KCDO Leadership

Dr. C. S. Pramesh

Director, Tata Memorial Hospital
Convenor, National Cancer Grid

Dr. C. S. Pramesh is the Director of the Tata Memorial Hospital and the Professor and Head of Thoracic Surgery at the Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC). He is the convener for the National Cancer Grid, a large network of over 280 cancer centres in India (https://tmc.gov.in/ncg). The mandate of the National Cancer Grid is to establish uniform standards of patient care for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer, provide specialized training and education in oncology, and facilitate collaborative basic, translational, and clinical research in cancer. He is also a visiting professor at the Division of Cancer Studies, King’s College London, Institute of Cancer Policy, King’s Health Partners, London and the National Cancer Center Graduate School of Cancer Science and Policy, Korea. Pramesh is highly committed to efforts towards reducing inequities in cancer care and making cancer treatment accessible to all geographic regions and strata of society.

Dr. David Jaffray

Senior Vice President and Chief Technology and Digital Officer

Dr. David Jaffray is a senior vice president and chief technology and digital officer (CTDO) at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and a Full Professor in Radiation Physics and Imaging Physics. Before joining MD Anderson, Dr. Jaffray served as executive vice president for Technology and Innovation at the University Health Network in Toronto. He designed and led UHN’s digital transformation. In the 17 years there, he also served as Head of Medical Physics, vice chair of Research for the University of Toronto's Department of Radiation Oncology, founding director of the STTARR Innovation Centre, and founding director of the Techna Institute. He was a Full Professor in the Departments of Radiation Oncology, Medical Biophysics, and IBBME at the University of Toronto and was active in strategic planning, teaching, and graduate student supervision.

Dr. Jaffray holds 26 patents and has authored >300 peer-reviewed publications in topics related to cancer, including, the development of new radiation treatment machines, exploring the fundamental limits of imaging system performance, the development of novel nanoparticle formulations for improved detection of cancer, and challenges in global health.

He has received many honors, including the Sylvia Sorkin-Greenfield Award, the Farrington Daniels Award and the Sylvia Fedoruk Award. In 2018, he received the Gold Medal from the American Society for Radiation Oncology and was invited to join the US National Academy of Inventors in 2022. Dr. Jaffray has led the development of a variety of commercial products, including software and hardware for safe, high-quality cancer care and including the development of cone-beam CT guided radiation therapy.

Dr. Jaffray earned his B.Sc. in physics from the University of Alberta, and his Ph.D. in medical biophysics from the University of Western Ontario. He is also Board Certified in the discipline of Medical Physics by the American Board of Medical Physics.

Dr. Mary Gospodarowicz

Radiation Oncologist,
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre

Professor Gospodarowicz is a Radiation Oncologist at the prestigious Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and the University of Toronto. Dr. Mary completed her MD from University of Toronto and FRCPC, internal medicine and Radiation Oncology. In the past she has served as the President Union for International Cancer Control. Dr. Gospodarowicz has held leadership position in cancer care for more than 20 years. She is the Associate Editor of Cancer Biology & Medicine and the Journal of Global Oncology.

Dr. Gospodarowicz's major research interest includes precision radiation therapy, prognostic factor classification and global cancer control. Current research activities include global cancer and the application of modern information and communication technologies in cancer control. She is member of the Board of Directors of City Cancer Challenge Foundation.

Dr. Gospodarowicz has received the ASTRO Gold Medal, the American Radium Society Janeway Medal, the O. Harold Warwick Prize from the Canadian Cancer Society, and was appointed as Officer of the Order of Canada in 2015 for her academic and clinical accomplishments.

Mr. Nachiket Mor

Visiting Scientist,
The Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health

Nachiket Mor is trained as an economist. His current work is principally focused on the design of national and regional health systems. He is a Visiting Scientist at The Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health and a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Information Technology and Public Policy at IIIT Bangalore. He is also a Commissioner on the Lancet Commission on Reimagining India's Health System.

