Meet India's Soumya Swaminathan, second in command in WHO's new team

She was part of the committee that drafted the surrogacy bill, which was passed by the union cabinet in 2016

Scientist and Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) chief Dr Soumya Swaminathan has been appointed as the deputy director general of the World Health Organisation (WHO). This means she is the second in command in the organisation.

Swaminathan has been keenly involved with the ICMR to bring in industry participation in medical research. Some of Swaminathan's interest areas have been tuberculosis (TB) and other lung diseases, especially drug-resistant tuberculosis. 

After completing her MBBS from AFMC, Pune, she did MD in pediatrics from AIIMS, New Delhi. Further training included a fellowship in neonatology and pediatric pulmonology at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles,