Giridhara R Babu

After graduation in medicine (MBBS), Giridhar began as a Junior Resident at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. Next, he worked with World Health Organization (WHO) for nearly six years, during which his efforts include stopping polio transmission in the state of Karnataka and initiation of Measles surveillance. Subsequently, he worked as research associate for Multi Centre AIDS Cohort (MACS) with Dr.Roger Detels and as Graduate Special Reader at UCLA.

Having trained in Epidemiology (MPH and PhD) from University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Giridhar’s initial work explored the association of psychosocial environment and Hypertension. He set up a birth cohort in Bengaluru with the support of Wellcome trust strategic award; and further expanded through his Wellcome Trust DBT India Alliance Intermediate fellowship. The cohort study charecterizes the parental milieu, air pollution and psychosocial environment during pregnancy and how they impact development of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in childhood. His future work involves promotion of positive health in pregnant women and children through culturally appropriate, evidence based interventions.

Giridhar edited the guidelines for health professionals for prevention and management of NCDs in primary health care settings of Karnataka. Giridhar serves on several committees of the state, MoHFW and Nursing Council of India. He serves on the editorial board of BMC Public Health and other international journals. He has more than 70 scientific publications in peer reviewed-journals. He worked with WHO as a consultant and contributed to reprioritization of diseases for surveillance in India. Giridhar is also a visiting professor of the Maastricht University, Netherlands.

Through research and academic fervor, Giridhar’s long-term goal is to ensure healthy populations are sustained through integrated technical and advocacy efforts. His track record in public health over two decades is a clear testimony for excellence in research, policy development and advocacy. Evidence from his research will aid in the generation of rigorous, feasible, and contextually specific interventions and in ensuring evidence-based public health policy planning and implementation.