Dr. Balram Bhargava is an Indian cardiologist, medical educationist and innovator, known for his expertise in the trade and for his social commitment. The Government of India honoured him, in 2014, by awarding his the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for his contributions to the field of medicine.[1]
Biography
There is a thinning medical pipeline in the west. Most of the manufacturing is moving to countries like India and China. The cost of production has gone up tremendously in the West and what is going to happen in the next decade or so is that countries like India, China and Israel will combine forces and work together. Innovation centres are developing in these countries and they will probably develop devices that will ultimately be accepted by the West, be partnered by the West and therefore Western companies will move to Indian soil to manufacture, says Dr. Bhargava.[2]
Dr. Balram Bhargava is reported as a leader in the field of biomedical innovations in India.[5][6][7] He was rthe force in the establishment of the Stem Cell Facility[2][8][4] at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences which was, reportedly, the first centre in the world which initiated treatment for dilated cardiomyopathy patients.[7] The centre is now poised to develop into a Centre for Excellence for Stem Cell Studies, with the assistance from the Government of India.[8]
Dr. Bhargava founded the Stanford India Biodesign Centre, the Indian chapter of the Stanford Biodesign[9][2] and is its Executive Director. The organization has set goals to promote innovators of medical technology through fellowships and also to conduct internships and events related to the area.[5] The system is supported by AIIMS, New Delhi and has Stanford University, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) and the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India as partners.[5] The programme has already yielded twenty patents on low cost medical devices.[2][4][7]
Dr. Bhargava is an evaluator of indigenous low cost cardiological stents and has developed a platinum iridium stent himself.[4] His current project is the development of a chest compression device, deemed to be useful for patients suffering sudden cardiac arrests and is funded by Wellcome Trust.[4][2]
Besides the medical contributions, Balram Bhargava is known for his social commitment.[10][11] His contributions played a part in the establishment of the Society for Less Investigative Medicine (SLIM),[12] an initiative formed to combat the excessive commercial practices prevalent in India.[13] Bhargava and his colleagues at SLIM aims to raise public awareness against the trend of unnecessary tests and excessive medical investigations.[10][11][14]
Dr. Bhargava has attended many international conferences and seminars where he has delivered keynote addresses.[15][16] He has been an invited speaker at the Cambridge Judge Business School, in November 2013, and delivered a speech on the challenge of providing affordable healthcare for all.[17][2]
^ abc"SIB". SIB. 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2014. Cite error: The named reference "SIB" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
^"IC2030". IC2030. 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
