Faculty & Staff

Qualification/ Education

Experience

June 2013 - December 2013 -  Junior Resident, Department of Pediatric Surgery Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health Bangalore, India.

January 2014-December 2016- Senior Resident, Department of Pediatric Surgery Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.

January 2017 - July 2017        - Post MCh. Senior Resident, Department of Pediatric Surgery Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, Bangalore, India August 2017 - January 2023 - Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatric Surgery St John’s Medical College, Bangalore, India 

February 2023 to date -     Associate Professor, Department of Pediatric Surgery St John’s Medical College, Bangalore, India

Areas of interest

I have been involved in research activity in my residency at PGIMER, where we studied the co- existence of vesicoureteric reflux and pelvi-ureteric junction obstruction in young children and theimplications on management. After joining the clinical research training fellowship at St John’s in December 2019, I have been exposed to nutrition related research and techniques like the use of stable isotopes to measure kinetic aspects of metabolism, metabolomics, indirect calorimetry, bioimpedance analysis etc. A few of the areas which I have worked upon include - body fat mass distribution and percentage, and its association with COVID-19 severity, Maternal vitamin A liver status (by measurement of liver stores) as a risk factor for the development of Hirschsprung disease in the child, estimation of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency in children with acute pancreatitis, using the 13C-medium chain triglyceride (MCT) Breath Test.

Fellowship & Membership

1. Executive member of Pediatric Core Group IAPEN India
2. Life Member of Indian Association of Pediatric Surgeons (IAPEN)
3. Life Member of Pediatric Endoscopic Surgeons of India
4. Life Member of India Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition
5. Member of the Indian pancreas club

Other formal training/certification

Training in Pediatric Surgery:

The Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) is a premier medical institute of India with the Pediatric Department being established in 1965. The 60-bed department takes care of pediatric surgical conditions and neonatal emergencies of the surrounding six geographical states, with a catchment area of about 50 million people. The department performs more than 3000 surgeries per year with 3 dedicated operation theatres daily, of which 1 emergency table runs round the clock. It gives a unique experience of post-operative management in a 25 bed ICU with 10 open care ventilator units.

Institutional portfolios/ Committees

1. Appointed as IAPEN India Pediatric Nutrition Core Group Executive Committee Member from 1st November 2025 for a period of three years
2. Organized an International Pediatric Nutrition Symposium titled – “Advancing Pediatric Nutrition: Interdisciplinary perspectives from the clinic to the community” on October 17th and 18th 2025 at St John’s Medical College. The symposium featured top international and national faculty and had 200+ participants, who attended from across the country.
3. Staff cultural committee member 2022-2025, Sports secretary 2022-2024
4. Part of Organizing committee of 5th Annual Research day SJNAHS in 2025
5. Part of SJMC Diamond Jubilee scientific committee in 2024

Membership of professional associations/bodies

1. Executive member of Pediatric Core Group IAPEN India
2. Life Member of Indian Association of Pediatric Surgeons (IAPEN)
3. Life Member of Pediatric Endoscopic Surgeons of India
4. Life Member of India Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition
   1. Member of the Indian pancreas club

Awards and Recognitions

1. Fellow of the Wellcome Trust-DBT Clinical Research Training Programme, with Dr Anura V. Kurpad (December 2020 - December 2023)
2. Recipient of the WOFAPS Foundation Scholarship 2022, awarded to competent young pediatric surgeons (less than 40 years old) from developing countries who have demonstrated strong interests in teaching and research. The scholarship is funded by World Federation of Association of Pediatric Surgeons (WOFAPS) and provides the recipients with an opportunity to visit well recognized and established pediatric surgical teaching centers in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa for a clinical observership.
3. Accepted and successfully completed International Clinical Observership in the Department of Pediatric General Surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital (Ranked #1 of Hospitals for children in the world) from July 5th 2023 to July 28th 2023 and at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (Ranked #4 of Hospitals for children in the world) from August 1st 2023 to August 21st 2023.
4. Awarded the short-term Indian Council of Medical Research-Department of Health Research (ICMR-DHR) International fellowship 2024 for a period of 1 month (July2024) to Boston Children’s Hospital under the mentorship of Dr Christopher P. Duggan, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition in Pediatric Clinical Nutrition and advanced intestinal rehabilitation
5. Selected for the ICMR-PhD program for young medical faculty 2024 for the proposal titled “Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency in Acute Recurrent Pancreatitis – Prevalence, Natural History and The Potential Role of Pancreatic Enzyme Replacement Therapy”
6. Received the FIRST IN THE WORLD GRANT awarded by ICMR for bold research ideas with wide ranging impact in biomedical science in 2025. The proposal was titled “Metabolic engineering of human gut microbiome for improved micronutrient status – a Proof-of-Concept using stable isotopic probes”
7. Awarded a medal and admitted as a Fellow of the Indian Association of Pediatric Surgeons on 7/11/2025