Dr. Suneeta Krishnan, a social epidemiologist at RTI International, has been nominated to the World Health Organization’s Gender and Rights Advisory Panel.

The Indian American will be one of 12 panel members serving a three-year term.

The Gender and Rights Advisory Panel was set up in 1996 with the mandate to examine the Department of Reproductive Health and Research’s work from a gender equality and human rights perspective, and to give guidance on these issues in the field of sexual and reproductive health.

The views and recommendations of the panel are presented to the department’s Scientific and Technical Advisory Group that reviews research and technical support activities and recommends priorities for the Department’s future work.

Krishnan is a social epidemiologist specializing in community-based research in developing countries. For more than a decade, she has conducted research that aims to uncover the pathways through which gender inequalities lead to adverse health outcomes and health disparities and to develop and test interventions that promote health and gender equity.

Her studies focus on the intersections between gender inequalities, violence, and women’s health over the life course.

She has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, private foundations, and the World Bank to conduct research on gender-based power and prevention of intimate partner violence, HIV, cervical cancer, and other adverse women’s health outcomes, and to provide technical assistance for the development, implementation, and evaluation of women’s health promotion programs.

Krishnan holds a doctorate and master’s degree in epidemiology from the University of California at Berkeley. She is currently based in India and is RTI India’s technical lead. Krishnan is also associate director of RTI’s recently launched Global Gender Center.

In recognition of her research and community service, Krishnan a 2004 U.S. Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

Krishnan has authored or co-authored book chapters, peer reviewed journal articles and technical reports focused on violence against women, HIV/AIDS, and gender inequities.

Source: IndiaWest

The US Senate has confirmed an Indian-American Arun M Kumar to a key administration post that would make him responsible for foreign trade.

“I am pleased that the US Senate has confirmed Arun Kumar as Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Director General of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service at the International Trade Administration (ITA),” Commerce Secretary, Penny Pritzker, said.

“In this role, he will lead the agency’s efforts to assist and dvocate for US companies in international markets. Promoting US trade and investment is crucial to remaining globally competitive, which is a key priority of our ‘Open for Business Agenda’,” the Commerce Secretary said.

The nomination of Mr Kumar, till recently a partner and member of the Board of Directors at KPMG LLP, was confirmed by the Senate by a voice vote.

From 2005 until his retirement in September 2013, Mr Kumar led the firm’s West Coast Finance Management Consulting practice.

He also led the firm’s US-India practice from 2007 to 2013. Mr Kumar joined KPMG in 1995 as a Finance Management Leader.

From 1993 to 1995, he was the founder and CEO of Planning & Logic, Inc, a software company.

Mr Kumar received a Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of Kerala in India, and an SM in Management from the Sloan School of Management, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US.

Source: NDTV