Soumya Swaminathan (scientist)

Soumya Swaminathan is an Indian Paediatrician and Clinical Scientist known for her work in Tuberculosis. She is currently positioned as Secretary, Department of Health Research - Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, and Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research the apex body in India for the formulation, coordination and promotion of Biomedical research.

Contents

• Dr soumya swaminathan director general indian council of medical research
• Dr soumya swaminathan director general icmr secretary department of health research goi
• Personal life
• Professional career
• Professional Memberships
• National
• International
• Awards
• Research highlights
• References

She holds M.B.B.S. from Armed Forces Medical College (India) and M. D. from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, along with a Diplomate of National Board from National Board of Examinations. She subsequently held Post Doctoral Medical Fellowship in Pediatric Pulmonology at the Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.

Personal life

Soumya Swaminathan is the daughter of "Indian Father of Green Revolution" M. S. Swaminathan and Indian educationalist Mina Swaminathan. Soumya has two siblings, Madhura Swaminathan, a professor of economics at the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, and Nithya Swaminathan, a Senior Lecturer in "Gender Analysis" and Development at the University of East Anglia.

Professional career

Fellowship in Neonatology and Pediatric Pulmonology (1987 - 1989) at the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, University of Southern California, USA.

Research Fellow (Registrar) in the Dept of Pediatric Respiratory Diseases, University of Leicester, UK: 1989-1990.

Senior Research Officer (Supernumerary Research Cadre), Cardiopulmonary Medicine Unit,

Adjunct Associate Clinical Professor, Dept. of Public Health and Family Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine

Director - National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis

Professional Memberships

Membership, National Academy of Medical Sciences - NBE (Pediatrics)

Chair, HIV Section, International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases

Member, International Scientific Advisory Expert Group on Global Tuberculosis (APPG TB)

Member, Third World Organization of Women Scientists

Member, International AIDS Committee

Life Member, Indian Academy of Pediatrics

National

Member, National Editorial Advisory Board, Indian Journal of Pediatrics

Chair, Indo – Brazil Working Group on Science & Technology

Member, Indo-US Joint Working Group on Maternal and Child Health, ICMR

International

Member, International Editorial Board, Clinical Infectious Diseases

Member, Childhood TB subgroup, DOTS Expansion Working Group, Stop TB partnership

Member, Tuberculosis Steering Committee, IMPAACT Network, NIH, USA

Member, International Conference Organizing Committee, International AIDS Society Conference, Rome 2011 and Kuala Lumpur, 2013

Awards

1999 Dr. Keya Lahiri Gold Medal for best paper presented, XI National Pediatric Pulmonary Conference

2008 Indian Council of Medical Research, Kshanika Oration Award

2009 Elected Vice-Chair, HIV section, International Union against TB and Lung Diseases

2011 Fellow, Indian Academy of Pediatrics

2011 Lifetime Achievement Award, Indian Association of Applied Microbiologists

2012 Tamil Nadu Science and Technology Award

2012 Fellow, National Academy of Sciences, India

2013 Fellow, Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore

2016 ASTRAZENECA research endowment award,NIPER

Research highlights

Soumya Swaminathan joined the National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis in Chennai in 1992 (later became its director). She started a multi-disciplinary group of clinical, laboratory and behavioural scientists studying various aspects of TB and TB/HIV. Swaminathan along with her colleagues were among the first to scale up the use of molecular diagnostics for TB surveillance and care, to undertake large field trials of community-randomised strategies to deliver TB treatment to underserved populations. Most recently she is part of the TB Zero City Project which aims to create "Islands of elimination" working with local governments, institutions and grassroots associations.