School of Medicine
Cochrane Network Cochrane at Tufts

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Shayesteh Jahanfar

Shayesteh Jahanfar

Professor
Public Health and Community Medicine
Shayesteh Jahanfar
Cochrane Network Cochrane at Tufts

Full Profile

Career Highlights / Publications Research Professional Activities Courses / Teaching Activities

Research/Areas of Interest

Dr. Jahanfar is a reproductive epidemiologist with a grounding in public health and biostatistics. Her research focuses on reproductive health, maternal-child health, and genetic versus environment studies. She has worked with several twin studies in Australia, Malaysia, Canada, and the USA. Her research interests are reproductive health, maternal-child health, global health, HIV/AIDS, opioid use, and twin studies. She is working on WHO-funded projects related to reasons for Cesarean sections, family planning, and assisted vaginal birth. As a Cochrane trainer, reviewer, author, and current Director of the Cochrane Affiliate at Tufts with US Network, she is keen to connect Tufts with the Cochrane Collaboration. She is also the co-director of the Pregnancy and Childbirth US Satellite with Cochrane. She actively seeks interested students and researchers to collaborate on Cochrane's work, twin studies, and reproductive health research projects. Dr. Jahanfar is working with Maternal and Perinatal Health, Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization.

Education

  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, 2016
  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, 1995
  • Master of Science in Community Health, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Seri Kembangan, Malaysia, 2009
  • Postdoc Epidemiology and Public Health, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Seri Kembangan, Malaysia, 2008

Biography

Dr. Jahanfar has been teaching for more than 35 years. She has taught various courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels, including epidemiology, biostatistics, maternal-child health, systematic reviews, survey methods, research methodology, and the Doctor-Patient and Society Module. She has also delivered workshops/webinars to support faculty development teaching software (SPSS, R, SAS, STATA, CMA, Revman), regression modelling, and survival analysis. Dr. Jahanfar is an international Cochrane trainer and has conducted over 80 Cochrane workshops/webinar series in the USA, Canada, Malaysia, and the Middle East on standard author training and trained over 800 clinicians and scientists. Her work with the Cochrane Central Team involves developing training materials for trainers. She is the Director of Cochrane Affiliate at Tufts, co-director of former Pregnancy Childbirth Sattelite_US Network and collaborator with the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Method Group. Dr. Jahanfar has a secondary appointment with the Tufts School of Arts and Sciences.
Dr. Jahanfar is a global health researcher involved in ongoing projects in Australia, Malaysia, Egypt, and the Middle East. She has recently joined WHO and EMRO as a consultant. She is also engaged in global health research in Malaysia, Iran, Europe, and Australia. Under her leadership, Tufts University signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of Malaya, which has facilitated the participation of several students in global health research projects during the Summers of 2022, 2023, and 2024. These initiatives reflect her commitment to advancing global health education and research. You can read more about her efforts here (https://medicine.tufts.edu/news-events/news/student-research-projects-malaysia-improve-global-health-education). Students who have travelled to Malaysia in 2024 have created e-portfolios showcasing their achievements. Find these links here (https://sites.google.com/view/tuftsgrapsophi/home), here (https://sites.google.com/view/syennatufts2024grap/home) and here (https://sites.google.com/view/grapkl-ianc/home?authuser=0). Students interested in travelling to Malaysia for Summer 2025 to be involved in research projects can connect with her directly at shayesteh.jahanfar@tufts.edu.