Ritam Chowdhury is an Indian writer, physician, epidemiologist and biostatistician scientist of Bengali descent. His work in the fields applied epidemiology and health economics and outcomes research has contributed towards evidence-based medicine guidelines for oncology, heart disease, diabetes and trauma care. He is the Research Director of Medical Associates for Research and Communication (MARC). He also holds appointments as Visiting Instructor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Global Health Department of Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta and Statistical Consultant for the Instructional Computing Facility at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), Boston.
Chowdhury was born into a Bengali family originally from Kolkata, India. He was born in New Delhi and later moved to Kolkata. In 1993, a few months after the infamous Bombay riots, his family moved to Bombay.
Chowdhury is an alumnus of St. Mary's School (ISC, 1997–1999), Mazagaon, Mumbai and D. G. Ruparel College of Arts, Science & Commerce (HSC, 1999-2001), Matunga, Mumbai. He graduated with a MBBS degree from Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College, Sion, Mumbai at the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, Nasik in 2005. He worked at Kalyan District Prison, Thane district thereafter as Medical Officer. He was awarded an MPH in Epidemiology from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland in 2009, PhD in Epidemiology in 2013 from Emory University, Atlanta and SM in biostatistics from Harvard School of Public Health in 2015.
Awards and honors
Chowdhury has received multiple awards in his relatively short career.
1999 Ebrahim M. Rowjee Scholarship1999 Board Topper Mathematics – Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE)2001 Placed on the Maharashtra State Higher Secondary Certificate Board Examinations Merit List2002 Distinction in Anatomy2002 Distinction in Biochemistry2002 Distinction in Physiology2002 – 2003 Sir Ratan Tata Scholarship2003 Distinction in Microbiology2003 Distinction in Pathology2003–2005 JRD Tata Scholarship2008 – 2009 Sir Ratan Tata Scholarship2008 – 2009 J. N. Tata ScholarshipIn May 2009, Chowdhury was inducted into the prestigious Delta Omega Society, Alpha Chapter.Chowdhury, R; Mukhopadhyay, A; McClellan, W; Sarnat, S; Darrow, L; Steenland, K (2014). "Survival Patterns of Lead-Exposed Workers with End-Stage Renal Disease from Adult Blood Lead Epidemiology and Surveillance Program". The American Journal of the Medical Sciences. 349 (3): 222–7. PMID 25504219. doi:10.1097/MAJ.0000000000000387. Huen, K. H.; Chowdhury, R; Shafii, S. M.; Brewster, L. P.; Arya, S; Duwayri, Y; Veeraswamy, R. K.; Dodson, T. F.; Rajani, R. R. (2015). "Smoking cessation is the least successful outcome of risk factor modification in uninsured patients with symptomatic peripheral arterial disease". Annals of Vascular Surgery. 29 (1): 42–9. PMID 25286112. doi:10.1016/j.avsg.2014.09.014. Steenland, K; Chowdhury, R (2014). "0362 Renal disease incidence among 58 000 male workers with blood lead measurements". Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 71 Suppl 1: A45. doi:10.1136/oemed-2014-102362.139. Chowdhury, R; Narayan, K. M.; Zabetian, A; Raj, S; Tabassum, R (2014). "Genetic studies of type 2 diabetes in South asians: A systematic overview". Current diabetes reviews. 10 (4): 258–74. PMID 25001234. Chowdhury, R; Sarnat, S. E.; Darrow, L; McClellan, W; Steenland, K (2014). "Mortality among participants in a lead surveillance program". Environmental Research. 