Born to MS Swaminathan, ‘Father of the Green Revolution’ and Indian educationist, Mina Swaminathan, Dr. Soumya gave every Indian a reason to celebrate!
The World Health Organization (WHO) has named Dr. Soumya Swaminathan as the organization’s Chief Scientist.
Dr. Soumya was born in Chennai on May 2, 1959. After completing her MBBS from Armed Forces College, she pursued MD at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
She also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in paediatric pulmonology from the Keck School of Medicine in the US. She is known for her extensive work on tuberculosis and HIV related research and awareness programs.
In October 2017, Dr. Soumya joined the WHO and was made Deputy Director General of Programs (DDGP).
She was incidentally was the first Indian to have held this position.
Dr. Soumya was one of three Deputy Director Generals (DDG) who assisted the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Because of her great achievements, the director has specifically created a new role of Chief Scientist for her.
Dr. Soumya shared with the Mint:
“This newly created position of chief scientist will give me an opportunity to strengthen WHO’s core normative work, promote research on public health priorities and strengthen health research capacity in countries including on ethics, and accelerate access to digital technologies to improve health,”
The new division will focus on digital health and innovation to stay on par with the latest scientific and digital advances.