Sandhya Diwakar
Country: India
Office Address:
Ms Sandhya Diwakar
Deputy Director General
Indian Council of Medical Research,
Ramalingaswami Bhawan,
Ansari Nagar, New Delhi-110029, India
E-mail: sandhyadiwakar at yahoo dot com
Phone
(O) 011-26589287
(R) 011-28033047
Education and Position:
Biologist, MSc (University of Indore, Madhya Pradesh), M.Phil (North East Hill University, Shillong, India)
Currently she is Deputy Director General in Manpower Development & Reproductive Health & Nutrition at Indian Council of Medical Research (HQ) (Apex body for funding and coordinating Medical Research in India, Ministry of Health) at New Delhi. She has published/presented research papers in the field of reproductive biology, nutrition and Capacity building
Areas of Research:
Ms Diwakar joined ICMR in 1990. Since then she is involved in research in Reproductive Biology and Nutrition. Actively co-coordinated and monitored task force and adhoc projects and fellowships in the Field of Nutrition and Basic Reproductive Biology. She has : 1. Research experience of more than four years in the field of Reproductive biology. 2. Research experience of more than seven years in the field of Nutrition. Following projects were completed:
A. Surveillance of food contaminants in India (part II).
B. The evaluation of magnitude and usage pattern of artificial synthetic colours in hard- boiled sugar confectionery.
C.The evaluation of magnitude and usage pattern of artificial synthetic colours in ice- candy and crushed ice samples.
D. Surveillance of the residues of DDT & HCH in human breast milk samples in India.
E.GOI/WHO collaborative project on development of capacity building for health care among primitive tribes.
The above-mentioned study was sponsored by the World Health Organisation and being implemented by ICMR since April 1999. Under this study, a total of 30,000 populations have been covered for each of the 14 participating districts from 7 states. These states were Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamilnadu, Tripura & Andaman & Nicobar. In addition two districts from Bihar were covered for haemoglobinophathy and viral marker studies.
Fellowships (Reproductive Health & Nutrition):
The Indian Council Medical Research awards the fellowships (SRF/RA) to young scientist to enable them to carry out research in the field of Biomedical sciences at its permanent institutes of the Council, other Biomedical research institute, Medical Colleges and Universities in India where, adequate laboratories and other facilities to carry out research are available. In the area of capacity building Reproductive Health & Nutrition (RHN), the Council has awarded 220 fellowships in the last decade, of which 37% were in Basic Reproductive Biology with maximum number of fellowships availed in male reproductive biology followed by genomics etc.
Under Division of Manpower Development involved in following (2001 onwards):
1. Actively co-coordinated and monitored
- Junior Research Fellowships (JRF) -150 /year
Coordinated & conducted National level Exam for ICMR-JRF scheme.
Preparation of notification for publication in leading national newspapers
Designing the information brochures (contents and layout etc.) for the JRF exam.
Proactively co-coordinating with academic section PGMIER Chandigarh for printing and publishing.
Back - end processing of JRF exam results and submitting for publication on ICMR web site and leading newspapers.
Processing of joining reports, release of funds, annual progress reports, up gradations and any other related issues.
Developed and maintained Information system / data bank on Junior Research Fellowships for the Long term Benefit of the Council. This will not only generate information on Fields /Subjects, Topics and the Institution/ Infrastructure in which these fellowships are being pursued but also help us in stream lining the fellowships to the institutions, which are poorly represented.
2. Screening & processing of MD/MS/MCH/ thesis for providing financial assistance in priority areas of Biomedical Research -50 slots/year
3. MD-PhD. Programme (25 slots/year) to identify brilliant Graduates for post-graduate studies and later absorb them in research cadre.
4. Short Term Visiting Fellowship - 50 per year The objective of the award of the Short Term Visiting Fellowship is to provide an opportunity to a scientist employed in a Medical College, Research Institute, University etc. and actually engaged in research in the field of biomedical sciences to learn advanced research techniques/methods in use in other institutes in India.
5. Other Training/Skill Development Programmes
