Major General (Dr) Mathews Jacob, VSM (Retd.) is Pro Vice Chancellor – Health Sciences at Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), overseeing fourteen constituent health sciences institutions. He served 36 years in the Armed Forces Medical Services, with expertise in anaesthesia, critical care, and hospital administration, and holds fellowships in Clinical Governance and AI & Digital Health. A NABH Assessor with 38 peer-reviewed publications and 17 years of teaching experience, including 14 as Professor, he has directed courses in ATLS, ACLS, BLS, and CCriSP. He has a long-standing interest in medico-legal issues in healthcare and research governance.

Dr. Soumya Swaminathan is a pediatrician and global expert in tuberculosis and HIV research. She was the first Chief Scientist of the World Health Organisation (WHO). Previously, she was the Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India (2015-2017). Since February 2023, she has been the Chair of M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF). She is also the Principal Advisor to National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. With over 40 years of experience in clinical care and research, Dr. Swaminathan has dedicated her career to translating vital research into impactful health programs. As the former Secretary to the Government of India for Health Research, she has prioritised integrating science into health policy-making, enhancing research capabilities in Indian medical institutions, and fostering global partnerships in public health sciences. Currently, Dr. Swaminathan serves on the boards of Alliance Bioversity, Population Foundation of India, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Women Lift Health, among others. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society and the US National Academy of Medicine and has received several honorary doctorates from prestigious universities.

Dr. B. Unnikrishnan, MBBS, MD, FRCP(Edin), serves as Dean and Professor of Community Medicine at Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, a constituent unit of Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE). An academic leader and public health expert has over twenty years of experience in medical education, research, and administration. Areas of specialization include evidence synthesis, health policy, translational research, and implementation science. He has a strong track record in curriculum development, faculty mentorship, and institutional development. Recognized for his extensive publications and leadership roles in national and international health initiatives, he has authored over 364 publications, achieving an index of 60. Additionally, he holds three patents, more than 20 copyrights, and has mentored over 10 PhD scholars.

Dr Vikram Datta is a senior academic neonatologist and Director Professor and Medical Superintendent, Kalawati Saran Children’s Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi, with  28 years’ experience as medical faculty. He is a national leader in quality improvement, patient safety, and implementation research, and is one of the founders of the Nationwide Quality of Care Network. He has worked closely with National Health Missions, spearheaded national mentoring groups and Technical Resource Groups for LaQshya and MusQan, and contributed to the India Newborn Action Plan 2014. He has led quality improvement initiatives across all tiers of healthcare in India and beyond.

Rizwan is the co-founder & Director of Koita Foundation and also serves as the Chairperson of NABH, India’s leading accreditation organisation for hospitals, covering over 20,000 hospitals across India. Prior to Koita Foundation, Rizwan was the co-founder of CitiusTech (www.citiustech.com) and ran the company as CEO from 2005 to 2021. Under his leadership, CitiusTech became a global leader in healthcare technology and India’s first Unicorn in this space. CitiusTech today has over 9,000 healthcare technology professionals and close to USD 500 Mn in revenues. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering from IIT Bombay and a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Prof. K. Srinath Reddy, a cardiologist and epidemiologist by training, is the founder past President of the Public Health Foundation of India (2006-2022), presently serving as an Honorary Distinguished Professor of PHFI. He is the Chancellor of PHFI Institute of Public Health Sciences (Deemed to be University). He was earlier Head of Cardiology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Prof. Reddy was the first Bernard Lown Visiting Professor of Global Cardiovascular Health at Harvard (2009-13) and is presently an Adjunct Professor at Harvard, Emory, Sydney and Pennsylvania universities. He serves on the Advisory Boards of the School of Population and Global Health at McGill University and the Centre for Global Health Equity, University of Michigan. He also serves as the Honorary Chairperson of the Population Foundation of India. In 2024 he was elected as President of the Council for Social Development in India. He has recently been appointed as Chair of the Centre for Advancing Universal Health Coverage at the Indian School of Public Policy (Delhi), where he also teaches as Professor of Health Policy.

He is a first Indian to be elected as International Member of the US National Academy of Medicine. He was President of the World Heart Federation (2013-14) and is co-chair of the Health Thematic Group of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. He served on a several WHO expert panels and Technical Advisory Groups. He chaired the High-Level Expert Group on Universal Health Coverage constituted by the Planning Commission of India (2010-11). He is a member of the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition. He previously served as Advisor on Health to the state governments of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, with a cabinet rank. He has also periodically advised other State Governments (Haryana, Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh). He served as Chair of the Core Advisory Committee on Health at the National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC).

