Disha Ali is a global public health specialist with over two decades of experience leading monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning (MERL) efforts across Africa, Asia, and the United States. Her expertise spans maternal and child health, nutrition, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, immunization, zoonotic spillover, and health systems strengthening. Throughout her career, she has applied rigorous mixed-methods approaches to generate actionable evidence and translate findings into sustainable policy and programmatic decisions.

She has directed multi-country evaluations and studies for major donors, including USAID, FCDO, and UN agencies. As Evaluation Team Lead for USAID’s Demographic and Health Survey Capacity Strengthening initiative across 21 countries, Disha designed and implemented frameworks to assess impact, strengthen institutional capacity, and guide future strategies. As Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Advisor for USAID’s STOP Spillover project, she brought a One Health lens to zoonotic disease prevention. She also led the evaluation of the FCDO-funded Better Health in Bangladesh program, integrating midwifery, green health, and private sector engagement to strengthen national health systems.

Disha’s technical skills include econometric and statistical modeling, large survey analysis, cost-effectiveness evaluations, and qualitative research. She is proficient in Stata, Atlas.ti, NVivo, and Power BI. She has developed theories of change, logframes, and value-for-money frameworks, and produced peer-reviewed publications, policy briefs, and technical reports that communicate complex findings to donors, governments, and community stakeholders.

Equally important, Disha is deeply committed to capacity building and knowledge transfer. She has supervised multidisciplinary teams, trained peers and partners in MERL methods, and mentored graduate students in advanced research design and analysis. She also holds a certificate in Digital Health Evaluation and Deployment from Brown University, underscoring her interest in leveraging technology to strengthen evidence generation and healthcare systems.

Disha brings a unique combination of evaluation leadership, technical and analytical expertise, and a proven ability to generate evidence that informs policy, systems strengthening, and sustainable development.