Advisory Board

Prof. Dr. Anurag Mairal

Adjunct Professor, School of Medicine; Director, Global Outreach, Stanford Biodesign; Stanford University, Faculty Fellow, Global Health

Dr. Anurag Mairal is an Adjunct Professor of Medicine and the Director, Global Outreach Programs at Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign, Stanford University. He is also a Faculty Fellow and Lead for Technology Innovation and Impact at Center for Innovation in Global Health. In these roles, he leads initiatives focused on applying the biodesign process to resource-constrained settings globally. Further, he facilitates opportunities for students, faculty and fellows at Stanford to work on global healthcare needs.

He is founding Co-Director for MED 232, Global Health: Scaling Health Technology Innovations in Low Resource Settings, and was part of the founding faculty team for BIOE 371, Global Biodesign: Medical Technology in an International Context, graduate-level courses offered to engineering, business, and medical students at Stanford University. Concurrently, he is a co-founder and Executive Vice President of Orbees Medical, a SF Bay Area-based strategy consulting firm serving global healthcare industry, with a focus on medtech, pharmaceutical, and digital health industry.

Dr. Mairal has an extensive background in medical technology development and commercialization, collaborating with partners in the U.S., India, China, and other emerging markets to advance product development, manufacturing, and distribution. Recently, he took a sabbatical for two years to take a senior leadership role at PATH, a major global health nonprofit based in Seattle. In this role, he oversaw research and development, commercialization, and implementation of technologies in PATH’s medical devices, diagnostics, and digital health divisions. An active mentor to entrepreneurs and industry professionals, he serves as the chair of PATH’s Bay Area Leadership Council, board member at EPPIC Global Network and IIT Bombay Heritage Foundation and advisory board member at D-Rev and Sewa International.

Dr. Mairal earned a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder and an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley. He also holds an MS in chemical engineering from the Indian Institution of Technology in Mumbai and BS in chemical engineering from National Institute of Technology, Raipur.

Dr. Basant Garg

IAS Officer, Additional CEO, National Health Authority

Dr. Basant Garg is the Additional Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Authority.

He is in charge of policy formulation, design, and implementation of flagship healthcare schemes of the Government of India including the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY), which is the world’s largest government-sponsored health assurance scheme, and the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), which aims to revolutionize digital healthcare access for all. He is the Mission Director of ABDM.

Dr. Garg, a qualified doctor from the Government Medical College, Chandigarh joined the IAS in 2005 with the Punjab Cadre. He also holds a Masters in Economics, a PG diploma in Urban Studies along with certification in Tax Analysis and Revenue Forecasting, Public Policy from the Duke University, USA.

Prior to his role at NHA, Dr. Garg served as the Private Secretary to Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Government of India. He had earlier served the Government of Punjab in various capacities.

Dr. Garg has been responsible for critical government interventions concerning socio-economic development, including those in public health. He is known for leading the fight against drug addiction in Bathinda and Amritsar encouraging citizens to share information to get help for their loved ones by leveraging technology and setting up treatment centres and rehabilitation centres. In 2016, he was entrusted with organizing and managing the mega-event “Heart of Asia” an international multilateral event where 46 countries participated in Amritsar city. It was the first time this event happened in a city that was not the national capital of the host country.

Prof. Bhramar Mukherjee

John D. Kalbfleisch Collegiate Professor of Biostatistics, Chair of Biostatistics, Professor of Epidemiology, Professor of Global Public Health, The University of Michigan School of Public Health

Prof. Bhramar Mukherjee is John D. Kalbfleisch Collegiate Professor and Chair, Department of Biostatistics; Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Professor, Global Public Health, University of Michigan (UM) School of Public Health; Research Professor and Core Faculty Member, Michigan Institute of Data Science (MIDAS), University of Michigan. She also serves as the Associate Director for Quantitative Data Sciences, University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center. She is the cohort development core co-director in the University of Michigan’s institution-wide Precision Health Initiative.

Her research interests include statistical methods for the analysis of electronic health records, studies of gene-environment interaction, Bayesian methods, shrinkage estimation, analysis of multiple pollutants. Collaborative areas are mainly cancer, cardiovascular diseases, reproductive health, exposure science, and environmental epidemiology.

