Surya Raj Niraula, Ph.D., MSc.

Personal Information

Dr. Surya Raj Niraula, has been providing Biostatistics and research services for public health, medical, nursing and dental faculties, researchers and students for over 27 years. He is currently working as an Associate Professor in the College of Human Sciences, Department of Nutritional Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock.

 He completed post doctorate (Postdoc) in Biostatistics from University of Washington, USA (Fulbright program, 2013) and doctorate degree (PhD) in Statistics from Central Department of Statistics, Nepal in 2008. He was awarded with ‘Young Scientist Award’ in 2009, Nepal Bidhyabhusan ‘KA’ in 2010 and Honored by the President - Constitutional Assembly, 2011.

Dr. Niraula had worked as an adjunct faculty of Statistics at the Department of Mathematics and Statistics in Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas since 2022. Dr. Niraula had worked as a Professor at B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Nepal for 27 years. He has taught Biostatistics for Master/Post Graduate/Bachelors’ Public Health, Nursing and Medical, Dental students. He has been providing consultation services to faculties and researchers of NGOs and INGOs.

He has conducted several health researches and disseminated findings through over 106 international and national publications. He has completed 19 research grant projects related to public/community health, epidemiological, nutrition, communicable and non-communicable diseases, mental health (smoking, alcohol, marijuana, drugs, stress, depression, suicide, IPV etc), experimental/educational intervention, RCT, and oral health. He is an editorial board member and a reviewer of many international journals. He has worked as a consultant for many INGOs and NGOs researches.

He has presented many conference papers in USA, UK, Italy, Korea, Singapore, Thailand, China, Bangladesh, India and Nepal as an invited speaker and a resource person.

In addition to writing scholarly publication, he enjoys sports, listening music and writing poems creatively as a hobby. He currently resides in Lubbock with his wife and two children and is now working on a book  'Application of Medical Statistics'. You can reach him at surya.niraula@ttu.edu or surajniraula@gmail.com. 

Research Interests

His collective research works on drug abuse, malnutrition, obesity, HIV/AIDs, STDs, TB, alcoholism, tobacco use, intimate partner violence, suicide, depression, hypertension, diabetes, women health, dental health, different infectious and non infectious diseases, have addressed the public problems and identified many risk factors which are already published in many international and national journals. All research has significant implications for public health.

The purpose of public health and medicine is to reduce the burden of infectious and non-infectious diseases through the development of sound social policies, healthy physical, economic and social environments, efficient and equitable health care systems, and skilled human resources.

Future Research Collaboration Interests

His expertise is in public health and epidemiological studies and perticulary in designing, methodology and analysis. His current research interest for collaboration in nutrition and public health researches on childhood diabetics and food habit of children, internet addiction, loss of physical activities and obesity/overweight, cancer epidemiology, survival analysis, and inactive life and diets with DM and HTN. Furthermore, researches related to mental health and addiction are also interested for him.

Selected publications

Niraula SR, Manandhar N, Pandey S, Jha N. Stressors of Suicide Among the Residents of Ilam, Eastern Nepal: an Investigation Into a Neglected Burden. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00480 

Niraula SR, Manandhar N, Pandey S, Jha N. Stressors of Suicide Among the Residents of Ilam, Eastern Nepal: an Investigation Into a Neglected Burden. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00480 

Niraula SR. A review of research process, data collection and analysis. Insights Biol Med. 2019; 3: 1-6. https://doi.org/10.29328/journal.ibm.1001014 

Niraula SR, Connell FA. Probability Sampling in Matched Case-Control study in Drug Abuse. International Journal of Statistics in Medical Research 2018; 7(1): 18-24.

Niraula SR,Barnawal SP, Agrahari AK, Bista N, Yadav DK, Jha N, Pokharel PK. Prevalence and CD4 cell count pattern of TB co-infection among HIV infected individuals in Nepal. SAARC Journal of Tuberculosis, Lung Diseases & HIV/AIDS 2013; 10(1); 27-36.

Niraula SR, Barnawal SP, Paudel S, Mishra S, Dahal S, Das S, Pradhan S, Ghimire S, Khanal S, Sharma S, Rajput S, Bhattarai S, Jha N.  Prevalence and associated risk factors with malnutrition among under-five Nepalese children of Borbote village, Ilam. Health Renaissance 2013; 11 (2): 111-118.

Niraula SR, Chhetry DB, Singh GK, Nagesh S, Shyangwa PM. Risk Factors for Drug Abuse Among Nepalese Samples Selected from a Town of Eastern Nepal. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction 2009; 7(3): 430-440.

Niraula SR, Chhetry DB, Singh GK, Nagesh S. Sampling Methods and Possibility of Random Sampling to Select Drug Abusers from the Community. Health Renaissance 2007; 4(1): 1-6.

Niraula SR&Khanal SS. Critical Analysis of Performance of Medical Students: A Study at B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Eastern Nepal. Education for Health 2006; 19(1): 5-13.

Niraula SR, Shyangwa PM, Jha N, Paudel RK & Pokharel PK. Alcohol Use Among Women in a town of Eastern Nepal. Journal of Nepal Medical Association 2004, 43 (155): 244-9.

Niraula SR. Tobacco Use among Women in Dharan, Eastern Nepal. Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition 2004; 22 (1): 68-74.

Niraula SR, Jha N. Review of Common Statistical Tools for Critical Analysis of Medical Research. Journal of Nepal Medical Association 2003, 42: 113-9.

Niraula SR, Jha N., Mishra RN & Singh SP. Awareness and risk taking behaviors Regarding sexually transmitted diseases among long distance drivers in a township of Dharan: A study from Nepal. Indian Journal of Preventive and Social Medicine 2003, 34 (3&4): 129-38.