Jahnavi Nanwani is a rising senior attending Oregon State University, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Human Development and Family Sciences. Born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia, her upbringing and experiences in a vibrant and culturally diverse environment have profoundly influenced her academic and personal interests. Jahnavi’s passion revolves around neuropsychology, specifically the relationship between physiological changes in the nervous system and their impact on behavioral and cognitive processing. This extends to her research interests exploring the varying effects of substance use, environmental and genetic differences, and tailoring health policies to effectively address the needs of individual and diverse populations.
During her time in this internship, Jahnavi worked under the supervision and mentorship of Dr. Justin Knox for the Siyamphambili Substance Use Study, based in South Africa. Her research focused on substance use, especially polysubstance use, as a barrier to ART adherence, viral suppression, and optimal HIV care for female sex workers. Throughout the internship, Jahnavi’s work involved literature reviews and participating in developing methods of qualitative data collection, mainly around policy landscapes of accessibility and infrastructures of substance use disorder treatment programs, treatment outcomes and quality, and the use and evolution of opioid antagonist medications, like Narcan, as an effective treatment to the opioid overdose crisis.
Immensely grateful for the experiences, connections, and knowledge she has gained, Jahnavi looks forward to continuing working alongside Dr. Knox and the Siyaphambili study in August and applying all that she has learned from the CUGMHP to all future endeavors and projects.