Advisors

Dr. G. K. Rath is the Former Head, National Cancer Institute (India), Chief Radiologist and Professor & Head: Department of Radiation Oncology at the Dr BRA Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. He is one of India's most illustrious oncologists and is acclaimed worldwide. He is pioneering the current governmental cancer care infrastructure revamp in India and has spearheaded oncology in India for over three decades. He brings, to RAPID, his vast medical expertise and research experience apropos of oncology, radiology, chemotherapy and cancer care.

Padma Shri Dr. Ashok K. Vaid is an eminent oncologist with over three decades of professional experience in cancer healthcare and oncology. He pioneered bone marrow transplants in the medical private sector whilst also conducting the first twenty five surgeries for the same. Currently, he is appointed as Chairman of Medical and Hemato Oncology at Medanta Hospital, Gurgaon. Some of his specializations include chemotherapy, bone marrow transplant, organ-specific cancer treatment, solid tumors, leukemia, and lymphoma. His aim is to simplify the complications and confusions in the healthcare system and amplify the ambits of healthcare accessibility.

Dr. Ravi Mehrotra is currently an Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at the Rollins Institute of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta. He led the India Cancer Research Consortium (Indian Council of Medical Research-Department of Health Research) and he is a member of the Scientific Council of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization at Lyon, France. Prior to this, he was the Lead at the ICMR-National Institute of Cancer Prevention and Research as well as the WHO-FCTC Global Knowledge Hub on Smokeless Tobacco Products. In addition to his academic career in various medical schools, Dr. Mehrotra has been a leading proponent of affordable cancer care. He led successful programs in a broad range of public health efforts. He has guided India’s Ministry of Health & Family Welfare in conceiving and implementing the Framework for Cancer Control. He was instrumental in three Indian states taking up HPV vaccination immunization against cervical cancer, the most recent one being Sikkim. He is a committed educator who successfully mentored more than two dozen medical trainees in pathology, epidemiology, molecular cancer research, and global health and aims to bring this plethora of differentiated experiences, learnings to RAPID.

Dr. Shona Nag is one of Pune’s best breast cancer specialists and a leading medical oncologist. She is known for her work in women’s health especially that for breast cancer and cervical cancer. She has over 27 years of experience and has made it her mission to encourage everyone to understand cancer better, especially women. As the Director, Oncology at Sahyadri Group of Hospitals in Pune, Dr. Shona Nag has been instrumental in helping patients navigate cancer better.

Dr. Bhawna Sirohi is an accredited Consultant Medical Oncologist in breast cancers, Medical Director, BALCO Medical Centre, Raipur, India. She is also an honorary consultant with Queen Mary’s University, London. She's had experience working in the government medical sector as well when she previously worked at The Barts Health NHS Trust, London. She started her oncology training in India in 1994 at the Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai and completed at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, UK. As a renowned academician she has published more than 100 papers in national and international journals and lectured worldwide. For more than two decades she's worked in the field of medical oncology with the primary aim of making healthcare accessible for women in the cancer prevention and care ecosystem.

Ms Jyotsana Govil is the Vice Chairman of the Governing Council at the Indian Cancer Society, where she began working as a volunteer in 1985. She is also a member of the Governing Council at Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute. Prior to this, she served for 12 years on RGCI’s Review Board and Ethics Committee. She mentored a whole generation of cancer awareness speakers, hospital volunteers & was the first President of Cancer Sahyog, an Emotional Support group for cancer survivors. At RAPID, her experience with cancer awareness, cancer patients and survivors will be instrumental in strengthening the stakeholder collaboration for a more robust cancer healthcare system.

Dr Mahajan is an Indian radiologist and one of the pioneers of imaging technology in India. He is the founder of Mahajan Imaging, a diagnostic imaging centre in the Indian capital of New Delhi.

Dr. Sushma Bhatnagar is a Head, National Cancer Institute (India) & Professor and Head of Anesthesiology, Pain and Palliative Care, at the Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. Her area of research is ‘Cancer Pain Management and Palliative Care’. She has 24 years of teaching and research experience, which has included teaching pain and palliative care to undergraduate and postgraduate medical and nursing students and has supervised students’ theses on radiotherapy, medical oncology and general surgery, theology and psychology. Working at national level, she is a member of the Advisory Group of the National Palliative Care Program at the Ministry of Health in India, and coordinates ‘Pain Policy’ at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. She believes that Palliative Care can revolutionise and change the way cancer healthcare works in India.

Dr. Kumar Prabhash is the head of Medical Oncology at the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai. He completed his specialisation in Medical Oncology from the Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology and has since preserved to improve on cancer care and prevention system in India. He has also served as a Research Fellow at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle and is a pioneer in the implementation sciences of patient care. He is an illustrious academician who started a preceptorship program for hands-on training of molecular methods in Medical Oncology Molecular Laboratory. He brings to RAPID, his medical experience and research.

Dr. Shashi Baliyan is the Founder and Managing Director of Clearmedi Healthcare Pvt Ltd and co-founder of Shubhram Hospital Solutions Pvt Ltd. He has a proven medical track record of over fifteen years wherein he advised and provided consultation services to NHS, numerous private sector companies and blue chip companies in the United Kingdom. He has given strategic direction to complex oncology services in India. Under his able leadership, ClearMedi is running 20 Oncology and Radiology facilities in India, bringing state-of-the-art cancer care to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities in India. He also pioneered the concept of Managed Equipment Services business in the Indian Healthcare Market. Being both- a doctor and a hospital manager he has been able to identify qualitative and quantitative gaps in the healthcare facilities and aims to contribute to the betterment of the healthcare system.

Dr. Somesh Kumar, is a global public health physician with two decades of experience in policy, design and implementation for Global Health programs. His work has been focused around increasing access to and strengthening the quality of essential life saving interventions in low and low-middle income countries including multiple countries across South, South-East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. In his role as the Country Director for Jhpiego in India, he oversees a large portfolio of programs focused on primary health care, RMNCHA and Womens Cancers. He also wears the hat of Jhpiego’s Senior Director for the department of Technical Leadership and Innovations, Jhpiego/US, wehere he provides vision and strategic direction to identify, design, and support the implementation of transformative strategies, policies and programs across the domains of Women’s Cancers, Immunization and Primary Health Care services. Over the years, Dr. Kumar has served the WHO, CDC, Government of Norway and other global organizations in different capacities. Dr. Somesh has published numerous articles in international peer-reviewed journals and also serves as reviewer for multiple international peer reviewed journals. He is member of multiple global technical advisory groups and committees.

Dr Bharat J Parikh is a consultant medical oncologist at the Hemato Oncology Clinic. He's been a pioneer in the field of cancer oncology for almost four decades now and currently serves as the DM Teacher and Chief at the Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute (GCRI). He is also the Director of Medical Services at the Apollo CBCC Cancer Care in Gandhinagar. He has persevered, throughout his medical career, to make standardised healthcare accessible to all while spearheading cancer research in GCRI. It’s this research experience and perseverance that Dr. Parikh brings to RAPID.

Anuradha Acharya is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mapmygenome January 2013. Anu had founded Ocimum Biosolutions in 2000 and led the company through strategic international acquisitions, capital raises for equity investments and launch of several innovative products, solutions and services.

Dr. Amish Vora is the Best Medical Oncologist in Delhi NCR. He has experience of over 23 yrs in Adult, Pediatric and Geriatric Medical Oncology.