Mr. Neel Ratan

Government Transformation Expert
Ex-Managing Partner, PwC

Mr. Neel Ratan is a veteran in the fields of business transformation, Consulting, and Institution building. As the Managing Partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers, he took an early retirement to support large social programs in India. During his 33 years career at PwC, he focussed on serving clients across the areas of innovative technology-oriented initiatives for government, government strategy, government process reform and capacity building of large and complex projects. He led a variety of large-scale societal transformation programs like land records management, e-passport, MyGov, Aadhar, DBT, tax modernization etc. He is now a Distinguished Fellow at World Economic Forum, Advisor (Volunteer) at the National Health Authority and a Senior Advisor to Yuwaah, UNICEF. He has led projects in more than 15 countries and regions including UK, Middle East, Africa, Caribbean, and Southeast Asia.

Mr. Rizwan Koita

Director,
Koita Foundation

Rizwan is the co-founder of CitiusTech and ran the company as CEO from 2005 to October 2021.

CitiusTech is a global leader in healthcare technology and one of the Unicorns in India. CitiusTech today has over 7000 healthcare technology professionals and over USD 325 Mn in revenues.

Prior to CitiusTech, Rizwan co-founded TransWorks (now Concentrix), one of the first BPO firms in India, which was acquired by the Aditya Birla group in 2003. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Rizwan was a senior consultant with McKinsey & Co., advising corporations on business strategy and operations.

Rizwan is the recipient of the prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2013) and the recipient of the 2002 Indo-American Society's ‘Young Achievers Award in Business’. Rizwan is on the Board of NABH, India’s leading accreditation organization for hospitals and on the advisory board of many NGOs.

Rizwan has a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay and has a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), ranking #1 in both programs.

Mr. Sharad Sharma

Orbit Change Catalyst,
Co-Founder, iSPIRIT Foundation

Sharad is a passionate evangelist of the software product ecosystem in India. He co-founded iSPIRT Foundation, a non-profit technology think tank devoted to making India a product nation. Earlier, he Chaired NASSCOM Product Forum in its formative years and was a member of the NASSCOM Executive Council from 2009-13. Sharad co-founded Teltier Technologies Inc., a wireless infrastructure startup now part of CISCO, and is an active technology angel investor with over two dozen investments. He was also instrumental in the success of India's first IP focused fund, India Innovation Fund.

Sharad has held several senior R&D executive positions with leading technology companies, including Yahoo, VERITAS Software, Symantec, Lucent Technologies, and AT&T. Zinnov gave him the R&D Visionary Award in 2008 for his work on creating a strong MNC R&D footprint in India. Sharad is a member of National Startup Advisory Council and SEBI's Financial and Regulatory Technology Committee. He has also served on RBI's UK Sinha MSME Committee and National Digital Payments Committee.

Sharad got interested in kernel software development while doing his Electrical Engineering at Delhi College of Engineering. He started India's first Student Minicomputer Club in 1984 as served as the Chairperson of the IEEE Student Chapter.

Dr. Soumya Swaminathan

Chief Scientist,
World Health Organisation

Dr. Soumya Swaminathan is the first Chief Scientist at the World Health Organisation. She was also the first Indian to serve as WHO's Deputy Director-General for Programmes. Dr Swaminathan is a paediatrician who is globally recognized for her research on tuberculosis and HIV. She brings with her over 30 years’ experience in not only clinical care and research but also policy formulation and leadership. She was elected Foreign Fellow of the US National Academy of Medicine, the UK Academy of Medical Sciences and of three science academies in India. From 2015 to 2017, she was Secretary to the Government of India for Health Research, and Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research.

She has published more than 450 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. She started her career as a paediatrician after studies in India, Great Britain, Northern Ireland, and the US.

Mr. Sunil Raheja

Digital Health Expert
Ex-Global Head Technology
Optum (United Healthcare)

Mr. Sunil Raheja is an accomplished Business Operations & Technology veteran with over 28 years of experience. He worked as the Global Head, Optum Global Solutions and led the global technology P&L of this Fortune Six, $220B+ healthcare organisation. In his role, Mr. Raheja was responsible for leading an organisation with over 10,000 employees. In his role as Chief Operating Officer of IKS Health, he led customer operations across India & the US, and built a scalable delivery model focused on driving standardization & automation across the business.

Mr. Raheja has also held leadership positions with multi-national organizations like Mphasis and EDS. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Mumbai along with the General Management Program at UHG.

Dr. Nikesh R. Shah

CEO

Nikesh brings 20+ years of broad leadership, growth and technology expertise from a combination of global operations, healthcare consulting and startup experience at reputed multinational organizations such as Accenture, Capgemini and Cotiviti.

