Afrida Asad, MSc (Oxford), PhD Candidate in Tropical Medicine (Oxford), is a Core Team Member of Groupmappers, a volunteer-driven research organisation founded in 2016. Affiliated with the Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU) and supported by the Wellcome Trust, Groupmappers harnesses the power of community, spatial science, and open collaboration to combat neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and climate-sensitive infectious diseases — from malaria and dengue to rabies and beyond.
Afrida has been part of this mission since 2018, contributing her expertise in spatial epidemiology and GIS to map, monitor, and ultimately dismantle the conditions that allow these diseases to thrive. For her, this work is not just research — it is a commitment to health equity on the ground.