Patient recruitment and intervention is undertaken in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and United Kingdom.
Devki Devi Foundation is the sole recruiting institution in India, whilst University of Colombo and University of Kelaniya share recruitment targets and responsibilities in Sri Lanka and SIMS and Punjab Institute of Cardiology in Pakistan.
Devki Devi Foundation
Dr. Sujeet Jha
Director-Institute of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism
Max Healthcare Inst. Ltd.
New Delhi, India
Principal Investigator
Dr Sujeet Jha is Devki Devi Foundation’s Principal Investigator and Director of the Institute of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism at Max Healthcare.
Dr Jha graduated from Bihar, India in 1994 and moved to England in 1996, where he completed his post graduate training in Diabetes at the University of Brighton and obtained his MRCP at the Royal College of Physicians.
Dr Jha is a member of the American Diabetes Association and the Endocrine Society USA. He has a number of publications on diabetes in high impact journals and is involved in clinical trials and research studies. Dr Jha launched “Diabetes Junction” and Telemedicine Diabetes Programme which is a unique and specialized line for individualized healthcare.
Mr Rajesh Saxena
Assistant General Manager
Clinical Research- Operations
Max Healthcare Inst. Ltd.
New Delhi – India
Regional Project Coordinator
Mr Rajesh Saxena is the Regional Coordinator of the iHealth-T2D project. He is responsible for the operations and management of the fieldwork sites.
Mr Saxena has approximately 20 years of experience in Clinical Research-Operations, Data Management, Project Implementation, and Training -Development. He is currently collaborating with Max Healthcare Institute Limited as Assistant General Manager, Clinical Research-Operations. Mr Saxena’s role in the organization has ranged from assisting in shaping the first Office of Research to coordinating the opening of 12 Max Healthcare group hospitals.
Mr Saxena has an MBA in Operations. He is currently managing research projects and involved as Co-guide / Supervisor for a master’s degree course.
Mrs Manju Panda
Senior Diabetes Educator, Nutritionist and Diabetes Services Program
Manager at MAX Health Care New Delhi, India.
Senior Diabetes Educator
Mrs Manju Panda is the senior Nutritionist for the iHeath-T2D project. Her role in the project is to provide insight in the development of dietary protocols and manuals for the project.
Mrs Panda graduated from Delhi University and has a postgraduate degree from Indira Gandhi University Delhi. She has 20 years’ experience as a Nutritionist and Diabetes counsellor. She worked closely with Dr MMS Ahuja, known as the father of Endocrinology (AIIMS), and she is currently working with Dr Sujeet Jha (Director, Institute of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism). Manju Panda is also actively involved in Research Projects and is Co-guide of a master’s degree course.
She has a number of Posters and Publications in National and International Conferences and journals and vast experience in Gestational Diabetes Management. Manju Panda is member of Delhi Diabetes Forum (DDF), Indian Society of Bone and Mineral Research and India Diabetes Educators Association.
Ms. Samreen Siddiqui
Assistant Manager-Clinical Research (Operations)
Office of Research
Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket
New Delhi, India
Site Coordinator
Ms Samreen Siddiqui is the site coordinator and will be providing extensive support throughout the iHealth-T2D project.
Samreen Siddiqui graduated from Delhi University and completed her master’s degree in Clinical Research from Jamia Hamdard University, New Delhi, India in 2012. She is currently a member of the Indian Society for Clinical Research (ISCR) and a PhD candidate at Max Hospital under the supervision of Dr Sujeet Jha. Her research topic is “Identification of GCK mutations and its Clinical correlation with Gestational Diabetes”.
University of Colombo
Dr Prasad Katulanda
Endocrinologist and Senior Lecturer
University of Colombo
Sri Lanka
Principal Investigator
Dr Prasad Katulanda is the Principal Investigator at University of Colombo. He is responsible for the overall supervision of the project and scientific monitoring.
Prasad Katulanda is an Endocrinologist and Senior Lecturer at the University of Colombo, with interests in chronic Non-Communicable Diseases and risk factors, clinical research in diabetes and genetics of diabetes in Asians.
