Dr. Prama Bhattacharya is an Assistant Professor at the School of Humanities, Social Sciences & Management, IIT Bhubaneswar, where she has served since 2022. She holds a Ph.D. from IIT Kanpur, where her doctoral research examined the lived experiences of social suffering and recovery among homeless individuals with severe mental illness.
Over the past decade, her research has centred on the psychosocial well-being of marginalised groups, including transgender individuals and migrant labourers. She currently leads a research project on ageing experiences among vulnerable populations, with a particular focus on elderly transgender individuals.
Dr. Bhattacharya has a strong teaching portfolio, having designed and taught courses on the psychology of well-being, qualitative research methods, and critical approaches to mental health. She supervises several Ph.D. scholars working on various critical areas of mental health and well-being. She is a registered Clinical Psychologist with the Rehabilitation Council of India.
Her work has been widely published in peer-reviewed national and international journals. She is the author of a monograph on homelessness and mental illness in India, published by Taylor & Francis, and has contributed book chapters to volumes published by Oxford University Press. She also writes for leading newspapers and mental health magazines, and serves as a peer reviewer for several prominent academic journals. She remains actively engaged in community service with organisations supporting marginalised populations.

Note for PhD aspirants: Dr. Bhattacharya is currently open to supervising PhD candidates through JRF or external sponsorship only.

1. Understanding the Lived Experiences of Ageing in Vulnerable Populations: A Qualitative Inquiry of the Case of Elderly Transgender Population in Kolkata, India (Ongoing)

• Child Development and Educational Psychology (HS2L011)
• Applied Organizational Psychology (HS3L001)
• Psychology of Wellbeing (HS4L017)
• Introduction to Qualitative Research Methodology (HS6L005)
• Critical Perspectives in Mental Health (HS7L018)
• Statistical Methods in Psychological Research
• Environmental Psychology
• Forensic and Criminal Psychology

1.  Akhila Ajith (joined Spring 2022-23) (Area: Lived Experiences of IPV among Male Victims-Survivors)
2. Sharvari Sharad Ashtaputre (joined Spring 2023-24) (Area: Climate change, gender, and psychosocial wellbeing)
3. Aishwarya Raj (joined Spring 2023-24) (Area: Reproductive loss)
4. Sneha Kashyap (joined Spring 2023-24) (Area: Disaster Mental Health)
5. Shazia (joined Spring 2024-25) (Area: Gender and Psychosocial wellbeing)
6. Virendra (joined Spring 2025-26) (Area: Gender and Psychosocial wellbeing)

1. Bhattacharya, P. (2026). Integrating grounded theory and ethnography in critical perspective: social suffering among homeless women with mental illness in urban India. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 1-20.
2. Ajith, A., & Bhattacharya, P. (2026). Rethinking Mental Health Research in India: Exploring Methodological Challenges Through Critical Ethnographic Reflections from the Field. In Mental Health Research in India: Challenges and Practical Considerations (pp. 31-45). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore.
3. Bhattacharya, P. (2024). Homelessness and Mental Illness: Exploring the Lived Experience in India. Taylor & Francis.
4. Venkata, R. R., Bhattacharya, P., Lakhtakia, A., & Krishnasamy, S. T. (2025). Recommendations of India’s National Education Policy 2020 for higher education. Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy, 91(1), 356-366.
5. Banerjee, D., & Bhattacharya, P. (2022). Revisiting the gap: Intersections of health inequality, poverty and psychological wellbeing. Oxford Textbook of Social Psychiatry, 181. (Book Chapter)
6. Bhattacharya, P., Khemka, G. C., Roy, L., & Roy, S. D. (2021). Social Injustice in the Neoliberal Pandemic Era for Homeless Persons with Mental Illness: A Qualitative Inquiry from India. Front. Psychiatry, 12, 635715
7. Bhattacharya, P., & Priya, K. R. (2021). Stakeholders facilitating hope and empowerment amidst social suffering: A qualitative documentary analysis exploring lives of homeless women with mental illness. International Journal of Social Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F00207640211011186
8. Banerjee, D., & Bhattacharya, P. (2020). Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Homelessness: Global Perspectives on the Dual Pandemic. In J. M. Castaldelli-Maia, A. Ventrilglio, & D. Bhugra (Eds.), Homelessness and Mental Health (Ser. Oxford Cultural Psychiatry). Chapter, Oxford University Press. (Book Chapter)
9. Bhattacharya, P. (2020). And now I know how you feel . . .: Lived experience of surviving mental illness as a prosumer. Psychological Services. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000484
10. Banerjee, D., & Bhattacharya, P. (2020). Pandemonium of the pandemic”: Impact of COVID-19 in India, focus on mental health. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(6), 588-592. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/tra0000799.
11. Banerjee, D., & Bhattacharya, P. (2020). The hidden vulnerability of homelessness in the COVID-19 pandemic: Perspectives from India. International Journal of Social Psychiatry. 20764020922890-20764020922890. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764020922890

1. Bhattacharya, P. (2022). Nowhere to sleep safe: impact of sexual violence on homeless women in India. Indian Journal of Psychosexual Health. https://doi.org/10.1177/26318318221108521
2. Bhattacharya, P., Banerjee, D., & Sahu, K. K. (2021). The migrant crisis in India during COVID-19: A narrative far beyond mental health. Indian Journal of Psychiatric Social Work, 12(1), 1-4.
3. Bhattacharya, P., Banerjee, D., & Rao T. S. (2020). The untold side of COVID-19: Social Stigma and its consequences in India. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine.
4. Pandey, R., Khanna, A., Sharma, D., Gupta, A., Bhattacharya, P., Kukreja, S., Priya, K., R. (2019). Getting Close to the Context and Experience of Illness: Critically Reflexive Fieldwork in Qualitative Health Research. The Journal of Health Studies
5. Gupta, A., Bhattacharya, P., & Priya, K. R. (2019). Revisiting the paradigm shift in trauma studies: Twenty-five years of Veena Das Our Work to Cry: Your Work to Listen. The Journal of Anthropological Survey of India.

Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT BBSR: December 2022- Present

Assistant Professor, Jindal School of Psychology and Counselling, O.P Jindal Global University: July 2021- December 2022

• Outstanding Thesis Award, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur., 2021
• Senior Research Fellowship, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, 2017-2019
• Junior Research Fellowship, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, 2014-2016
• Post Graduate Merit Scholarship for University Rank Holder, Ministry of Human Resource and Development, Government of India, 2010-2012
• D. Mukhopadhyay Book Prize Award for securing the highest marks in B.Sc. Psychology (Honors) Examination, 2010 by the University of Calcutta, 2010

Professional Affiliation and Memberships:

• Rehabilitation Professional as Clinical Psychologist, Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI-CRR No. A46444)
• Professional Life Member, Indian Association of Clinical Psychologists (Membership No.- PLM 536/14/17)

Reviewer

• Frontiers in Psychiatry
• International Journal of Social Psychiatry
• Psychological Reports
• Global Mental Health
• Journal of Psychosexual Health
• Qualitative Health Research