Aashish Jha
Assistant Professor of Biology; Global Network Assistant Professor of Biology
Affiliation: NYU Abu Dhabi
Education: BA University of California Berkeley, PhD The University of Chicago
Research Websites: Genetic Heritage Group
Research Areas: Population Genetics, Microbiome, Metagenomics, ELSI, Heritage, Genomics
Aashish Jha (@nepaliaashish) is an Assistant Professor at New York University Abu Dhabi where he uses genomics to decipher human population histories and microbiomes. His recent work has focused on traditional Himalayan populations and his current research projects include genomics and microbiomics of Nepal, India, Africa, and Oceania.
Jha received his BA in Molecular and Cellular Biology from The University of California Berkeley and his PhD in Human Genetics from The University of Chicago. During his postdoctoral scholarship at Stanford University, he started The Himalayan Diversity Project to study the genetics and microbiome of Himalayan populations. His work in the Himalaya is supported by grants from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Stanford University Center for Computational, Evolutionary, and Human Genomics (CEHG). Outside of academia, Jha was the Director of Bioinformatics for NomNomNow, a pet nutrition, and health company and he was a consultant for CDB Consulting, LTD. He joined NYUAD in 2020.
Jha has published two dozen peer-reviewed papers in scientific journals.