She has co-authored more than 280 publications in statistics, biostatistics, medicine, and public health and is serving as PI on NSF and NIH-funded methodology grants. Bhramar is a fellow of the American Statistical Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She is the recipient of many awards for her scholarship, service, and teaching at the University of Michigan and beyond.

Clark Golestani

Ex-President, Emerging Businesses and Global CIO, Merck

Clark Golestani has over 30 years of experience in health, life sciences, and technology, and is an active investor, advisor, and board member with a focus on the healthcare and technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT) sectors

Mr. Golestani retired from Merck (merck.com) as the President, Emerging Businesses and Global CIO, with responsibilities for Merck’s portfolio of digital health services and solutions companies inclusive of the company's venture and equity funds – each of which extensively leverages opportunities across the digital health ecosystem. Further, Mr. Golestani led the company's global Information Technology organization, strategy, and execution worldwide, spanning all lines of business inclusive of Human Health and Animal Health BioPharma.

Prior to joining Merck, Mr. Golestani was responsible for establishing and managing strategic client relationships from business development through consulting services engagement delivery as a principal with Oracle (oracle.com).

Mr. Golestani currently serves as the managing director of C Sensei Group, LLC (csenseigroup.com) an advisory services firm. Mr. Golestani serves as an independent director on the board of directors for CIOX Health (cioxhealth.com), eMids (emids.com), Molecula (molecula.com), TruU, Inc. (truu.io), ToposWare, Inc. (toposware.com), and Zapata Computing (zapatacomputing.com). He is a co-founder of Cross Road Technologies, Inc.

Mr. Golestani has a degree in Management Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management.

Dr. C S Pramesh

Director at Tata memorial hospital

Dr. C S Pramesh is the Director of the Tata Memorial Hospital and a thoracic surgeon at the Tata Memorial Centre, the largest cancer centre in India. He is also a member of the Clinical Research Secretariat of the hospital and the convener for the National Cancer Grid, a large network of 177 cancer centres in India. In the latter role, he works extensively on eliminating disparities in cancer care by enabling uniform standards of cancer care, promoting equity in access to care, rational use of healthcare resources, and promoting multicentric collaborative research.

Dr. Pramesh’s primary clinical areas of interest include minimal invasive surgery and innovative treatment options in the management of esophageal and lung cancer. He is the Secretary of the Indian Society for Diseases of the Esophagus and Stomach (ISES). He is the Principal Investigator in several investigator-initiated research studies including randomised trials on cancer screening, surgical techniques, and neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatment of thoracic cancers.

Dr. Pramesh is passionate about promoting the training of early-career physicians and surgeons in clinical research methods and conducts several formal and informal courses on clinical research methodology, biostatistics, and scientific writing.

Dr. Pramesh successfully completed the Post Graduate Diploma in Clinical Trials offered by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the University of London in 2010. He serves on the core committee of the Clinical Research Secretariat of the hospital. Pramesh has strong interests in clinical trial designs, surgical trials, biostatistics, comparative effectiveness research, promoting collaborative research, and cancer policy.

Dr. Pramesh has written more than 140 peer-reviewed journal articles, abstracts, and book chapters on topics in his specialty, including esophageal and lung cancers, minimally invasive surgery, tracheal, mediastinal and chest wall tumors, clinical research methods, translational research, and cancer policy.

Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty

Chairman, Narayan Hrudayalaya Limited

A cardiac surgeon of repute and a successful entrepreneur, Dr. Shetty is a highly respected luminary for his ingenious ideas for reforms in healthcare sector. His visionary leadership to make quality healthcare affordable for all has drawn global recognition. Treading the path of economies of scale to bring down the cost of healthcare delivery, Narayana Hrudayalaya has been an interesting case study for the likes of Harvard University and The Wall Street Journal.

In association with Government of Karnataka, Dr. Shetty pioneered Yeshaswini, a very inexpensive micro health insurance scheme benefitting more than 3.4 million rural poor.

Dr. Shetty is the current Chairman, Board of Governors, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. He has also served as member Board of Governors of Medical Council of India and Representative of President of India in the Board of Governors of Indira Gandhi National Open University.

The Government of India, state governments, trade bodies and global policy think tanks invite him regularly for discussions on healthcare policies. He was part of International Advisory Group, a strategic advisory platform, invited by Japan Centre for International Exchange to address the global health agenda under Japan’s G-20 leadership during 2019-20.

