Ridho is a senior researcher at the SMERU Research Institute, focusing on development economics research, particularly poverty, inequality, and other development issues. He has led and contributed to several large-scale research projects examining the impacts of economic shocks and social protection programs on household well-being in Indonesia. As part of his work, Ridho designs studies, writes research papers, and collaborates with policymakers. The Indonesian government has used his research to improve the implementation of social policies. Ridho holds a PhD in Applied Statistics from Northumbria University in Newcastle, United Kingdom. His work has been published in peer-reviewed journals, such as the World Bank Economic Review, the European Journal of Political Economy, Oxford Development Studies, American Journal of Epidemiology.

After completing his undergraduate study, Ridho worked as a teaching assistant for microeconomics and macroeconomics courses and as a research assistant at Universitas Padjadjaran. He joined SMERU in 2016 and worked at the institute for almost ten years before becoming a Senior Researcher. His dissertation investigates the impact of childhood circumstances on long-term health outcomes among older adults in cross country settings.  

In 2015, Ridho received second place in the Best Student Award for the undergraduate program at the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Padjadjaran. His undergraduate thesis, “Does Inequality Affect Happiness?”, examined the impact of income inequality on individual subjective well-being in Indonesia. In 2025, he was awarded a USD 8,000 research grant from the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) for the Employment Transition in ASEAN and East Asia project. In 2024, he also contributed to a research project on trade and gendered labor outcomes that received USD 7,000 in funding from the Templeton World Charity Foundation.