Ruchi Bhandari, PhD, MPA, MBA

Associate Professor

Organization:

West Virginia University School of Public Health

Department:

Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Classification:

Faculty

• PhD, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, 2013
• MPA, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
• MA, University of Rajasthan, India
• MBA, R.A. Podar Institute of Management, University of Rajasthan, India

· Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award by Student Association of Public Health, WVU, April 2023.

· Teaching Spotlight (twice), HSC Office of Research and Graduate Education. October 21, 2020 - October 28, 2020 and July 29, 2020 - August 5, 2020.

· First place award for the oral presentation Practice patterns and outcomes of injection drug users presenting with tricuspid valve infective endocarditis in West Virginia. Johnson J, Reece R, Bhandari R, Khakoo R, Annual Meeting of the WV Chapter, American College of Physicians Chapter Meeting, Stonewall Resort, WV, October 2019.

· Second place award for oral presentation Clinical outcomes and screening rates of infants born to women with active Hepatitis C infection at the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute Annual Meeting, Greenbrier, WV, April 2019.

· First place award for the research poster Barriers to influenza vaccination in a rural university clinic by Chen Y-W, Bhandari R, Fisher M at the Annual Meeting of the WV Chapter, American College of Physicians, Roanoke, WV, October 2018.

Dr. Bhandari is an Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the School of Public Health at West Virginia University (WVU). She has developed an active, independent, and high-quality research program focused on the assessment of risk factors and outcomes of life-threatening infections associated with drug use, a significant public health challenge in West Virginia (WV). She has recently received a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute award as a Principal Investigator (PI) to build comparative clinical effectiveness research among patients with substance use disorder. Over the years, she has obtained extramural funding as a PI or co-investigator (Co-I) from multiple sources for her research, including the NIH-funded West Virginia Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (WVCTSI) and the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (WVDHHR). She built the first intra-hospital, multi-site database of patients with infective endocarditis associated with injection drug use in WV. She also secured another WVU internal grant as a PI for assessing risk-factors and outcomes of injection drug use patients at WVU's multidisciplinary Infusion Service. In addition, she is a co-investigator on a large-scale statewide, biennial survey designed to collect extensive health data with the goal of directing resources to the disadvantaged WV communities. She was also a PI on another crucial project, conducting an independent assessment of the state program providing health coverage to children and youth in foster care and individuals receiving adoption assistance.

 She has developed and taught public health and epidemiology-related courses at the undergraduate, master’s, and PhD levels at West Virginia University and Marshall University for over 9 years. She received the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award from the School of Public Health, WVU for 2022-2023, and was also nominated in 2020–2021. She was nominated for the Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Teaching for 2022–2023.

Complete list of publications: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1LIni-4s3O9kkh/bibliography/public/