Harnoor Sachar graduated from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service with a degree in science, technology, and international affairs, and a minor in biology. Her academic and research interests lie at the intersection of health systems and clinical medicine, and she has extensive experience conducting research in international settings. As a BSFS Summer Award, Barkanic Award, and CRF Summer Fellowship recipient, Harnoor spent two summers in Mysore, India, engaging in women’s health research, which ranged from health hazards faced by female beedi workers to health system gaps in cervical cancer care. She has gone on to present her findings at conferences such as the 2024 World Cancer Congress and CUGH 2026. Harnoor is also a recipient of the Georgetown Medical Humanities Research Fellowship whereby she has been able to bring her love for film and culture into her research interests by exploring the portrayal of motherhood in Bollywood movies.
In the clinical space, Harnoor works as a volunteer EMT in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and as a volunteer scribe at a free Spanish-speaking clinic in Arlington, Virginia.
Away from research and work, she is on Georgetown’s bhangra dance team, and enjoys singing, running, and trying out new restaurants.
As a Fulbright-Nehru Scholar, Harnoor is expanding on her interests in women’s health and the sociocultural factors of medicine. She is conducting a mixed-methods study to examine the social, structural, and gendered barriers contributing to rising sexually transmitted disease (STD) rates in Punjab, India. Her research is exploring how stigma, gender norms, and cultural taboos surrounding sexual health and healthcare access shape patients’ and providers’ experiences with STD diagnosis and treatment, particularly among women and adolescents. Through surveys and in-depth interviews with patients and healthcare providers, her work seeks to advance cross-cultural understanding of sexual health inequities and inform patient-centered strategies for stigma reduction, improved treatment uptake, and more equitable access to STD care in high-burden communities.