Akshaya Bhagavathula

Associate Professor

Faculty

Public Health

Akshaya Bhagavathula

Dr. Akshaya Srikanth Bhagavathula is Associate Professor of Epidemiology at North Dakota State University. He is an internationally recognized public health scientist with expertise in digital and spatial epidemiology, AI-driven risk prediction, infodemiology, and pharmacoepidemiology. Dr. Bhagavathula has authored over 350 peer-reviewed publications, serves as Associate Editor for JMIR Public Health & Surveillance, and sits on the editorial board of Annals of Epidemiology. He has advised projects with WHO, UNICEF, and MSF across more than two dozen countries. His research advances spatiotemporal modeling of chronic and infectious diseases, digital health innovation, Spatial informatics, and causal inference to address health disparities. An award-winning educator and mentor, Dr. Bhagavathula is dedicated to advancing public health scholarship and training the next generation of epidemiologists.

Areas of Study & Research

  • Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning
  • Learning Digital Health and Telemedicine
  • Spatial Epidemiology/Spatial Informatics
  • Infodemiology/Google Health Chronic Disease and Causal Epidemiology
  • Pharmacoepidemiology
  • Legal Epidemiology

Courses Taught

PH 301: Research Methods in Health Services
PH 474: Epidemiology
PH 750: Epidemiologic Methods I
PH 752: Epidemiologic Methods II

Previous Work

  • Associate Editor, New Emirates Medical Journal, Emirates Medical Association, Dubai, UAE (2019-2021)
  • Research Associate, Emirates Cardiac Society, Dubai, UAE (2015-2022)
  • Assistant Professor, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Ethiopia (2013-2018)

Awards & Honors

  • Global Burden Disease - Lead Collaborator (2025)
  • Best Mentor Award, North Dakota State University (2025)
  • NDSU Innovation in Teaching Award (2024)
  • Stanford-Elsevier Top 2% Scientist, Clinical Medicine & Public Health (2019–2024)
  • American College of Epidemiology, Board Member (2024–2025)
  • Legal Epidemiology Fellow, Temple University Center for Public Health Law Research (2024)
  • Editorial Board Member, Annals of Epidemiology and JMIR Public Health & Surveillance (2023–present)
  • Recognized contributor and invited expert, World Health Organization, UNICEF, Médecins Sans Frontières, and BBC

Professional Associations

Board of Directors, American College of Epidemiology: 2024 - 2025

Legal Epidemiology Fellow - Center for Public Health Law Research | Temple University - Beasley School of Law, PA 19122

Associate Editor, JMIR Public Health & Surveillance

Editorial Board member, Annals of Epidemiology

Education

  • 2022-2023, Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Public Health & Technology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR
  • 2022, Doctor of Philosophy, Epidemiology & Biostatistics, United Arab Emirates University, Abu Dhabi, UAE
  • 2012, Doctor of Pharmacy, Clinical Pharmacy, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, India
  • 2009, Bachelor of Pharmacy, The Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University, India

Publications

Selected Publications (of 356)
h-index = 64, i-10 index = 196
Complete list: Google Scholar & PubMed

1. Bhagavathula AS, Al Qady AM, Aldhaleei WA. Diagnostic accuracy and quality of artificial intelligence models in irritable bowel syndrome: A systematic review. World Journal of Gastroenterology. 2025; 31(23): 106836. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i23.106836.

2. GBD 2019 Acute and Chronic Care Collaborators. Characterising acute and chronic care needs: insights from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Nat Commun. 2025 May 7;16(1):4235. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-56910-x.

3. Bhagavathula AS, Akomaning E, Osei SP, Griechen MA. Racial and Social Vulnerability Hotspots in Premature Heart Failure Mortality Across US Counties. Circ Heart Fail. 2025 Jun;18(6):e012889. doi: 10.1161/CIRCHEARTFAILURE.125.012889.

4. Bhagavathula AS, Abegaz TM, Khubchandani J, Choi BJ. Knowledge, access, and possession of naloxone (Narcan) among U.S. adults: A nationwide survey 2023. Am J Addict. 2025 Jul;34(4):450-459. doi: 10.1111/ajad.70031.

5. Abegaz TM, Ahmed M, Ali AA, Bhagavathula AS. Predicting Health-Related Quality of Life Using Social Determinants of Health: A Machine Learning Approach with the All of Us Cohort. Bioengineering (Basel). 2025 Feb 9;12(2):166. doi: 10.3390/bioengineering12020166.

6. Osei SP, Akomaning E, Florut TF, Sodhi M, Lacy BE, Aldhaleei WA, Bhagavathula AS. Gastrointestinal Safety Assessment of GLP-1 Receptor Agonists in the US: A Real-World Adverse Events Analysis from the FAERS Database. Diagnostics (Basel). 2024 Dec 16;14(24):2829. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics14242829.

7. Bhagavathula A, Price JH, Khubchandani J. Trends and Disparities in Non-fatal Firearm Injuries among Working-Age Adults in the United States, 2000-2021. J Community Health. 2025 Jun;50(3):454-463. doi: 10.1007/s10900-024-01431-9.

8. Akomaning E, Osei SP, Bhagavathula AS. Alcohol-related injuries from e-scooter and e-bike use in the US (2019-2022): a retrospective study. Inj Prev. 2025 Jan 12:ip-2024-045461. doi: 10.1136/ip-2024-045461.

9. Bhagavathula AS, Lopez-Soto D. Telehealth adoption for substance use and mental health disorders in Minnesota and North Dakota: a quasi-experimental study. Mhealth. 2024 Oct 17;10:31. doi: 10.21037/mhealth-24-43.

10. Raubenheimer JE, Myburgh PH, Bhagavathula AS. Sweetening the deal: an infodemiological study of worldwide interest in semaglutide using Google Trends extended for health application programming interface. BMC Glob Public Health. 2024 Sep 17;2(1):63. doi: 10.1186/s44263-024-00095-w.