Vedha Penmetcha
Houston, TX| Grant Category: | Fulbright-Nehru Student Research Program |
| Project Title: | Evaluation of the CBE Breast Cancer Community Health Educational Program of UBCF |
| Field of Study: | Public Health |
| Home Institution: | Rice University, Houston, TX |
| Host Institution: | KIMS Hospitals, Secunderabad, Telangana |
| Grant Start Month: | September 2025 |
| Duration of Grant: | Nine months |
Brief Bio:
Vedha Penmetcha earned her bachelor’s degree in sports medicine and exercise physiology, with minors in global health technologies and medical humanities, along with a Spanish language certificate, from Rice University, Texas. Her passions lie at the intersection of medicine, social justice, and innovation.
Vedha’s global health design work is complemented by public health research. As a Stanford CARE research scholar, she evaluated racial and ethnic disparities in national breast cancer trends and advanced care planning, leading to presentations at national and international conferences. Inspired by these experiences, she began working with the International Health Systems Group at the University of Cambridge, where she is currently evaluating data-set diversity in health technologies.
Outside of research, Vedha is deeply committed to social justice. She has designed and led social justice programs on healthcare access. These experiences motivated her work as a Community Bridges Research Fellow, where she partnered with the Tahirih Justice Center to co-develop a mental health resource map tool for immigrant survivors of domestic violence.
Outside of her professional work, Vedha finds joy in movement and creativity. Trained in Bharatanatyam, she has been part of competitive Bollywood fusion and hip-hop dance teams in college. She also enjoys drawing, spending time with family and friends, and photography.
Vedha’s Fulbright-Nehru project is evaluating South Asia’s largest clinical breast examination (CBE) program launched by the Ushalakshmi Breast Cancer Foundation, Hyderabad, India. It is specifically looking at CBE performed by trained community health workers as a promising alternative to the high-cost mammography test.