Dr. Babbar's research is situated at the intersection of global public health, development economics, and gender studies. He has conducted extensive quantitative and mixed-methods research using large-scale survey data from across South Asia.
He is interested in the social and structural determinants of health inequity; the complex ways in which gendered social norms shape individual agency and well-being; and the causal pathways through which economic conditions and policy interventions translate into lived experience. His work explores the life course of inequity, examining how women's embodied health, from the foundational experiences of menstruation to the critical transitions of mid-life, governs their ability to participate in society.
A significant portion of his research is dedicated to understanding menstrual health not merely as a biological event, but as a central locus of social meaning, economic cost, and psychological well-being. He also investigates the unexamined public health crisis of hysterectomy overuse, exploring the influence of social networks and market forces on women's health decisions. Further, his work unpacks the social ecology of gender-based violence, questioning how physical environments, specific forms of knowledge, and community-level norms create contexts of either risk or safety.
His current research interests lie in integrating these themes to build a new, comprehensive paradigm for understanding women's health. In particular, he is captivated by the prospect of creating a trans-disciplinary, evidence-based approach that views women's well-being as an outcome of the intricate intertwining of physiological realities, social architectures, and economic structures.
