Assel Ibadulla
Ph.D. Student in Health Policy, admitted Autumn 2025
Bio
Assel Ibadulla is a PhD student in Health Policy, specializing in Decision Sciences, and a Knight-Hennessy Scholar. She graduated with honors in Biological Sciences from Nazarbayev University and earned a Master of Public Health in Health Policy from Yale University as a Horstmann Scholar. Assel aims to leverage decision sciences to support policymakers in making cost-effective and equitable health decisions, with a focus on strengthening health systems in low- and middle-income countries.
Previously, Assel worked at Yale’s Equity Research and Innovation Center, where she focused on healthcare equity for ethnic minorities, and at the Harvard Health Systems Innovation Lab, where she contributed to research on transitioning to high-value health systems, and additionally, assisted with WHO global health projects.
She also placed in the top 10 at the Asian Universities Alliance Social Entrepreneurship Competition at Tsinghua University for her mental health app, Mind Matters.