Prof. Reddy has 593 scientific publications in peer reviewed journals. He edited the National Medical Journal of India for 10 years and he is on the editorial advisory boards of several international journals. He has published two books: “Make Health in India – Reaching a Billion Plus” and “Pulse to Planet: Long Lifeline of Human Health”. Among his several honours received by him are WHO Director General’s Award and Luther Terry Medal of the American Cancer Association for ‘outstanding contributions to global tobacco control, the Queen Elizabeth Medal for Health Promotion and Padma Bhushan, the prestigious civilian award conferred by the President of India.

He is a recipient of several honorary doctorates, including those conferred by Universities of London, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Lausanne. He serves on the international Advisory Committee (Jury) of the Prince Mahidol Awards and previously served on the Selection Committee of the Gairdner Foundation Award for Global Health. He was a prize winner in the ECAAR Global Peace Essay Contest, judged by 9 Nobel Laureates and of the Times of India Essay Contest on Media and Human Rights.

 

Adjunct Professor, Public Health Foundation of India. Chair, Quality and Patient Safety Working Group – International Pediatric Association.

Previous positions held – Regional Adviser (Newborn, child and adolescent health), WHO-SEARO. Faculty, VM Medical College & Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi.

Dr Mehta is a Pediatrician by training and has 45 years’ experience in Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health. He was the Regional Adviser for Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health at the World Health Organization – South-East Asia Regional Office and supported 11 countries in in designing and implementation of these programmes. Dr Mehta also has experience in large scale initiatives for Nurturing Care for Early Childhood Development, Birth Defects, Quality Improvement. He has been awarded Fellow of Indian Academy of Pediatrics, Salzburg Global Fellow on Early Child Development and National Oration on adolescent health

Dr. Vijay Agarwal is a distinguished paediatrician, healthcare leader, and patient safety advocate. A graduate (1968) and postgraduate (1973) of Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, he has devoted over four decades to transforming healthcare in India. He played pivotal roles in the Pulse Polio Programme and the development of Delhi’s Centralized Biomedical Waste Management Scheme. As President of the Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organizations (CAHO) from 2017–2026 and now President Emeritus, he spearheaded national quality and leadership initiatives, training thousands of professionals. A recipient of multiple lifetime achievement awards, he continues to champion quality, patient safety, and healthcare leadership.

Dr Sanjeev Singh is a Medical Director at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Faridabad and Chief of Medical Services Amrita Kochi. He is a pediatrician by training, did his Masters in Hospital Management and PhD in Infectious Diseases. Prior to joining Amrita, he worked in WHO in a Disease Eradication Project. He attained fellowship in Healthcare Worker & Patient Safety from University of Virginia, Fellowship on Health Technology Assessment from Univ of Adelaide and Fellowship in Healthcare Quality at International Society for Quality (IsQua). He is Improvement Advisor to Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI), consultant to WHO on Regulatory, licensing, AMR and Infection Prevention. He is a Technical Advisor for State of Kerala for AMR and IPC. He is in the National Task Force for AMR guidelines group. He Chaired Research Committee at National Accreditation Board for Hospitals (NABH), presently member of Technical Committee at NABH and is a member of Technical Committee for Grading of hospital standards and Medical Value Travel at Quality Council of India; and is co- Chair at National Healthcare Committee at FICCI and CII Healthcare, North Zone. He was awarded Infection Disease Champion by BMJ, Heros of Infection Control by Association of Infection Prevention (APIC) in US and Best Practices in Infection Prevention by GOI and Global Impact Leader by Business World He is in the Governing Board of IIHMR and member of expert committee to work on AIIMS like institution in Jaipur. He has 130+ publications with h index of 31 and has 14 international and national research projects.

Dr. Abhay Bang is an internationally renowned physician, public health leader, and co-founder of SEARCH (Society for Education, Action and Research in Community Health), Gadchiroli, Maharashtra. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy and trained in Medicine (MD) and Public Health (MPH, Johns Hopkins University), he has dedicated his life to improving the health of underserved rural and tribal communities. Along with Dr. Rani Bang, he pioneered community-based healthcare models that transformed newborn, child, and women’s health in India and influenced global health policy. His research, published in leading journals including The Lancet, has earned numerous national and international honours, including the Padma Shri, WHO Public Health Champion Award, Global Health Hero, The Gates Keeper Award and recognition as a global health innovator.