National Advisory Committee

Amar Jesani

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Dr Amar Jesani, is a medical graduate, working as an independent consultant – researcher and teacher – in bioethics and public health. He is one of the founders of the Forum for Medical Ethics Society (FMES https://fmesinstitute.org/) and its journal Indian Journal of Medical Ethics (IJME www.ijme.in), published since 1993. Since 2012, he is its editor.
He is a Visiting Professor at the Ethics Centre, Yenepoya University, Mangalore, India (since 2011), an Associate Faculty at the Centre for Biomedical Ethics and Culture (CBEC) of the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT), Karachi, Pakistan (since 2010) and a faculty for the KEMRI-CBEC Bioethics training program in Nairobi, Kenya (since 2017).
He was a co-founder trustee (1991-2013) of the Anusandhan Trust and founding coordinator/director (1994-99) of its centre, CEHAT (www.cehat.org) in Mumbai. He also worked as Senior Researcher (1979-95) at the Foundation for Research in Community Health (1979-95) in Mumbai, and as Program Coordinator (2001-03) at the Achutha Menon Centre for Health Sciences Studies (AMCHSS) in the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
In the past he served as a member of several Institutional Ethics Committees of biomedical, social science and public health institutions in India and the international Research Ethics Board of the Medicine Sans Frontiers (2009-24). In 2022 he was conferred an “Award for Bioethics Service in the Face of Challenges” by the International Association of Bioethics (IAB). He has co-authored and co-edited nine books.
E-mail: amar.jesani@gmail.com, editor@ijme.in

S P Kalantri

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Dr SP Kalantri, MD, MPH is director professor of Medicine at MGIMS and Medical Superintendent of Kasturba Hospital. He obtained MD from Government Medical College in 1981 and joined MGIMS immediately. In 2004, he won Fogarty AIDS International research scholarship, and obtained MPH (Epidemiology) from the School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley.
At MGIMS, Dr Kalantri heads an internal medicine unit, teaches medical students and residents, conducts clinical research and manages the hospital. He successfully campaigned against sponsorship of medical conferences by drug industry and introduced low-cost drugs in the hospital. He also helped the hospital build a Hospital Information System that has improved the quality and management of clinical care.
Dr Kalantri edited MFC bulletin (1989-92) and was associate editor of Indian Journal of Medical Ethics (2001-2004). His general interests include evidence-based medicine, medical ethics, public health, and information technology. His research involves collaboration with researchers from University of California, Berkeley and McGill University, Canada. He is also a part of a group from India that has won United Health Group- NHLBI funding to study the epidemiology of chronic diseases at primary and secondary level.
E-Mail: spkalantri@mgims.ac.in Website:https://twitter.com/spkalantri

Roli Mathur

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Dr Roli Mathur, is Head, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Bioethics Unit and Scientific Advisor to the National Ethics Committee Registry (Naitik Portal). She is Member Secretary, ICMR-Central Ethics Committee on Human Research and is the Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Strengthening Ethics in Biomedical and Health Research. Earlier, she had received WHO fellowship in Bioethics and Ethics Committee Administration and was trained to be an International Surveyor for ethics committees. At the ICMR, she had steered the development of ICMR National Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research on Human Participants as well as several other guidelines and policies to facilitate ethics review or conduct of biomedical research. She has developed tools and instruments including audio visual teaching and training material in ethics. She is on a few expert groups of WHO and Council for International Organizations for Medical Sciences (CIOMS), and contributed to many international guidelines. She has a number of publications to her credit and coordinated the preparation of a reference book “Biomedical Ethics Perspectives in The Indian Context” — first of its kind resource for teaching and training research ethics in India. Her work has revolved around building Research Ethics capacity, Developing Policies and Guidelines, Networking and collaborations with stakeholders.

Samiran Nundy

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Dr Samiran Nundy, is an Indian gastrointestinal surgeon, medical academic, writer, and social activist, renowned for founding the Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery and Liver Transplantation at AIIMS, Delhi. A Cambridge- and Harvard-trained clinician, he is President of AIIMS Rishikesh and Emeritus Consultant at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. Founder editor of the National Medical Journal of India, he is known for his prolific research, medical ethics advocacy, and receiving the Padma Shri in 1985.

Bhushan Patwardhan

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Dr Bhushan Patwardhan , is an Indian biomedical scientist and academic renowned for research in Ayurveda biology, ethnopharmacology, natural product drug development, and integrative health. A National Research Professor at the Ministry of AYUSH and former UGC Vice Chairman, he founded the Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine, co-chaired WHO traditional medicine initiatives, authored acclaimed books, and ranks among Stanford’s top 2% global scientists.

Avinash Supe

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Dr Avinash Supe, Emeritus Professor at KEM hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India