Who We Are

Our People

Dr Natisha Dukhi
Senior Research Specialist
Public Health, Societies and Belonging

Dr Natisha Dukhi is a senior research specialist in the HSRC's Human and Social Capabilities division. She has spent over a decade working as a medical scientist, specialising in human anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology and nutrition at various South African universities.

Since 2009, Dukhi has been involved with community health and NGOs and served as an online mentor for the Triune Uganda 2009 Global Project for Pharmacy and for social science students from countries in Africa, America, Europe and Asia. In 2016, she graduated with a PhD in public health at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She is an eclectic behavioural scientist with various interdisciplinary research interests. Her areas of expertise include nutrition, adolescent and child health, health promotion and non-communicable diseases, with a special interest in mHealth, artificial intelligence and gender-based violence.

Dukhi serves as a principal investigator, a co-principal investigator and project director on various interdisciplinary surveys. Her scientific experience and collaborations have led to various interdisciplinary publications, book chapters and conference proceedings and she is a reviewer for various national and international journals. She is a member of the South African Young Academy of Science and an affiliate of the African Academy of Sciences. Dukhi is an exco for the Public Health Association of South Africa and for the SA National Chapter of the Organisation for Women in Science in the Developing World. She is also a fellow and the president of the African ChangeMakers Initiative in South Africa and a fellow of the Southern Africa and Africa Science Leadership Programmes. In 2018, she was a BRICS Young Scientist awardee and a recipient of the Gro Brundtland Award for outstanding work in the field of public health and sustainable development.