Aashish Jha, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Biology at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) where he leads the Genetic Heritage Group. Aashish grew up in Kathmandu, Nepal where he attended Little Angels’ School and NIST. He received his BA in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of California Berkeley in 2007, Ph.D. in Human Genetics from The University of Chicago in 2015, and completed his postdoctoral research at Stanford University in 2019. His research spans the microbiome, genomics, bioinformatics, immunology, evolutionary biology, and cancer biology. He has been involved in genomics research in Nepal since 2007 and his work on genomics and microbiomes of Nepali populations has resulted in multiple peer-reviewed papers. Aashish currently integrates genomics, statistics, and machine learning to understand human population histories, genetic and lifestyle factors influencing the microbiome, and their effect on health. He has received funding from Stanford University and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and has ongoing research programs in the UAE, Nepal, India, Oceania, and Africa. Aashish is passionate about education and he joined the HDI Advisory Board in 2021.