WHO’s first chief scientist talks about her journey, interest in TB and her father MS Swaminathan

Growing up with a renowned geneticist for a father and a creative and socially responsible mother, Soumya Swaminathan practically had a set career path as a child. Today, she’s paved her own trail as the World Health Organisation’s first chief scientist, determined to revamp India’s tuberculosis programmes and prioritise digital technology to improve health care.

Until recently, she was deputy director-general of Programmes of the UN body. She has also served as secretary to the Indian government for health research and as director-general of the Indian Council of Medical Research . She is known for her research on tuberculosis at the National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis, Chennai, which she joined in 1992 and went on to head.

Swaminathan and her colleagues were among the first to scale up the use of molecular diagnostics for TB surveillance and to undertake large field trials of community-randomised strategies to deliver TB treatment to underserved populations.

As the daughter of MS Swaminathan, a geneticist regarded as the father of India’s Green Revolution for his role in developing high-yielding varieties of rice and wheat, she is no stranger to high scientific research. It was childhood trips to her father’s lab and experimental wheat fields that ignited Swaminathan’s passion in medical research, she tells SciDev.Net.

What are your plans for WHO?
I hope to further the use of science, technology and innovation in improving health care delivery. Now that people in the remotest areas of the world have mobile phones, we can leapfrog into an era of rapid information flow with virtual contact between patients and doctors.

Artificial intelligence-based health applications are increasing rapidly and there is a need for a framework for regulation, validation and prequalification – similar to the regulation of drugs, medical devices and vaccines.

WHO has a unique role in advising countries on maximising the opportunities of digital technology and in ensuring their appropriate use.

We would also like to work with research funders, ministries of health and research institutions in developing countries to foster a model of research where national priorities drive global funding flows and not vice versa.

What originally led you to the medical profession?
My love for animals led me to want to be a veterinarian. I was also very interested ingenetics and research and had enrolled for a bachelor’s degree in zoology at Delhi University. But all my classmates were preparing for the medical entrance exam so I sat for it too and entered medical school quite by chance.

Once in medical school, I was drawn to children and wanted to be able to work with those who did not have a voice. [I wanted to work] where clinical skills were important in making a correct diagnosis. I enjoyed clinical medicine but found research exciting and challenging. My love for clinical research grew at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where I took a post-doctoral fellowship in paediatric pulmonology, after which I never looked back.

Both my husband and I were very clear that, unlike other Indian doctors who trained abroad, we would return. After a year at the Leicester Royal Infirmary, UK, I returned to India in 1991. In 1992, I found my niche at the Tuberculosis Research Centre [now the National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis] in Chennai.

Why the particular interest in tuberculosis?
I found that tuberculosis was still a huge problem both in adults and children and that it accounted for a lot of respiratory ill health and mortality. At National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis, I was able to undertake multidisciplinary research, combining clinical and epidemiologic data with immunological, bacteriological and pharmacokinetic parameters – something not possible in many medical colleges at that time.

I also realised the power of research evidence being able to influence public health policy and practice. This spurred me to address questions that were relevant to India’s TB and HIV programmes in the 1990s and 2000s.

As director of the National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis, how did you make a difference in the diagnosis and treatment of TB in India?
My team and I started a TB free Chennai project in 2012 when I assumed the directorship of the National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis. The idea was to test, interpret results, and start treatment for TB all in the same day. It took a long time to take off – we had to negotiate with the government, Chennai corporation, administrators, voluntary organisations – but it is showing results now.

The randomised clinical trials that my team conducted added to the knowledge base and helped shift treatment and prevention strategies for tuberculosis in HIV-infected people in India and globally. Our other major contributions were the extensive pharmacokinetic studies in adults and children, showing the inadequacy of dosing of some anti-TB drugs, as well as documentation of drug resistance rates in adults and children with TB and demonstrating the utility of molecular diagnostics in young children.

What are your memories of growing up with your famous father?
I remember our house being full of students all the time, discussing their research work with my father in the evenings. They would take [my sisters and I] to the lab [and] the experimental wheat fields and let us accompany them on field trips. Maybe that is how I acquired my love of research.

My father spent long hours away on work, but always found time for us, [his] three daughters. We especially looked forward to his return from trips as we knew he would have presents for all of us.

Our mother was a major influence on us and instilled in us a sense of social responsibility and sensitivity to those who were less fortunate. We accompanied her to construction sites where she helped set up crèches for the children of the construction site workers...She taught us to be inquisitive, creative and bold – and to stand up for our beliefs.

Were there times when working as a woman scientist proved to be challenging?
I do not think I faced any special challenges by being a woman. We were never brought up to think that we may either face obstacles or have an easier career path based on gender. Therefore, I just focused on my work and got on with my plans. There were situations where in a room full of men, I sometimes felt I was not being taken seriously, especially when I was younger. My [male] bosses were always very supportive, however, and gave me the confidence to learn how to manage situations and hold my own.

I am happy that my journey has encouraged at least a few young women of the next generation in India and elsewhere to choose public health and research as fulfilling career paths.

This article first appeared on SciDev.Net.