Soumya Swaminathan

Soumya Swaminathan (born 2 May 1959) is an Indian paediatrician and clinical scientist known for her research on tuberculosis and HIV. Soumya served as Secretary to the Government of India for Health Research and Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (2015–2017), where she prioritized evidence-based health policy, research capacity building in medical schools, and strengthening south-south partnerships in health sciences. From October 2017 to March 2019, she was the deputy director general of programmes (DDP) at the World Health Organization. Subsequently till 2022, she served as the chief scientist at the World Health Organization under the leadership of Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Early life and education Soumya Swaminathan was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Soumya is the daughter of "Father of Green Revolution of India", M. S. Swaminathan and Indian educationalist Mina Swaminathan. Soumya has two siblings, Madhura Swaminathan, a professor of economics at the Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore, and Nitya Rao, a professor of gender and development at the University of East Anglia.

Soumya received an M.B.B.S. from the Armed Forces Medical College in Pune. She has an M.D. in pediatrics from All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. She is a Diplomate of National Board from National Board of Examinations. As part of her training, from 1987 to 1989 Soumya completed a post-doctoral medical fellowship in neonatology and pediatric pulmonology at the Children's Hospital Los Angeles at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

Career Early career From 1989 to 1990, Soumya was a research fellow (registrar) in the Department of Pediatric Respiratory Diseases at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom.

She then worked as a senior research officer (Supernumerary Research Cadre), Cardiopulmonary Medicine Unit, as well as an adjunct associate clinical professor at the Department of Public Health and Family Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine in Massachusetts.

In 1992, Soumya joined the National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis a/k/a Tuberculosis Research Centre, where she was Coordinator, Neglected Tropical Diseases. She later became the director of the National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis.

Career with WHO From October 2017 to March 2019, Soumya was deputy director-general of the World Health Organization.

In the preparations for the Global Health Summit hosted by the European Commission and the G20 in May 2021, Soumya was a member of the event's High Level Scientific Panel.

Starting April 1, 2025, she will be serving as one of NUS Board of Trustees.

Selected research Soumya's areas of interest are paediatric and adult tuberculosis (TB), epidemiology and pathogenesis, and the role of nutrition in HIV-associated TB.

While at the National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis in Chennai, Soumya started a multi-disciplinary group of clinical, laboratory and behavioural scientists studying various aspects of TB and TB/HIV. Soumya along with her colleagues were among the first to scale up the use of molecular diagnostics for TB surveillance and care, to undertake large field trials of community-randomised strategies to deliver TB treatment to underserved populations. She was part of the TB Zero City Project which aimed to create "Islands of elimination" working with local governments, institutions and grassroots associations.

In 2021, Soumya was also appointed to the Pandemic Preparedness Partnership (PPP), an expert group chaired by Patrick Vallance to advise the G7 presidency held by the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Other activities Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), member of the board of directors (since 2023) Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, Member of the Board Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), non-voting member of the board (until 2022), voting member of the board (since 2023) GISAID, Member of the SAC Nomination Committee (since 2023) Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP), non-voting member of the board of directors Global Coalition Against TB, member of the expert group WomenLift Health, member of the global advisory board Advisor, Resource Group for Education and Advocacy for Community Health (REACH)

Awards 2016: AstraZeneca Research Endowment Award, presented by the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, S.A.S. Nagar

2026: She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). She is the second Indian woman to be inducted into the academy and India's first father-daughter duo to receive the honor.

Personal life Soumya is married to Ajit Yadav, an orthopedic surgeon. The couple has a daughter, Shreya Yadav.

Selected works and publications