Dr. Rajesh Kumar selected for Prestigious Australion Award

Dr. Rajesh Kumar, Head of PGI School of Public Health, Chandigarh has been selected by the Government of Australia this year for the prestigious Endeavour Executive Award. His contribution to public health is evident from his 182 research publications in the leading Scientific Journals, establishment of MD Community Medicine and MPH Program, and model community health services in rural areas and urban slums. Honorable Julia Gillard, Deputy Prime Minister of Australia has sent her congratulation to him on joining a select group of individuals who have received the prestigious Endeavour Executive Award.

The Endeavour Executive Award is the Australian Government’s internationally competitive, merit-based scholarship program providing opportunities for citizens of the Asia-Pacific, Middle-East, Europe and Americas to undertake study, research, and professional development abroad. It aims to enable high achieving international professionals to further develop their knowledge and skills, and deepen professional engagements between Australia and participating countries, strengthen mutual understanding between the people of Australia and Award Holders’ home country.

Dr. Rajesh Kumar, Professor and Head of PGIMER School of Public Health at Chandigarh in India, obtained MD in Social and Preventive Medicine in 1984 from Rohtak Medical College and MSc in Epidemiology from London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. His professional life of 25 years is enriched with experience on health system research, planning and management of public health programs, capacity building of public health workforce through teaching in regular degree/diploma courses, and by organizing short term training courses for health professionals and health administrators. He has also worked as Temporary Adviser to World Health Organisation for the development of verbal autopsy tools, epidemiological capacity, NCD surveillance systems, improvement of the NCD capacity strengthening modules, and assistance in organization of workshops/courses in seven South-East Asian countries for the policy makers and program managers on NCDs Prevention and Control.

Dr. Rajesh Kumar has received several awards and honors, notable among these are: British Council Award for Epidemiology Training and Sri Ram Memorial Award for Community Health Research, Fellowship of National Academy of Medical Sciences, Indian Public Health Association, and Indian Association of Preventive & Social Medicine, Dr. S. C. Seal, Dr. B. C. Dasgupta, and Dr. Harcharan Singh Oration, Dr. M. K. Sheshadari Gold Medal for Practice of Community Medicine, and Dr. S. D. Gaud best paper award on Environmental Health Practice. He has published 182 research papers in leading scientific journals.

He developed academic programs in Community Medicine and Public Health, coordinated and supervised public health programs in the rural and urban areas. Several collaborative research programs were set up with National Institutes of Health, USA, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, University of California Berkley, Health Effects Institute, Boston, Center for Global Health Research University of Toronto, and George Institute of International Health, Sydney.

Using community-based surveys conducted in 1990s, he advocated for initiation of healthy heart project in about one million population of Chandigarh which involved surveillance, development of guidelines, training of medical and paramedical personnel, and coordination with several stakeholders. After 3 year implementation, the project evolved into Chandigarh Non Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Program which is one of the first NCD control program funded and implemented by the government. Development and implementation of Rheumatic Heart Disease Control Program in one million population of district Ropar in Punjab state has also been adopted by the government for state-wide implementation. Verbal autopsy tools were developed to measure cause specific mortality which has been implemented by Registrar General of India in the National
Sample Registration System. He has coordinated national study for assessment of the impact of targeted interventions on HIV infection in India.

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Prestigious Australion Award

Dr. Rajesh Kumar, Head of PGI School of Public Health, Chandigarh has been selected by the Government of Australia...

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