worked with leading institutions including the Nepal Health Research Council, UK Aid’s MEOR programme, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit Nepal, and CMC Nepal, where she contributed to large-scale studies on non-communicable diseases, vaccine effectiveness, mental health and health system. As a Senior Program Coordinator, she brings extensive experience in leading multidisciplinary teams

Mr. Sapkota is a dedicated public health researcher and a Life Member of the Nepal Health Economics Association (NHEA). He holds a Master of Science in Epidemiology and Health Statistics from Capital Medical University, Beijing, and specializes in quantitative and qualitative data analysis. Currently, Suman serves as a Research Associate with NHEA /Bergen Center for Ethics and Priority Setting (BCEPS), where he plays a key role in supporting Nepal’s Ministry of Health and Population to revise the Essential Health Care Package for Universal Health Coverage. His work involves data analyses, data visualization, and generating evidence for informed policy decisions using FairChoices tool.

Sandeep Ale Magar is a Finance and Administration Manager with decade of experience in the field of financial, accounting and administration experience. He is pursing M.A. in economics and is a member of ACCA. He brings experience from various sectors ranging from NGOs, INGOs, Multi-System Operator and Accounting firm. His famous quote is “Bring me the numbers”.

Ms. Dhakal is a dedicated finance and operations professional with over nine years of experience in financial management, administration, and human resource support within development projects in Nepal. She brings in-depth expertise in financial reporting, budgeting, payroll management, bank reconciliation, procurement processes, audit support, asset management, and compliance with donor regulations. She is also experienced in administrative operations, HR support, vendor coordination, travel management, and event organization. She holds a Master of Business Studies in Finance from Tribhuvan University.

Mr. Chhetri is a development professional with over 15 years of experience. His work sits at the intersection of innovation, partnership-building, advocacy, and knowledge generation. He has worked with leading international organizations, including UNDP, UNFPA, the World Bank, and JICA, supporting multi-sectoral initiatives at federal, provincial, and local levels in Nepal. At the global level, he led a World Bank-supported Community of Practice on health financing, facilitating cross-country dialogue and knowledge exchange among policymakers and practitioners. He has led initiatives in gender equality, youth empowerment, inclusive governance, and digital innovation, translating evidence and field insights into policy-relevant action. He holds a Master’s degree.

Mr. Pandey is a public health researcher with over a decade of experience in health systems, policy, and implementation research. He holds a Master’s in public health and is pursuing a PhD in Health Economics at the Bergen Centre for Ethics and Priority Setting, University of Bergen. He has served as Senior Research Fellow at HERD International, Senior Research Advisor for the FCDO-funded Monitoring, Evaluation and Operational Research project, and Research Officer at Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC). Skilled in mixed methods and implementation science, he has led large-scale surveys, trained 1,000+ health professionals on health research, and contributed to evidence in areas like health system, service coverage, health financing, and disease burden.

Pratik Khanal is a PhD Research Fellow in Health Economics at the University of Bergen. His research focuses on estimating the cost of cancer care and identifying cost-effective cancer interventions in Nepal. He is part of the priority setting project implemented by Nepal Health Economics Association in collaboration with Nepal’s Ministry of Health and Population, and Bergen Centre for Ethics and Priority Setting, University of Bergen.

Mr. Mishra is a PhD research fellow at the Bergen Center for Ethics and Priority Setting, University of Bergen, where his research focuses on the efficiency of basic health care service delivery in Nepal. He holds a Master’s degree in public health and public administration from Tribhuvan University. He has a strong background in public health and health economics, with expertise in their application to national health systems. With over a decade of experience in Nepal’s government health system, he currently serves as a Senior Public Health Officer in the Policy, Planning, and Monitoring Division of the Ministry of Health and Population.