A strong advocate for the application of technology in healthcare delivery, Dr. Shetty is involved in projects that can reduce time, cost and improve clinical efficacy in healthcare delivery.

Dr. Shetty is the current Chairman, Board of Governors, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. He has also served as member Board of Governors of Medical Council of India and Representative of President of India in the Board of Governors of Indira Gandhi National Open University.

The Government of India, state governments, trade bodies and global policy think tanks invite him regularly for discussions on healthcare policies. He was part of International Advisory Group, a strategic advisory platform, invited by Japan Centre for International Exchange to address the global health agenda under Japan’s G-20 leadership during 2019-20.

A strong advocate of technology for efficient healthcare delivery, Dr.Shetty takes deep interest in creating and developing software products and applications to achieve time and cost efficiency while minimizing clinical errors in healthcare delivery.

Dr. Shetty also has a US Patent No.10,109,377 dated October 23, 2018 registered as inventor – “System and Method for Facilitating Delivery of Patient-Care” – ‘A computer-implemented method for facilitating delivery of patient-care in adherence with a standard of care clinical protocol is described’.

Dr. Shetty is the recipient of several prestigious awards including the Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri, The Economist Innovation Award, Ernst and Young – Entrepreneur of the Year, Financial Times Arcelor Mittal ‘Boldness in Business’ Award, Nikkei Asia Prize for Economic and Business Innovation. He has also been awarded honorary doctorates from University of Minnesota, University of Mysore and IIT, Madras.

After his post-graduation from Kasturba Medical College and having undergone higher training in Cardiothoracic Surgery at NHS, UK, Dr. Shetty held positions in BM Birla Heart Research Centre, Kolkata and Manipal Heart Foundation, Bangalore before becoming the Founder and Chairman at Narayana Hrudayalaya Group of Hospitals. The group now has 32 hospitals with close to 7,000 beds.

In Feb. 2016 NH went public and received an overwhelming response getting oversubscribed eight times stands testimony to the investors’ trust in Dr.Shetty’s visionary leadership

Dr. Kip Webb

Ex-Managing Director Accenture, Faculty at University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health.

Dr. Kip Webb has been successful in leading healthcare reform as a pediatrician, a professor, and a business leader.

Dr. Webb earned his bachelor’s degree in English and Biology at Amherst College, his Doctor of Medicine at Cornell University, and his master’s in public health at the University of Massachusetts. Dr. Webb became an Assistant Professor at Stanford University Medical School while still in his twenties and was named “Teacher of the Year” three years later. Dr. Webb’s academic work has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and Pediatrics.

Dr. Webb began his consulting career at Deloitte and was recruited to BearingPoint to launch its first Clinical Transformation Practice. He built the practice from a blank sheet of paper to one with $20M in revenues and 60 professionals in just two years. In 2006, he was recruited to Accenture as a Managing Director and global business practice leader. In his second year there he was selected as one of the Firm’s “Top 30 Leaders.” Over 12 years at Accenture, Dr. Webb consistently provided his clients with transformative solutions and delivered nearly 30% growth per year to Accenture’s Provider Healthcare sector. When he left Accenture, Dr. Webb was managing >1,500 people around the world.

Dr. Webb is a highly sought public speaker who has been asked to present on myriad topics, including healthcare reform, consumerism, digital innovation, social determinants of health, and clinician burnout. He regularly lectures on healthcare innovation at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas Business School, and its School of Public Health.

Dr. M. Srinivas

Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences

Dr. M. Srinivas, is the director of the All India Institute of Medical Science, (AIIMS) Delhi and has an experience of more than three decades in various positions in the academic, administrative, and research fields.

Dr. Srinivas was the dean and a paediatric surgeon at the Employee’s State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Medical College & Hospital in Hyderabad. He also helped in the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) accreditation for ESIC. Before his stint at the ESIC Hospital, Dr Srinivas joined AIIMS Delhi in 1994 and ascended the academic ladder and became Professor of Pediatric Surgery in the year 2011.

He has authored around 200 research papers and has trained thousands of undergraduate and postgraduate medical students. His administrative experience includes development of new medical colleges under the ESI Corporation and has contributed to initiation of more than 10 new medical colleges and starting post graduate and super speciality courses in these institutes. He also has experience in getting the NABH accreditation for ESIC hospital at Hyderabad. He has been a meritorious student throughout his career and has received several Gold medals and Awards. He is a distinguished member of 15 Professional organizations and has been awarded fellowships by many of them. He did a prestigious fellowship from the Children’s Research Center, Dublin, Ireland and returned with a rich experience to teach and train in India. He has been appointed as the Director, AIIMS, New Delhi with effect from 23 September 2022.