He is also part of the group of consultant physicians running the Professorial Medical Unit of the National Hospital of Sri Lanka and supervisor of several candidates of research degrees.
Dr Godwin Roger Constantine
Cardiologist
University of Colombo
Sri Lanka
Co-Investigator
Godwin Constantine is Co-Investigator at the University of Colombo and will provide support in leading the project and suggesting scientific approaches.
He is a Cardiologist at the National Hospital, Colombo, Head of the Department of Clinical Medicine, and senior lecturer at the University of Colombo.
Dr Gaya Katulanda
Chemical Pathologist
University of Colombo
Sri Lanka
Chemical Pathologist
Dr Gaya Katulanda is a Chemical Pathologist for iHealth-T2D and will provide advice on assay standardisation.
Gaya is currently a Chemical Pathologist at the Medical Research Institute, Ministry of Health.
Dr Ranil Jayawardhana
Nutritionist
Faculty of Medicine
University of Colombo
Sri Lanka
Nutritionist
Dr Ranil Jayawardhana is the senior lecturer and nutrition specialist at the University of Colombo. He will be responsible for the adaptation of dietary documents to the local population and for coordination of actions for community education on food and nutrition.
He has several years of experience as a weight management specialist and clinical researcher. His main clinical and research interest is dietary interventions on non-communicable diseases.
Ms Achini Weerasinghe
Regional Clinical Trial Coordinator
University of Colombo
Sri Lanka
Regional Trial Coordinator
Ms Achini Weerasinghe is the Regional Trial Coordinator at the University of Colombo. She is responsible for the field level monitoring and for project management, including design and conduct of clinical trials.
Achini has a Master’s degree in Sociology and is qualified in Human Resources. She has vast experience in implementing research programmes, in community capacity building, in leadership training, and in health programmes.
University of Kelaniya
Prof AR Wickremasinghe
Professor of Public Health
University of Kelaniya
Sri Lanka
Principal Investigator
Prof AR Wickremasinghe is University of Kelaniya’s Principal Investigator and Professor of Public Health at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Kelaniya.
He is an epidemiologist and a biostatistician with an outstanding publication profile. He is widely experienced in the conduct of multi-centre collaborative epidemiological studies. His research interests involve tropical diseases including malaria, non-communicable diseases, nutrition, disability and health policy.
Dr Anuradhani Kasturiratne
Senior Lecturer
University of Kelaniya
Sri Lanka
Senior Lecturer
Dr Anuradhani Kasturiratne is responsible for the supervision of the study and is expected to provide insight knowledge throughout the project.
She is a Senior Lecturer in Public Health at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya. She has experience in the conduct of multi-centre collaborative research. Her research interests are non-communicable diseases, health economics, health systems and medical education.
Dr B Kumarendran
Lecturer
University of Kelaniya
Sri Lanka
Lecturer
Dr B Kumarendran will be involved in the management of iHealth-T2D at University of Kelaniya.
He is Lecturer in Public Health at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya. His research interests are non-communicable diseases, Maternal and Child Health, parasitic diseases and health systems.
Dr Lathika Athauda
Lecturer
University of Kelaniya
Sri Lanka
Lecturer
Dr Lathika Athauda plays an important role in the adaptation of the intervention to the local context.
She is Lecturer in Public Health at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya. Her research interests are non-communicable diseases, nutrition, adolescent health and health policy.
Services Institute of Medical Sciences
Dr Khadija Irfan Khawaja
Professor Khadija Irfan is Associate Professor and Head of Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism
Services Institute of Medical Sciences
Lahore, Pakistan
Principal Investigator
Khadija Irfan is SIMS’s Principal Investigator. She is responsible for overall supervision of the project, academic leadership, ethics submission, quality control, scientific decision making, overseeing selection and training of centre and field staff and management of the satellite centres and field sites.
Dr Saira Buney
Consultant Endocrinologist and Diabetologist
Services Institute of Medical Sciences
Lahore, Pakistan
Departmental Liaison
Dr Saira Buney is SIMS’s co-investigator and the departmental main contact point. She supports Professor Khadija Irfan and acts as deputy in her absence. Saira is responsible for overall supervision of the project at SIMS and provides academic input into the study documents and training material.
