Bio:

Muhammad Asrullah is a researcher in the Centre for Health Policy and Management (CHPM) at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) Indonesia. His research mainly focused on maternal, child, and adolescent health in Indonesia which was funded by several national and multinational institutions. Asrullah was awarded a fully funded scholarship from the Indonesian government for PhD programme at Wageningen University and Research on the topic of adolescent nutrition and mental health, within the Ten2Twenty Research Programme from 2019 to 2023.

Project summary:

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on food security, nutritional outcomes, and mental health worldwide. However, studies on these topics are limited in the Indonesian setting, particularly among adolescents. This study under the IMMANA fellowship aims to generate evidence on shifts in food security, nutritional status, and mental health of adolescents during one year of COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia. Furthermore, the study will also explore the needs of adolescents, community, and local stakeholders and formulate applicable solutions to advance food security and promote better mental health and nutritional outcomes post-COVID-19 pandemic. This study is expected to form the basis for the development of mitigating strategies on the topic for potential health emergencies in the future.