The group of doctoral & research students (From right to Left: Supriya, Amruta, Prajkta, Dr. Kar, Pooja, Kalyani, Charuta, Sumedha & Shweta)
Birth Defects Research Foundation, Pune is a continuation of the two-and-a-half-decade-long work initiated at the School of Health Sciences, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune India.
Our research focuses on understanding the epidemiology and public health implications of birth defects in India, with the goal of suggesting components for a low-cost, contextual, people-centric and ethical birth defects service. When the research initiated in 2000, there was low public health interest in these conditions, as they were considered to be rare and too debilitating to constitute a public health problem. In 2013 the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram was launched, which included screening and early intervention for selected birth defects and developmental disabilities. Despite the RBSK, services are insufficient, and the distress of parents remains invisible.
|
Projects Ongoing and Completed |
|
|
1. |
Population prevalence of congenital disorders and disabilities among children under 5 in a rural area in Pune district, India 
|
|
2. |
Barriers and Facilitators to Rehabilitative Care for Children with selected Birth Defects and Disabilities (Ongoing) |
|
3. |
A scoping review of risk of bias in studies on birth prevalence of congenital anomalies from countries of Southeast Asia |
|
Selected Publications |
|
|
1. |
Dharmarajan, S, & Kar, A. (2023). Prevalence of beta thalassemia carriers in India: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Community Genetics, 14(6) 527-541 |
|
2. |
Wimmelbücker L and Kar A.(2022) History of thalidomide in India. Medical History 67(3), 228-246 |
|
3. |
Kar A, Dhamdhere D, Medhekar A (2023) “Fruits of our past karma”: a qualitative study on knowledge and attitudes about congenital anomalies among women in Pune district. India. J. Community Genet 14: 429-438. |
Team birth defects research group
Dr. Anita Kar
Founder - DirectorTrained in the field of human genetics, public health and epidemiology, her research in the field of birth defects initiated at the School of Health Sciences of Pune University, India, where she was the Professor and Director for many years. In addition to her interest in understanding the epidemiology, public health implications and the development of a public health model for birth defects, Dr Kar was responsible for developing the first University Grants Commission approved Master of Public Health programme in the country. She has developed the global health field course that is being offered from the School to students from across the world.
Download CV
Prof. Pramod Khandekar
AdvocacyProf. Pramod Khandekar retired as Professor of Biotechnology from Pune University. He brings his skills as a science communicator, together with health and wellness education including yogasana to the Birth Defects Centres activities.
Bhagyashree Radhakrishnan
Research Associate & ManagerBhagyashree has a Masters degree in Health Sciences and is the Research Associate and Manager of the NGO. Her research has focussed on uptake of medical services and compliance to rehabilitation advice by caregivers of children with birth defects and developmental disabilities diagnosed by the RBSK service. Additionally, she has experience in the field of journal publishing.
Dr. Sumedha Dharmarajan
Research AffiliateDr. Sumedha Dharmarajan is an expert in epidemiology and human genetics. She combines laboratory, epidemiological and data analytical skills to investigate congenital disorders.
Aishwarya Medhekar MPH
Advocacy, Content DeveloperAishwarya is a public health researcher with a background in genetics and molecular biology. She has been associated with the Centre since its inception as an intern where she was responsible for collating the data for the Parents Information Kiosk. As a researcher, she conducted a qualitative study on knowledge on congenital anomalies among urban women. She is an active volunteer, engaged in disseminating data on birth defects among stakeholders.