Resumé

Research focus

Dr. Shruti Shukla is a postdoctoral researcher at the Professorship for Global Health at the Technical University of Munich. Her research focuses on designing and evaluating gender transformative interventions to improve adolescent, maternal, and child health, as well as on preventing economic violence against women in low  and middle income countries. She is currently a researcher in the ECOVI project, where she co-leads intervention design and oversees primary data collection with 2,250 couples across three states in India.

Her research interests lie at the intersection of global health, gender equity, and violence prevention. Previously, she contributed to research on intimate partner violence in Tanzania at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and coordinated large scale, multi country studies on the impact of COVID 19 on gender inequities in India and Zambia. She works primarily with mixed methods approaches, combining qualitative research, large household surveys, and policy relevant evidence synthesis, and has extensive field experience in South Asia and Sub Saharan Africa.

Scientific career

Dr. Shukla completed her PhD in Global Health at the Technical University of Munich, where her doctoral research examined the effects of gender transformative interventions on adolescent pregnancy in low  and middle income countries. She holds a Master’s degree in Global Health from Maastricht University, The Netherlands, with a thesis on macro level influences on breastfeeding policy in Nepal. Prior to her academic career in Europe, she worked in maternal and child health programmes focusing on nutrition and health promotion in resource constrained settings in India.

In addition to her research activities, Dr. Shukla teaches global health courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and serves as an expert advisor to international organisations, including the World Health Organization’s Global Action for Measurement of Adolescent Health (GAMA). She has published in leading international journals and regularly presents her work at global health and development conferences.

Publications

Mounchid P, Shukla S, Steinert JI. The Interplay of Economic Shocks and Cultural Practices on Child Marriage: Comparative Evidence from India and Zambia during COVID-19 Pandemic. PLoS One. 21(6): e0346851.

Shukla S, Mshana G, Mosha NR, Steinert JI, Krajewska J, Harvey S, Lees S, Kapiga S & Stöckl H. Women’s self-employment, business acumen, and emotional IPV: a longitudinal study in Tanzania. BMC Women´s Health. 2026; 26, 194.

Shukla S, Kharade A, Böhret I, Jumaniyazova M, Omolade Abejirinde IO, Meyer SR, Shenderovich Y, Steinert JI. How do gender transformative interventions reduce adolescent pregnancy in low and middle-income countries? A realist synthesis. Journal of Global Health. 2025;15, 04102.

Shukla S, Mosha NR, Meyer, SR, Harvey S, Lees S, Mshana G, Stöckl H. Women's informal group participation and intimate partner violence in Mwanza, Tanzania: A longitudinal study. Social Science & Medicine. 2025; 364, 117513.

Steinert JI, Shukla S, Vasumati Satish R. Navigating distress: Exploring factors affecting adolescent girls' wellbeing during and after a violence-focused survey in Maharashtra, India. Child Abuse & Neglect. 2024; 152, 106779.

Shukla S, Abejirinde I-OO, Meyer SR, Shenderovich Y, Steinert JI. Mechanisms behind gender transformative approaches targeting adolescent pregnancy in low- and middle-income countries: a realist synthesis protocol. Systematic Reviews. 2024; 13, 95.

Meyer SR, Hardt S, Brambilla R, Shukla S & Stöckl H. Sociological Theories to Explain Intimate Partner Violence: A Systematic Review and Narrative Synthesis. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. 2023; 25(3), 2316-2333.

Shukla S, Castro Torres AF, Vasumati Satish R, Shenderovich Y, Abejirinde I-OO, Steinert JI. Factors associated with adolescent pregnancy in Maharashtra, India: a mixed-methods study. Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters. 2023; 31(1), 2249284.

Shukla S, Ezebuihe JA & Steinert JI. Association between public health emergencies and sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence, and early marriage among adolescent girls: a rapid review. BMC public health. 2023; 23(1), 1-14.

Steinert JI, Prince H, Ezebuihe JA, Shukla S. Violence Against Adolescent Girls During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Quantitative Evidence From Rural and Urban Communities in Maharashtra, India. Journal of Adolescent Health. 2023; 73(6), 1010-1018.