Balram Bhargava

Biography

Balram Bhargava, hailing from the Indian capital of Delhi, was born in 1961. He graduated in medicine (MBBS) and went on to secure MD and DM with specialization in cardiology. He is a Professor of cardiology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi (AIIMS). He is a fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India (FNASc), Fellow of the American Heart Association (FAHA), Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FAMS), Fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences and a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology (FACC).

Bhargava resides at the Asiad Village, New Delhi.

Social commitment and legacy

Balram Bhargava is reported as a leader in the field of biomedical innovations in India. He was the force in the establishment of the Stem Cell Facility at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences which was, reportedly, the first centre in the world which initiated treatment for dilated cardiomyopathy patients. The centre is now poised to develop into a Centre for Excellence for Stem Cell Studies, with the assistance from the Government of India.

Bhargava founded the Stanford India Biodesign Centre, the Indian chapter of the Stanford Biodesign and is its Executive Director. The organization has set goals to promote innovators of medical technology through fellowships and also to conduct internships and events related to the area. The system is supported by AIIMS, New Delhi and has Stanford University, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) and the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India as partners. The programme has already yielded twenty patents on low cost medical devices. Dr. Jagdish Chaturvedi, a physician entrepreneur known for inventing multiple affordable medical devices graduated from this program under the guidance of Dr. Bhargava in the year 2012.

Bhargava is an evaluator of indigenous low cost cardiological stents and has developed a platinum iridium stent himself. His current project is the development of a chest compression device, deemed to be useful for patients suffering sudden cardiac arrests and is funded by Wellcome Trust.

Besides the medical contributions, Balram Bhargava is known for his social commitment. His contributions played a part in the establishment of the Society for Less Investigative Medicine (SLIM), an initiative formed to combat the excessive commercial practices prevalent in India. Bhargava and his colleagues at SLIM aims to raise public awareness against the trend of unnecessary tests and excessive medical investigations.

Bhargava has attended many international conferences and seminars where he has delivered keynote addresses. He has been an invited speaker at the Cambridge Judge Business School, in November 2013, and delivered a speech on the challenge of providing affordable healthcare for all.

Bhargava has published several articles in international peer reviewed journals. Microsoft Academic Search has listed 87 articles by him.

Awards and recognitions

Balram Bhargava is a recipient of S. N. Bose Centenary Award of the Indian Science Congress, Platinum Jubilee Award of the National Academy of Sciences and the Vasvik Award. He has also received Tata Innovation Fellowship. The Government of India recognized his services by including him in the 2014 Republic Day honours. He is one of the laureates of the 2015 UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences.