Health research: the social imperative

This article appeared in Nature India’s Decade of Discovery magazine published in March 2019 to commemorate 10 years of the DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance. The full issue is available here and this article appears on p. 26-27. Article co-authored with Yogeshwar V Kalkonde, Devaki Nambiar and K M Venkat Narayan.

Human health has improved dramatically over the last century: life expectancy has doubled, childhood and maternal mortality have fallen, and common communicable diseases are in decline. Science has played an instrumental role in these improvements. However, glaring gaps exist in our current approach to address the extant human health challenges, and our preparedness to face emerging issues in the global interconnected world of the twenty-first century.

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“old and fragile records” in an age of RTI and computers: How our heritage collections are managed by ZSI

The Zoological Survey of India has an illustrious history. On 1st July, 1916, the organisation was instituted with a mission to “…to promote survey, exploration

Alfred Alcock, the physician-naturalist who was instrumental in the creation of the Zoological Survey of India

and research leading to the advancement in our knowledge of various aspects of exceptionally rich life of the erstwhile British Indian Empire” (Emphasis mine). Alfred William Alcock was a British physician-naturalist, a common breed in those colonial days when doctors were still excited about working in “difficult” Continue reading