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 relux  and pelvi uretericjunction obstruction in young children and the implications 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 COVID19 severity, Maternal vitamin A Liverstatus (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. Life Member of Indian Association of Pediatric Surgeons
2. Life Member of Pediatric Endoscopic Surgeons of India
3. Life Member of India Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition
4. Member of the Indian pancreas club
5. Fellow of Indian Association of Pediatric Surgeons

Extramural portfolios/ Committees

1. Executive member of Pediatric Nutrition Core Group IAPEN India 

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.

1. Participated in the live educational activity of the Peña Course: the 68th Workshop for the surgical treatment of  Anorectal Malformations and Hirschsprung Disease in Children held at the Children’s Hospital of Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA 
2. Completed the Indo-German Workshop on Evidence based guideline development , at the India International Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi.
3. Participant of the Harvard Medical School course on Management of Pancreatic Disorders
   for the Practicing Clinician
4. Completed the certificate course on Comprehensive Pediatric Nutrition at Dr Rela Institute and Medical Center, Chennai conducted jointly by the IAPEN core group on Pediatric Nutrition and the Pediatric Gastroenterology Foundation

Institutional portfolios/ Committees

1. 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.
2. Staff cultural committee member 2022-2025, Sports secretary 2022-2024
3. Part of Organizing committee of 5th Annual Research day SJNAHS in 2025
4. 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
5. Member of the Indian pancreas club
6. Fellow of Indian Association of Pediatric Surgeons

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 & 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 Hospital 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.  Fellow of the Indian Association of Pediatric Surgeons on 7/11/2025