Aikantika Das is a qualitative researcher by training and specializes in leading and managing mixed-methods research studies.

Since joining Athena Infonomics in early 2023, she has been actively contributing to the organization’s research and learning initiatives in the development sector.

Her key focus area has been exploring policies and interventions with women's groups across various domains such as health; financial inclusion and livelihoods with gender as an underlying, cross-cutting theme using mixed methods research and MERL frameworks.

She has conceptualized and implemented various research studies for donors, governments, and partners such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, World Bank, India's Ministry of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, India's Ministry of Women and Child Development, SEWA, and UNICEF. Aikantika has co-authored academic papers published in international peer-reviewed journals such as BMJ Global Health and Global Health: Science and Practice, and has developed a variety of knowledge products.

She holds a Master’s degree in Rural Development and Governance from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Hyderabad.