Saira is a Consultant Endocrinologist and Diabetologist with over 7 years’ experience in the field of Diabetes and Endocrinology. She’s been working as a Senior Registrar since 2008 at the Department of Endocrinology & Metabolism (DEM), Services Hospital, Lahore. Clinical research in diabetes forms a major part of the practice at DEM ever since its inception and the centre has collaborated in the past in several international trials in diabetes.
Saira Burney has several publications in international journals. She is also member of the Editorial Board for the Pancreas-Open Journal (POJ).
Dr Sara Mahmood
Research Coordinator
Services Institute of Medical Sciences
Lahore, Pakistan
Research Coordinator
Dr. Sara is a young doctor building her career in teaching and research. She did M.B.B.S and then M.Phil. in Biochemistry with a research thesis on Gestational Diabetes. She is also pursuing M.Sc. in Food and Nutrition. She has almost 5 years’ experience of teaching Biochemistry to Medical College Students and of delivering health workshops at local Self Development Centers.
As a Research Coordinator, Sara Mahmood will be working under the general direction of the Lead Investigator to provide the overall coordination of this multi-site project. She will participate in planning of sites identification, recruitments, ethics application, trial methods description, system maintenance, reporting on study progress and managing study documentation.
Miss Syeda Tayyaba Batool
Dietitian
Services Institute of Medical Sciences
Lahore, Pakistan
Dietitian
Miss Tayyaba Batool has an M.Sc. in Food and Nutrition. She has over three years’ experience in educating and counseling patients with diabetes from different economic backgrounds.
As a dietitian in the project, Miss Tayyaba works with the lead dietician to adapt the lifestyle modification protocols for use in the local population and to provide training and support to Community Health Workers in delivery of the family-based healthy lifestyle intervention to study participants. She is also responsible to ensure quality control by attending some lifestyle intervention sessions in real time, to ensure that they are being delivered as laid out in the project manual.
Mr Rashid Mahmood
Accountant/Office Manager
Services Institute of Medical Sciences
Lahore, Pakistan
Accountant/Office Manager
Mr Rashid Mahmood has a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) Finance. He has 9 years’ experience of working in government hospital of SIMS as Office Manager where he maintained all office services, by organizing operations and procedures. In particular he was responsible for the maintenance of the financial record of the different research projects and the departmental accounts.
As an Accountant/Office Manager in the project, Mr Rashid is expected to monitor, analyse and record all budgetary and financial information of the project. He is also expected to store all the site documents as detailed in the project’s Standard Operation Procedure and responsible for all study correspondence. He will also be responsible for organizing the administrative activities at the office level.
London North West Healthcare
Mrs Baldeesh Rai BSc Hons RD MBDA
Specialist Cardiac Dietitian
Ealing Hospital (Northwest London Healthcare Trust)
Consultant Dietitian – HEART UK
London – UK
Specialist Cardiac Dietitian
Mrs Baldeesh Rai is a nutritionist and dietitian by profession. Her role in the project will be to provide insight in the development of suitable materials and in the practical delivery of the diet intervention. She will also be involved in the training of the community health care workers.
Baldeesh has over 30 years of experience in the field of Nutrition and dietetics specialising in working with the South Asian community in the UK. She has been managing family based weight management and lifestyle programmes for “at risk” South Asian patients for over 12 years and is the Lead for South Asian projects at HEART UK. She was one of the lead dietitians on the Social cooking project in 2007, 2009 and again in 2011-2013, funded by the British Heart Foundation which aimed to reduce the amount of salt and saturated fat used in social cooking in Sikh Gurdwaras and Hindu Mandirs and has contributed to several diet publications for Diabetes UK, specifically for the South Asian community.
Baldeesh has written several articles on topics related to South Asian diets for Dietetic journals and has done presentations at dietetic conferences on “getting the message across” to the South Asian community in the UK, a population with specific cultural, social and dietary habits.
She is the co-author of a book published in October 2015 on lowering cholesterol entitled: 4 Steps to Lower Cholesterol and is the author and co-author of a wide range of diet related fact sheets and recipes on HEART UK’s website.