She is a sociocultural medical anthropologist and psychologist. Her research and teaching focus on culture and mental health, anthropology of care, bureaucracy, addiction and recovery studies in South Asia. Her current research, Entangled Care: State, Psychiatry, and Kinship in Jammu City’s De-Addiction Center, examines the impact of long-term militarization and political conflict on state-sponsored substance use treatment for recovering drug users in Jammu City. Her next project will be a multi-sited inquiry into the complex mental health needs of communities in India’s borderlands facing the triple burden of military presence, illicit opioids, and narcoterrorism.
Dr. Sugandh successfully defended her PhD at UNC Chapel Hill on July 1st 2025 and we are delighted to welcome her into our department and community.