India News | Dr Gangakhedkar, the Face of ICMR During COVID-19 Pandemic, Retires
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar, who had become the face of ICMR during government briefings to media on the coronavirus pandemic, retired as the head of epidemiology and communicable diseases at the apex health research body on Tuesday.
New Delhi, Jun 30 (PTI) Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar, who had become the face of ICMR during government briefings to media on the coronavirus pandemic, retired as the head of epidemiology and communicable diseases at the apex health research body on Tuesday.
He will now join the prestigious Dr CG Pandit National Chair at the Indian Council of Medical Research and will assist the research body from Pune, an ICMR official said.
Dr Gangakhedkar represented ICMR in national press briefings and updated journalists on research developments related to COVID-19 in India by breaking down complex scientific data to make them easier for the general public to understand.
"He is an excellent philosopher, thinker, researcher, scientist and a great human being," Dr Balram Bhargava, the director-general of ICMR, said.
He also played an important role in the research on HIV/AIDS and made a significant contribution in developing national policies and patient empowerment.
Dr Gangakhedkar was the director-incharge of the National AIDS Research Institute (NARI), Pune, before he moved to the ICMR headquarters in Delhi.
During his approximately four-year stint with ICMR, he was instrumental in formulation of policies to handle the Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala in 2018 and recently for the COVID-19 pandemic.
He was awarded Padma Shri in 2020 for his service and his research on HIV/AIDS.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)