Nikesh has experience on the payer and provider side managing large scale operations, enabling business transformation and driving technological innovation. On the provider side, his work has been focused on clinical documentation, care coordination, clinical data analytics and data digitization services. On the payer side, his experience comprises payment processing, claim audits, population health and data analytics. In these roles, Nikesh has led large and diverse multi geography teams of close to 2000 staff. More recently, he led a start-up building a cloud based digital health infrastructure platform and managed growth and expansion for a surgical oncology hospital group.

Nikesh completed his MBBS from Mumbai University and a Masters in Health Administration from Cornell University. Nikesh has also completed Leadership Training from eminent institutes like HBS, IIM-A and ISB.

Mr. Mukesh Bansal

VP - Technology

Mukesh brings in over 18 years of experience in building large-scale digital products and leading business and technology operations. He brings in deep expertise in digital solutions, market intelligence, consumer behavior, and new age technologies. Being an ex-entrepreneur in the health-tech space, he brings in strong domain knowledge to adopt new solutions and workflows to the cancer care continuum. Mukesh has graduated from BITS, Pilani with a Masters in Mathematics.

Ms. Swapna V. Verlekar

Senior Manager - Partnerships

Swapna Verlekar’s expertise spans sectors, including NGO, IT, and CSR, with a strong background in Project Management and Stakeholder Partnership. Her proactive approach, coupled with excellent interpersonal skills, has been instrumental in driving project success and organizational growth. She holds over 14 years of experience in Program Planning & Implementation, Sustainability and CSR. Swapna holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Sustainable Development and various certifications from eminent institutes like IRMA, Nirmala Niketan College of Social Work, and Azim Premji University in Social Leadership & Management.

Ms. Geetu Bagri

Senior Manager - Programs

Geetu has extensive experience in implementing evidence-based interventions, conducting research, and fostering collaborations to achieve positive health outcomes. Prior to joining Koita Centre for Digital Oncology, she worked at Reliance Foundation, where she led several primary care initiatives for the urban slum. Geetu is a seasoned professional with over a decade of dedicated service in the field of public health and holds a master’s degree in public health nutrition from Delhi University.

Dr. Vinisha Poojari

Dr. Vinisha Poojari has led several projects focused on public health initiatives demonstrating expertise in programme management. Her diverse background includes creation and implementation of health assurance products for the middle class as well as capacity-building initiatives with several prestigious institutions like TMC Kolkata, Cancer Institute, Adyar, NCG virtual tumor board initiative by TMC and the HFWTC of NHM Maharashtra and NHM Gujarat through Project ECHO. Dr Vinisha Poojari is a highly qualified professional with 6 years of experience holding BHMS, MHA and PGDiP in Public health.

Ms. Shraddha Nair

Executive Assistant

Shraddha is a seasoned professional with over a decade of experience in marketing support and administrative roles within the pharmaceutical industry. Her experience includes working with reputable companies such as Ranbaxy, Sun Pharma, Hi media Laboratories, and Cachet Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of the Alkem Group. Shraddha holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biotechnology from Mumbai University. Throughout her career, she has demonstrated her expertise in providing comprehensive administrative support to senior executives, fostering strong stakeholders, managing projects, coordinating events, and streamlining workflow processes.

Dr. Amrut Kadam

Prof & Head, Radiation Oncology,
Victoria Hospital, Bangalore

Dr. Amrut S. Kadam is a Professor and Head of Radiation Oncology at Victoria Hospital, Bangalore Medical College, an autonomous institute under the State Government. In addition to his regular post graduate teaching program, his key interests are in Health-tech, healthcare management systems, Healthcare analytics & curetting Healthcare startups. As State Nodal Officer he has been instrumental in implementation of various IT initiatives including e-hospital across all government medical colleges & institutes in Karnataka. His passion for technology comes from his life-long obsession to become a software engineer and now to provide affordable healthcare to all strata of people in society. Dr Kadam believes that technology should be embraced for a smooth efficient system for the delivery of Health care services thru which will be able to achieve.

Dr. Anthony Vipin Das

Ophthalmologist,
L. V. Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad

Dr. Anthony Vipin Das is a Network Associate Director and Consultant Ophthalmologist at the L V Prasad Eye Institute, India. He built eyeSmart EMR, an Electronic Medical Record and Hospital Management System developed in-house at LVPEI that clocked in over 10.5 million consultations across 316 centers in 5 countries. His research focuses on big data and the application of data science in Ophthalmology. He is a TED Senior Fellow and named among the Top 35 Innovators under 35 years in the world (TR35 2012) by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a Chevening Scholar from the St.Cross College, University of Oxford.

