Prof. Shinjini Bhatnagar is a physician scientist with a MBBS from Lady Hardinge Medical College, (University of Delhi), a post-graduation in Pediatrics and a Ph.D. (Pediatrics) from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. She worked with the Dept. of Pediatrics at AIIMS for 25 years as a pediatric gastroenterologist and a physician scientist. Her group’s hypothesis driven research led to the introduction of several interventions in the management of acute and persistent childhood diarrhea such as dietary algorithms, modified low osmolarity ORS and zinc. These were incorporated as part of the national and global policy. She led the development of diagnostic tests for Celiac disease that were introduced in the market for clinical use. She moved to the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), an autonomous institute of the Dept. of Biotechnology GOI as a founder faculty. She was the Dean Clinical Research for 6 years and is currently a Distinguished Professor at THSTI where she heads large interdisciplinary research studies that bridge classical clinical research and modern biology to find solutions for diseases with public health importance in maternal and child health. One example is the Garbh-ini (an interdisciplinary group for advanced research on birth outcomes- DBT India initiative) programme that has a mandate to find innovative accessible solutions for preterm birth, fetal growth restriction and other adverse birth outcomes.
To fulfill the mission of conducting large translational programs she has established stable clinical partnership programs by linking basic science and clinical departments across district and tertiary hospitals and research institutes. She advises on the MEDtech innovation program in the School of Diagnostic innovation in Biodesign (SiB) at THSTI, where she mentors innovators on the Bio design process of clinical immersion and health care product development. Her leadership has facilitated the MSc. Clinical Research programme at THSTI among others. Prof. Bhatnagar is a fellow of all the four national academies (FASc, FNA, FNAMS and FNASc) and has been awarded prestigious research awards (Dr. S.T Achar Gold Medal, Hotam Tomar Gold Medal, Shri. Har Bhagwan Kumar Oration) for her work in child health.
