Akshaya S Kumar

Akshaya S Kumar is a Research Associate at J-PAL South Asia, where she works on the Aging and Health in India portfolio (TN Aging). She works with researchers from MIT and Dartmouth on the design and evaluation of projects focused on improving mental health and well-being of older adults. She collaborates with the Government of Tamil Nadu to translate rigorous data-driven research into public policy.

Prior to joining J-PAL, she worked across research, data science, and the development sector with extensive experience in financial inclusion, poverty alleviation, and education. She has contributed to research on India's microfinance ecosystem, water, sanitation, and health policy. Her field research experience includes conducting extensive household surveys, qualitative interviews, and community-based data collection across Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Akshaya holds an Integrated MA in Development Studies with a minor in Economics from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras.