Aashish Jha

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.

Aashish received his BA in Molecular and Cellular Biology from The University of California Berkeley and his Ph.D. 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 Stanford University Center for Computational, Evolutionary, and Human Genomics (CEHG). Outside of academia, Aashish 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.

Aashish has published two dozen peer-reviewed papers in scientific journals.