Research aimed at preventing burns and helping burn victims in Nepal recently was completed by an alumnus of Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine.

“Exploring Resilience and Trauma Recovery in Nepali Burn Survivors: A Thematic Analysis” is the name of a study led by Dinasha Dahanayake Navindi, M.D., OUWB ’25.

She also was involved in a second project on ways to prevent burn injuries in Nepal called “Defining the Hazards and Epidemiology of Fires and Burn Injuries in Slum, Urban, and Rural Communities in Nepal.”

Navindi was involved in the studies through a one-year Fulbright-Fogarty Fellowship in Public Health, which is a partnership program between the U.S. Fulbright Program and the Fogarty International Center of the U.S. National Institute of Health.

Already, her work has been presented at the International Society for Burn Injuries in the United Kingdom, the World Safety Congress in New Delhi, the American Burn Association Conference in Phoenix, the OUWB 2025 Embark Capstone Colloquium, and more.

“Working with these populations is very rewarding to me,” she said. “I feel like no one should have to suffer or die just because of where they live or their circumstances…this project really opened my mind to how we can better advocate for patients and include them more in their care.”

‘Public health is one of my passions’

Navindi grew up in Sri Lanka and moved to Irvine, California, when she was 8 years old. She said that her single mother had “that American dream of providing me and my sister better education.”

For her undergraduate studies, she attended University of California, Berkeley, and earned a bachelor’s degree in Physiology and Metabolism with a minor in Disability Studies.

She was drawn to OUWB’s “great sense of community.”

“Even from Interview Day, the people I met, and the faculty seemed very supportive and that really was exciting for me,” said Navindi.

After her third year at OUWB, Navindi participated in the Fulbright-Fogarty Fellowship. She decided to go to Nepal and work on the burn-related projects. She was based in Kirtipur Hospital.

“We don’t tend to see these kind of burn injuries…electric burns or fire burns…in high-income countries like America,” she said. “I wanted that exposure and to learn and see where we could intervene with regards to public health strategies because public health is one of my passions.”

More needs to be done

According to a 2017 report in Global Health Now, the actual number of people treated for burns in Nepal is difficult to count, due in large part to its rural, mountainous topography worsened by the 2015 earthquake.

However, it’s estimated that every year at least 56,000 people suffer burn injuries. (The country’s population is about 29 million.)

The epidemiology of fires and burns in Nepal study that Navindi participated in attributed “a disproportionate burden of morbidity and mortality resulting from burn injuries” to factors such as energy poverty, traditional practices, limited access to quality burn care, and environmental conditions.

The findings were based on interviews with more than 600 households throughout the nation. (The interviews also included an awareness component that consisted of information about how to avoid burn-related accidents, how to treat burns, and more.)

The main purpose of the study, according to the Fulbright-Fogarty Fellowship website, was to obtain better data so that effective burn prevention strategies can be tailored and implemented within specific communities within Nepal.

For “Exploring Resilience and Trauma Recovery in Nepali Burn Survivors: A Thematic Analysis,” Navindi took a closer look at how Nepali burn survivors experience trauma and resilience and identified key coping mechanisms and support structures that facilitate recovery.

Based on interviews, Navindi examined medical and physical challenges, emotional and psychological struggles, social and community support, and resilience and growth.

Challenges identified include prolonged hospital stays, physical pain, financial strain, depression, post-traumatic distress, and more.

“However, strong support from family, friends, and peer networks played a crucial role in recovery, reinforcing the importance of social connections,” states the study’s abstract. “Many survivors demonstrated resilience by developing coping strategies, embracing personal transformation, and engaging in advocacy to support others facing similar challenges.”

But the study concludes that more needs to be done.

Specifically, the findings highlight the need for holistic rehabilitation approaches that address medical, psychological, and social factors in burn recovery.

“Enhanced mental health support, financial assistance for treatment, and structured peer-support groups are essential in improving survivor outcomes,” it reads. “These insights can inform policies aimed at developing integrated burn care programs that prioritize both physical and emotional well-being.”

Looking ahead

In March, Navindi matched in Internal Medicine at Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles.

But she “100%” sees herself continuing to do public health-related work like what she did in Nepal.

“One of the major reasons I became a physician was to continue working on public health…and I plan to do that,” she said.

She said she envisions herself working on projects related to prevention of injury, research, and implementation.

And that could include continuing such work in places like Nepal.

“I hope to continue working with burn survivors as well to develop the resources they need and help develop the resource structure in low-income countries so we can better assist them in advancing their health care systems,” she said.

For more information, contact Andrew Dietderich, senior marketing specialist, OUWB, at [email protected].

To request an interview, visit the OUWB Communications & Marketing webpage.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.