Dr. Bhattarai obtained a degree in Tropical Medicine & International Health from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM, UK) in 2018. His main research interests are Tropical & Infectious diseases particularly vaccine-preventable and emerging infections, and global public health. For his thesis, he evaluated the high-risk HPV- and HIV-related factors associated with 'multifocal' cervical disease in HIV-infected women in Africa.

He has co-founded an interdisciplinary research institute in Nepal (www.thegiis.org) in which he leads global health programme. At Gandaki Medical College Teaching Hospital, he co-leads a clinical research project- 'Generating mortality evidence using minimally invasive tissue sampling technique (DECODE MAUN 2019/2020)', funded by RTI International, USA. Previously, he was involved in pediatric infectious disease and vaccine studies that are sponsored by Oxford University's Oxford Vaccine Group at Patan Hospital, Kathmandu. He has an experience of evaluating family planning and MNCH projects as well as the status of the private sector in health in Nepal under the USAID's SHOPS Plus project (Sustaining Health Outcomes through the Private Sector Plus). 

He was selected for IAP YPL Programme in 2016 and participated in a series of leadership workshops during World Health Summit in Berlin. As an offshoot of that programme and under his initiative and leadership, Nepal Academy of Science & Technology (NAST) coordinated National-level HPSR research training workshops in 2017. At IAP, he contributes to 'Health in All Policies' and 'Urban Health Initiative' working committees. He has participated in GCRF-UKAMS-IAP workshops in the UK- 'Strengthening clinical research capacity in LMICs', 'Global mental health in the SDG era', and 'Achieving UHC in LMICs; Role of Quality of Care Research'. Such participation has strengthened his global health leadership quality.

Dr. Bhattarai is a member of Global Young Academy--youngest member of IAP and a voice of motivated young scientists worldwide, selected for a five-year term (2018-2023). He represents Global health working group at the GYA. Additionally, he is a committee member of NIHR Global Health's Health Policy & Systems Research (HPSR) Awards 2019-2021; committee member of USAID-PHI-CUGH's STAR project (Sustaining Technical & Analytic Resources) where he contributes to Global health academic partnership and capacity assessment projects; a collaborator/reviewer of IHME's Global Burden of Disease; and a member/social media editor of the European Society for Pediatric Infectious Disease (ESPID) and its official journal (PID Journal). 

He obtained his medical degree from BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Nepal in 2012 under the Golden Jubilee Scholarship Scheme of the Embassy of India and later received informal training in pediatrics and neuroscience from Cleveland Clinic Ohio, Texas Children's Houston and McGovern Medical School/University of Texas, USA.