Staff Profile

Educational Qualification

MBBS, MPH.

Personal Statement

My research activities encompass clinical research, epidemiology, and public health with a focus on tuberculosis control, nutrition, and health system strengthening. I have been involved in developing innovative diagnostic and prevention strategies, nutritional assessments, and evidence-based interventions to improve health outcomes in vulnerable populations. My vision is to advance scientific knowledge and translate research into sustainable solutions that address both communicable diseases and nutrition-related challenges. My mission is to conduct high-quality, collaborative research, build capacity, and disseminate findings that inform policy and practice, ultimately contributing to improved population health, equity, and resilience in healthcare systems.

Research Focus

A.Tuberculosis epidemiology

B.Public health

C.Nutrition

D.Surveillance

E. Digital health

Ongoing projects as Principal investigator

1

Significant Publications

1. Miraclin Thirugnanakumar A, Rajkumar P, Gunasekaran K, Mannam P, Ponnaiah M, Chethrapilly Purushothaman GK, Velmurugan A, Raj Neeravi A, Jacob JJ, Cruz SD, Singh B, Appaswamy Thirumal P, Jasper A, Mohan M, Shanmugasundaram D, Abraham A, Thangarajan S, Panicker T, Nair B, Selvakumar A, Moorthy RK, Joseph BV, Prabhu K, Reddy Sirasanambati D, Nair S, Umapathy M, Pitchamuthu K, Murugesan B, Sathyendra S, Hansdak SG, Paul H, Isaiah R, Paul P Abhilash K, Nair AV, Mathew V, Sivadasan A, Thomas MM, Aaron S, Jude Prakash JA, Chacko G, Rupali P, Solomon T, Anavarathan S, Thirumalaichiry Sivaprakasam S, Veeraraghavan B, Murhekar M. Neuromelioidosis outbreak in Tamil Nadu, India: an investigation of transmission with genomic insights. Lancet Reg Health Southeast Asia. 2025 May 21;37:100602. doi: 10.1016/j.lansea.2025.100602. PMID: 40496145; PMCID: PMC12149414.

2. Gopalan N, Santhanakrishnan RK, Palaniappan AN, et al. Daily vs Intermittent Antituberculosis Therapy for Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Patients With HIV: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2018;178(4):485–493. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.0141.

3. Padmapriyadarsini C, Sekar L, Reddy D, Chitra A, Poornagangadevi N, Selvaraj M, Bhavani PK, Mothi SN, Nandagopal K, Vennila S, Tamizhselvan M, Maheshmanisha J, Agarwal U, Rewari BB, Swaminathan S. Effectiveness of isoniazid preventive therapy on incidence of tuberculosis among HIV-infected adults in programme setting. Indian J Med Res. 2020 Dec;152(6):648-655. doi: 10.4103/ijmr.IJMR_1582_18. PMID: 34145105; PMCID: PMC8224160.

4. Velayutham B, Jawahar MS, Nair D, Navaneethapandian P, Ponnuraja C, Chandrasekaran K, Sivaramakrishnan GN, Kumar MM, Kumaran PP, Kumar SR, Baskaran D, Devaleenal DB, Sirasanambati DR, Vasantha M, Palaniyandi P, Ramachandran G, Uma Devi KR, Hannah LE, Sekar G, ... Swaminathan S. 4-month moxifloxacin containing regimens in the treatment of patients with sputum-positive pulmonary tuberculosis in South India – a randomised clinical trial. Trop Med Int Health. 2020;25(4):483-495. https://doi.org/10.1111/tmi.13371

5. Murhekar MV, Bhatnagar T, Thangaraj JWV, Saravanakumar V, Kumar MS, Selvaraju S, Rade K, Kumar CPG, Sabarinathan R, Turuk A, Asthana S, Balachandar R, Bangar SD, Bansal AK, Chopra V, Das D, Deb AK, Devi KR, Dhikav V, Dwivedi GR, Khan SMS, Kumar MS, Laxmaiah A, Madhukar M, Mahapatra A, Rangaraju C, Turuk J, Yadav R, Andhalkar R, Arunraj K, Bharadwaj DK, Bharti P, Bhattacharya D, Bhat J, Chahal AS, Chakraborty D, Chaudhury A, Deval H, Dhatrak S, Dayal R, Elantamilan D, Giridharan P, Haq I, Hudda RK, Jagjeevan B, Kalliath A, Kanungo S, Krishnan NN, Kshatri JS, Kumar A, Kumar N, Kumar VGV, Lakshmi GGJN, Mehta G, Mishra NK, Mitra A, Nagbhushanam K, Nimmathota A, Nirmala AR, Pandey AK, Prasad GV, Qurieshi MA, Reddy SD, Robinson A, Sahay S, Saxena R, Sekar K, Shukla VK, Singh HB, Singh PK, Singh P, Singh R, Srinivasan N, Varma DS, Viramgami A, Wilson VC, Yadav S, Yadav S, Zaman K, Chakrabarti A, Das A, Dhaliwal RS, Dutta S, Kant R, Khan AM, Narain K, Narasimhaiah S, Padmapriyadarshini C, Pandey K, Pati S, Patil S, Rajkumar H, Ramarao T, Sharma YK, Singh S, Panda S, Reddy DCS, Bhargava B; ICMR Serosurveillance Group. SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among the general population and healthcare workers in India, December 2020-January 2021. Int J Infect Dis. 2021 Jul;108:145-155. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2021.05.040. PMID: 34022338; PMCID: PMC8132496.

6. Paradkar M, Padmapriyadarsini C, Jain D, Shivakumar SVBY, Thiruvengadam K, Gupte AN, Thomas B, Kinikar A, Sekar K, Bharadwaj R, Dolla CK, Gaikwad S, Elilarasi S, Lokhande R, Reddy D, Murali L, Kulkarni V, Pradhan N, Hanna LE, Pattabiraman S, Kohli R, S R, Suryavanshi N, BMS, Cox SR, Selvaraju S, Gupte N, Mave V, Gupta A, Bollinger RC; CTRIUMPH-RePORT India Study Team. Tuberculosis preventive treatment should be considered for all household contacts of pulmonary tuberculosis patients in India. PLoS One. 2020 Jul 29;15(7):e0236743. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0236743. Erratum in: PLoS One. 2020 Dec 31;15(12):e0244914. PMID: 32726367; PMCID: PMC7390377.

7. Chandrasekaran Padmapriydarsini, Megha Mamulwar, Anant Mohan, Prema Shanmugam, NS Gomathy, Aarti Mane, Urvashi B Singh, Nathella Pavankumar, Abhijeet Kadam, Hemanth Kumar, Chandra Suresh, Devaraju Reddy, Poornaganga Devi, PM Ramesh, Lakshmanan Sekar, Shaheed Jawahar, RK Shandil, Manjula Singh, Jaykumar Menon, Randeep Guleria, the METRIF Team. Randomized Trial of Metformin With Anti-Tuberculosis Drugs for Early Sputum Conversion in Adults With Pulmonary Tuberculosis. Clin Infect Dis. 2022;75(3):425–434. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciab964

Research Profiles