Prof. Narendra Ahuja

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois

Narendra Ahuja is a Research Professor in the Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Beckman Institute, and Coordinated Science Laboratory at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). During 2013-2019, he was the Founding Director of Information Technology Research Academy (ITRA), a national initiative started by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India, to pilot a new model of enhancing the quality of advanced technical and related education across India (https://itra.digitalindiacorporation.in/). During 1999-2002, he served as the Founding Director of the first IIIT Hyderabad.

His research is in Artificial Intelligence fields of computer vision, pattern recognition, machine learning, image processing and their applications, including on problems in developing societies.

He is recipient of Emanuel R. Piore award, Technology Achievement Award of the International Society for Optical Engineering, TA Stewart-Dyer/Frederick Harvey Trevithick Prize of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Open Innovation Research Award from Hewlett-Packard and Google Research Award. He is a fellow of IEEE, American Assoc for Artificial Intelligence, Intl. Association for Pattern Recognition, Assoc for Computing Machinery, American Assoc for the Advancement of Science, and Intl. Society for Optical Engineering.

Dr. Nitish Thakor

Professor, Biomedical Eng, Johns Hopkins University; Director, SINAPSE Institute, National University of Singapore (NUS)

Dr. Nitish Thakor is a professor of biomedical engineering and neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He conducts research on neurological instrumentation, biomedical signal processing, micro and nanotechnologies, neural prosthesis, clinical applications of neural and rehabilitation technologies, and brain-machine interface. Dr. Thakor directs the Laboratory for Neuroengineering and is also the director of the NIH Training Grant on Neuroengineering. He is actively engaged in developing international scientific programs, collaborative exchanges, tutorials, and conferences in the field of biomedical engineering.

He received his undergraduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, in Bombay, India. He earned both a M.S. in and a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Thakor joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 1983.

Dr. Thakor is a co-author of more than 250 refereed journal papers and is currently the editor-in-chief of Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing. He was also the editor-in-chief of IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering from 2005 - 2011. In addition, Dr. Thakor is a recipient of a Research Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health and a Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation and is a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, IEEE, Founding Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society, and Fellow of International Federation of Medical and Biological Engineering.

Dr. Randeep Guleria

Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences

Dr. Randeep Guleria is the Director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi - India’s #1 hospital system and #1 medical college. Dr. Randeep Guleria is Professor and Head, Department of Pulmonary Medicine and Sleep Disorders at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, where he has been working for the last 23 years.

Dr. Guleria was conferred with the prestigious “Padma Shri” Award in 2015 by the President of India and with the “Dr. B.C. Roy Award in the category Eminent Medical Person” for the year 2014.

Dr. Guleria has been a dedicated teacher for undergraduate, postgraduate and DM fellows for the last 30 years. Dr. Guleria has done pioneering work in respiratory medicine, lung cancer, asthma and COPD. He has more than 400 publications in International and National journals and 49 chapters in various National and International books. He has delivered more than 300 lectures at International and National conferences. Dr. Guleria is a member of many key committees in the Government of India including the Joint Monitoring Committee to monitor outbreaks of new diseases including pandemics, bird flu, Ebola etc. to formulate National policy to control antibiotic resistance in India.

Dr. Praveen Gedam

Additional CEO, National Health Authority (NHA), IAS

Dr. Praveen Gedam is the Additional CEO at NHA. Dr Gedam is involved in policy formulation and implementation of the world's largest government-sponsored health insurance/ assurance scheme Ayushman Bharat: Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY). He is also the first Mission Director of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), which was launched recently.

Dr. Gedam has done his MS (Orthopaedics) from the prestigious Grant Medical College & JJ Hospital, Mumbai. Dr. Gedam joined the IAS with the 2002 Maharashtra cohort. Institutions headed by him have stood first in various activities in the state on various occasions and have been awarded numerous awards.

Dr. Gedam has been closely involved in driving many NHA's initiatives - response to the COVID-19 pandemic in India, developing digital health services in India, advocacy of farmers’ access to healthcare, and driving insurance for ridesharing company workers.