Professor Lalit Dandona awarded the G Parthasarathi Oration

Congratulations are in order for IHME Professor Lalit Dandona who on May 6 was awarded the G Parthasarathi Oration at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST). This prestigious award recognizes Professor Dandona’s academic and research excellence. It is given in memory of Shri Gopalaswami Parthasarathi, the multi-talented diplomat, journalist, and educationist who served as the first president of SCTIMST, and who Professor Dandona says was “a visionary who could connect the various dimension of humanity and  existence to facilitate broad progress.” 

Professor Dandona’s lecture was titled “What is the Ideal Framework for Knowledge Generation and its Utilization?” “This sounds like a mouthful,” he joked before connecting GBD India studies to existential questions about how we create and use knowledge today. First, Professor Dandona presented IHME’s Global Burden of Disease work on India to show how large-scale research collaborations can inform the development of health systems and policies in India. He then put those collaborations in a wider context, arguing for the importance of integrating the scientific approach inherited from the European Enlightenment with the wisdom of traditional cultures around the globe who view humanity as an integral part of all existence. “The most important thing which, I understand, makes us do what we do is a sense of belonging,” he said. “Humans need to belong and feel part of something. Which essentially means going beyond the self.”

IHME offers its sincere congratulations, Professor Dandona, for this exciting recognition of your work!