Iccha Basnyat is an Associate Professor of Global Health Communication in the Global Affairs Program with a joint appointment in the Department of Communication at George Mason University, Virginia. Dr Basnyat received her BA in Communication from the University of Utah, MPH from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and PhD in (Health) Communication from Purdue University. Before joining Mason, Dr Basnyat taught in the Department of Communication and New Media at the National University of Singapore for a decade and in the School of Communication at James Madison University. 

Dr Basnyat’s primary area of research examines the intersections of culture, gender, and health through an interdisciplinary approach, primarily focusing on South and Southeast Asia. She also examines health information seeking, exchange, and sense making as secondary research area. 

Dr Basnyat is the vice chair for the Health Communication Division (HCD) of the National Communication Association (NCA). She is also the program planner for the bi-annual DC Health Communication (DCHC) conference. She is also the Research Council Chair-Elect for NCA. 

Dr Basnyat is a senior editor for Health Communication as well as an associate editor for the Journal of International and Intercultural Communication and Frontiers in Communication: Health Communication section. She also serves on the editorial boards of Communication Monographs, Health Communication, and Journal of Applied Communication Research. She has served on numerous committees for the National Communication Association (NCA) and the International Communication Association (ICA). Dr Basnyat served as an external expert for the World Health Organization’s (WHO) guidance development on Learning and Capacity Building in Health Emergencies. Dr Basnyat also serves on the board of the non-profit Nepali Women’s Global Network (NWGN).