Biography:
Graduated and Post-graduated in Clinical Pathology from Trivandrum Medical College. Was involved with medical research in Gastro-enterology Department, Trivandrum and Madras Medical College, Chennai and was in-charge of Liver Clinic at General Hospital, Chennai. Joined Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Headquarters, New Delhi as Senior Research Officer and was Program Officer for bioethics, pharmacology and traditional medicine research then. In this capacity she has been involved as convenor of several workshops on ethical issues involving biomedical research and traditional medicine research for ICMR, national and international Groups. She is a member of several working groups. She was closely involved in finalisation of ICMR’s Ethical Guidelines of 2000, 2006, Stem Cell Research and Therapy and Rules for evaluation of ASU (Ayurveda, siddha and Unani) formulations and traditional medicine, draft guidelines on bio-banking, dataset protection and research on mental health. She was involved in curriculum preparation for bioethics teaching in medicine and social sciences research. She is one of the First Fogarty Fellow graduate in Bioethics from University of Toronto. Besides publications in the area of ethics and traditional medicine she is also a reviewer for the same. She is member of Forum for Ethics Review Committees in Asia Pacific (FERCAP) and Executive Committee of “Forum for Ethics Review Committee in India” (FERCI). She is member and chairperson of ethics committees in India. Presently she is also member of international panel of President Obama’s Commission for Bioethical Issues, Advisory Council of Drug Information Association, India, Sub-group on Evaluation & Knowledge Management of working group for National AIDS Control Program (NACP) IV and Subgroup of National Innovation Council on Pharmaceuticals including Immunodiagnostics and Vaccines and Medical Devices.
Currently, after retirement as Deputy Director General Senior Grade, she as a NIH