132: 100–4. PMID 24769120. doi:10.1016/j.envres.2014.03.008. Siwamogsatham, O; Dong, W; Binongo, J. N.; Chowdhury, R; Alvarez, J. A.; Feinman, S. J.; Enders, J; Tangpricha, V (2014). "Relationship Between Fat-Soluble Vitamin Supplementation and Blood Concentrations in Adolescent and Adult Patients with Cystic Fibrosis". Nutrition in Clinical Practice. 29 (4): 491–497. PMC 4201651 . PMID 24743047. doi:10.1177/0884533614530170. Halkos, M. E.; Ford, L; Peterson, D; Bluestein, S. M.; Liberman, H. A.; Kilgo, P; Puskas, J. D.; Guyton, R. A.; Chowdhury, R (2014). "The impact of hybrid coronary revascularization on hospital costs and reimbursements". The Annals of Thoracic Surgery. 97 (5): 1610–5; discussion 1615–6. PMID 24636706. doi:10.1016/j.athoracsur.2014.01.047. Alvarez, J. A.; Chowdhury, R; Jones, D. P.; Martin, G. S.; Brigham, K. L.; Binongo, J. N.; Ziegler, T. R.; Tangpricha, V (2014). "Vitamin D status is independently associated with plasma glutathione and cysteine thiol/disulphide redox status in adults". Clinical Endocrinology. 81 (3): 458–66. PMC 4115025 . PMID 24628365. doi:10.1111/cen.12449. Lee, A. K.; Binongo, J. N.; Chowdhury, R; Stein, A. D.; Gazmararian, J. A.; Vos, M. B.; Welsh, J. A. (2014). "Consumption of less than 10% of total energy from added sugars is associated with increasing HDL in females during adolescence: A longitudinal analysis". Journal of the American Heart Association. 3 (1): e000615. PMC 3959678 . PMID 24572253. doi:10.1161/JAHA.113.000615. Chowdhury, R; Darrow, L; McClellan, W; Sarnat, S; Steenland, K (2014). "Incident ESRD among participants in a lead surveillance program". American Journal of Kidney Diseases. 64 (1): 25–31. PMID 24423781. doi:10.1053/j.ajkd.2013.12.005. Thourani, V. H.; Chowdhury, R; Gunter, R. L.; Kilgo, P. D.; Chen, E. P.; Puskas, J. D.; Halkos, M. E.; Lattouf, O. M.; Cooper, W. A.; Guyton, R. A. (2013). "The impact of specific preoperative organ dysfunction in patients undergoing aortic valve replacement". The Annals of Thoracic Surgery. 95 (3): 838–45. PMID 23245447. doi:10.1016/j.athoracsur.2012.09.035. Chowdhury, R; White, D; Kilgo, P; Puskas, J. D.; Thourani, V. H.; Chen, E. P.; Lattouf, O. M.; Cooper, W. A.; Myung, R. J.; Guyton, R. A.; Halkos, M. E. (2012). "Risk factors for conversion to cardiopulmonary bypass during off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery". The Annals of Thoracic Surgery. 93 (6): 1936–41; discussion 1942. PMID 22503849. doi:10.1016/j.athoracsur.2012.02.051. Roy, N; Murlidhar, V; Chowdhury, R; Patil, S. B.; Supe, P. A.; Vaishnav, P. D.; Vatkar, A (2010). "Where there are no emergency medical services-prehospital care for the injured in Mumbai, India". Prehospital and disaster medicine. 25 (2): 145–51. PMID 20467994. Mukhopadhyay, A; Chowdhury, R (2009). "The eunuch patient". Tropical Doctor. 39 (1): 63–4. PMID 19211440. doi:10.1258/td.2008.080016. Zaki, S. A.; Dadge, D; Shanbag, P; Choudhury, R (2009). "Mature cystic teratoma: Unusual presentation as dysphagia". The Indian Journal of Pediatrics. 76 (12): 1275–6. PMID 20108063. doi:10.1007/s12098-009-0324-6. Literary Work and Hobbies
Chowdhury has also published 14 books under the pseudonym of Thomas R. M. Webbe, crediting Chowdhury as the editor. His stories, based in British India feature notably the exploits of Rito and Gaja. This detective series has been very popular in India among children. In addition, he has written in other genres of fiction for children. Chowdhury also recently made his poetry blog, Catharsis, public. He writes poetry under the pseudonym of Ri Tam. Chowdhury is a polyglot and speaks 10 languages apart from English.
