Snehal Vaghela
About Snehal Vaghela
Snehal Vaghela is an experienced epidemiologist currently working at the First Nations Health Authority in Vancouver, Canada. With a strong educational background in public health and extensive experience in various health organizations, she specializes in health surveillance and data analysis.
Work at First Nations Health Authority
Snehal Vaghela has been employed as an Epidemiologist at the First Nations Health Authority since 2019. In this role, she provides epidemiological and statistical inputs to the health surveillance unit, ensuring the use of appropriate epidemiological measures in developing surveillance reports. She also supports the development of data access requests and information sharing agreements, adhering to First Nations data governance and OCAP principles. Her work includes identifying health disparities from key administrative datasets to inform corrective and preventive measures aimed at improving health status and disease outcomes.
Education and Expertise
Snehal Vaghela holds a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from Smt. N.H.L. Municipal Medical College, where she studied Community Medicine from 2011 to 2014. She completed her Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) at B. J. Medical College from 2003 to 2008. Additionally, she earned a Master of Public Health (MPH) in Environmental and Occupational Health from Simon Fraser University between 2016 and 2018. Snehal further advanced her education with a Master of Science (MSc) in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, which she completed in 2023.
Professional Experience
Prior to her current role, Snehal Vaghela worked in various capacities in the health sector. She served as a State RMNCH+A Consultant at UNICEF for ten months in 2015-2016, focusing on capacity building. She also held positions as a Research Assistant at the BC Centre for Disease Control during the summer of 2017 and as a Teaching Assistant at Simon Fraser University from 2017 to 2018. Her earlier experience includes working as a State Technical Advisor at UNIDO and as a Medical Consultant for the World Health Organization's RNTCP Technical Support Network.
Involvement in Health Surveillance Initiatives
Snehal Vaghela actively participates in multidisciplinary technical and analytical groups that focus on various health surveillance initiatives. Her involvement includes work related to COVID-19 surveillance, perinatal health, injury surveillance, and immunization coverage assessment. Through these initiatives, she contributes to the understanding and improvement of public health outcomes.