Empowering the Nepali Community Through Research & Advocacy
The Nepali Community Center Think Tank Group is a strategic initiative of the Nepali Association of Northern California (NANC), dedicated to research, policy development, and innovative solutions that uplift and empower the Nepali community. Through data-driven insights, advocacy, and community engagement, we aim to address key challenges and foster long-term growth.
Tara Sigdel, PhD
Chairperson of Think Tank GroupTara Sigdel, Ph.D. obtained his Ph.D. in biochemistry from Miami University (OH) followed by postdoctoral training in biomarker discovery, immunology, and organ transplantation at Stanford University under Professor Minnie Sarwal. Dr Sigdel joined the UCSF Department of Surgery in 2014 where he uses proteomics, immune response profiling, and gene expression analysis to discover sensitive and effective biomarkers that help in developing clinical tools for early diagnosis and improved patient monitoring. In collaboration with researchers at UCSF and other institutes, Dr. Sigdel is actively involved in identification of non-invasive biomarkers genes, peptides, proteins, and antibodies that monitor disease status after organ transplantation.
Amod Pokhrel, PhD
Board MemberAmod Pokhrel is an environmental health scientist. He teaches Environmental Health Sciences in the MPH curriculum at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health. He is also a subject matter expert and the visiting faculty at the Nepal Open University. His research and professional interests fall at the intersection of energy, environment, climate change, environmental justice, and health related to household energy use in developing countries. His research involves the domain of exposure science (indoor and outdoor air pollution), energy use assessment, data science, and environmental epidemiology. Collaborating with researchers at UC Berkeley, he is looking at ways to improve the environment, climate, and population health by increasing access to clean, modern cooking fuel (biogas, liquified petroleum gas, electric cookstoves) in developing countries.
Tika Lamsal, PhD
Board MemberTika Lamsal earned his PhD in Rhetoric and Composition from University of Louisville. He teaches courses on rhetoric and composition, cross-cultural communication, and global rhetorics in both Rhetoric and Language Department and MA in Professional Communication Program. Through the lens of critical ethnography, his research examines the intersection of linguistic, cultural, and multimodal literacies of Bhutanese refugees in U.S. contexts to demonstrate how the refugees negotiate their ways to academic, cultural, and economic transition by using their linguistic and cultural repertoires in the new locale of their migration.
Dr. Narayan Khadka
Board MemberCurrently I am working as an Asylum Officer 3 position in San Francisco California. I have reviewed applications, conducted interviews and adjudicated asylum applications. I have developed Nepal COI Bank and worked on Afghanistan COI research as a detailee with RAIO Research Division. Prior to joining asylum program, I spent 12 years working as Refugee Program Coordinator in North Carolina where I managed and coordinated the elderly refugee program. I have also spent significant time researching, teaching and engaging war refugees and indigenous communities in South Asia and conducting qualitative field research in the southeastern United States. I have received 2018 Pacesetter Award from the School of Health and Human Sciences, University of North Carolina at Greensboro for my significant contribution in the field of refugee and immigrant reintegration and resiliency.