Dr. Bibhuti Borthakur

Professor (Surgical Oncology),
Dr. B. Borooah Cancer Institute, Guwahati

Dr. Borthakur is a Surgeon with over three decades of experience in General Surgery and Cancer Surgery, with similar experience in hospital and health administration. He is currently the Deputy Director (Administration) of Dr B. Borooah Cancer Institute, a 262 bedded tertiary cancer hospital and a teaching and training centre of the Tata Memorial Centre at Guwahati, and a member Institute of the National Cancer Grid. He has been passionately involved in clinical research as well as bio-medical research and innovations. He strongly advocates digital platform for acquisition and exchange of information amongst centres, for successful implementation of the distributed model of cancer care, which is a goal of the National Cancer Grid.

Dr. Indranil Mallick

Radiation Oncologist,
Tata Medical Centre, Kolkata

Dr. Indranil Mallick is a Radiation Oncologist working at Tata Medical Center, Kolkata. He specializes in cancers of the head and neck, gastrointestinal and genitourinary tract, and is responsible for the treatment of more than 600 patients a year. Dr. Mallick has a special interest in the use of modern imaging guided radiation delivery techniques. He is also an investigator of several trials looking into shorter treatment regimens with radiotherapy. He has a keen interest in automation of data extraction from patient health records and the use of machine learning and AI in improving quality of radiotherapy treatment planning and predicting outcomes of treatment. He also leads several e-learning initiatives in oncology, including the National Cancer Grid Online Education Portal which will connect more than 280+ member centers with an e-learning portal.

Dr. Manju Sengar

Prof. Medical Oncology,
Tata Memorial Hospital

Manju Sengar is a Professor Medical Oncology at the Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai. Dr. Sengar completed her training in Medical Oncology from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. She is the principal investigator for several investigator-initiated studies and has participated in industry sponsored multi-centre clinical trials. Her key clinical research interests include non-Hodgkin lymphomas in HIV/AIDS and adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

She has done her post graduate diploma in clinical trials from London School of hygiene and tropical medicine (external program). She is a recipient of American Society of Hematology visitor training program fellowship at Duke University, Durham.

Mr. Pradeep Achan

CEO,
Amrita Technologies, Cochin

Pradeep is the brain behind Amrita HIS (Amrita Hospital Informatics Suite), a complex ERP application covering clinical, administrative, and financial areas, developed by Amrita. His experience in developing operating system level software has led to the design and development of Health Care Middleware Operating System, a patent pending technology for Amrita. His primary research inclinations are in Bioinformatics. He has also guided several UG and PG projects based on his wide spectrum of interests.

Dr. Prakash Nayak

Asso.Prof / Sarcoma Surgeon,
Tata Memorial Hospital

Dr. Prakash Nayak has a Master of Surgery (M.S.) in Orthopedics and a fellowship in Musculoskeletal Oncology from the University of Toronto. He is a consultant surgeon and researcher who works full time as an Associate Professor in the department of Surgical Oncology at Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai. His research interests aside from his core surgical specialty are in data extraction from free text medical records and health technology assessment. He also serves on the Information Technology committee and the Institutional Ethics Committee at Tata Memorial Hospital, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai.

Ms. Surabhi Goel

Chief Operating Officer,
Digital Health, Koita Foundation

Surabhi brings with her more than 20 years of experience across finance, project management, operations, budgeting, branding & marketing. She has worked at large multinational organisations such as Arthur Andersen and ICICI Bank.

In the last decade, she moved to the education sector and worked with Zee Learn, where she set up their first International Baccalaureate school in Mumbai. Subsequently, she was the CEO of Aditya Birla Education Trust (schools). In this role, she led India’s prominent schools and established a Professional Development Institute for educators across the country working with more than 200,000 educators across India and the Middle East. At Koita Foundation, she is supporting the National Health Authority (NHA) in the development of digital Information Education and Communication (IEC) & Capacity Building materials essential for the roll-out ABDM along with providing supervision for other digital health initiatives.

Surabhi is a Chartered Accountant and has a master’s in commerce from the University of Mumbai.