MEET ICARS’ NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DR. SUJITH J CHANDY
“The world is hurtling towards a very dangerous precipice and what we saw with COVID-19 is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the long-term view of what we will see with antimicrobial resistance.
November 2022 - By Sephy Valuks
“The time to build connections across movements is now, not during a crisis, and this is going to be key in Low- and Middle -Income Countries.” 1
Ahead of his official appointment in spring 2023, ICARS’ Communications Officer Sephy Valuks spoke with Sujith about his career journey and how it has equipped him to lead ICARS to achieve its ambitious strategic goals Sujith’s journey to ICARS is a fascinating one. When I had the pleasure of interviewing him in mid-October 2022, he sat in his office at the Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore where he is currently Professor and Head of the Department of Pharmacology & Clinical Pharmacology. CMC has clearly made a great impact on Sujith – it’s where he studied his Bachelor of Medicine (MBBS) and became a Doctor of Medicine (MD), taught Pharmacology for many years, transformed the hospital’s large Department of Pharmacy, and built life-long relationships with students outside of the classroom participating in extra-curricular events and directing the college choir. Reflecting on the philosophy of CMC he said: “In our institution we truly believe that you can’t just study medicine and expect to be a good doctor, you have to develop yourself holistically.” The same sentiment seems to have been threaded through Sujith’s diverse career tackling the problem of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). He was introduced to the issue of rational use of antimicrobials by the late Prof. Molly Thomas, his teacher at CMC Vellore, and to the importance of monitoring antimicrobial use (AMU) and resistance by Dr Kathleen Holloway, who visited CMC from WHO to set up a project about the challenges of antibiotic surveillance in Low- and Middle-Income
Countries. The project involved looking at antibiotic use in over 50,000 patients, in rural and urban settings. Sujith’s involvement in the project exposed him to the realities of the relationship between AMR and antimicrobial use (AMU) and the specific challenges faced in low-resource settings. With a growing interest in AMR, he then became involved in many more AMR projects, one of which was a qualitative research project which opened his eyes to the challenges faced by healthcare professionals operating in a competitive and low resource setting as well as the AMR awareness gap amongst the public. Reflecting on that time he remembered “many in the community didn’t know the difference between viruses and bacteria, and that antibiotics only work on the latter. Others would request an antibiotic injection for a fever believing it to be more ‘powerful’ than capsules. Meanwhile healthcare providers worried that if they don’t give an antibiotic, patients will just go next door.” A defining moment, which he described “as the spark that started the fire” was joining a meeting about AMR in Uppsala, Sweden, with key stakeholders from across the globe and international agencies such as the WHO, which ultimately became the founding moment of the ReAct group. Later, he also had the privilege of completing a PhD at the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, focusing on ‘Antibiotic Use and Resistance’. Subsequently in 2016, Sujith was approached by ReAct to lead the Asia Pacific node, which he says for the past six years has “been an eye opener to the challenges and
INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE SOLUTIONS
opportunities in intertwining the facets of science, societal issues and public health challenges, while deliberating the practical implementation issues in AMR.” So why is ICARS next then? According to Sujith: “the world is hurtling towards a very dangerous precipice and what we saw with COVID-19 is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the long-term view of what we will see with AMR. But, as usual, the world has woken up rather late, and needs to urgently surmount the often faceless, silent, but rapidly moving phenomenon of AMR.” ICARS therefore has a huge challenge ahead, keeping the momentum for tackling AMR going, sparking a movement, and at the same time clearly articulating the possible solutions – a challenge Sujith believes ICARS will be equipped to tackle. As an ‘international centre’, he sees that ICARS is uniquely placed to deal with global and national issues alongside local projects, and be the meeting point for civil society, governments, professional associations, one health stakeholders, funders and the public. In addition, ICARS’ solutionsfocused approach recognizes that siloed approaches are not enough, and efforts to mitigate AMR must be multi-sectoral, cost-effective, contextspecific and sustainable. Sujith envisions “ICARS becoming a fundamental AMR player that engages LMICs, advises and supports diverse stakeholders, including governments and policymakers, and utilizes its convening power to build an active AMR movement.” Partnership is a critical component
for ICARS’ success. In our conversation, Sujith painted a multi-dimensional picture of partnership which operates vertically top-down and bottom-up, horizontally across sectors and countries, diagonally matching funders with on the ground challenges, and finally moving forwards and backwards, mapping out future directions to not lose gains already made through lessons learnt. This final point about ensuring a forward momentum means reaching out to our partners of the future now, even those we don’t necessarily associate with AMR. Sujith said “I strongly believe that AMR is an issue which transcends multiple disciplines and sectors. For example, the relationship between AMR, climate change and environment need to be explored further with inter-disciplinary discussions, since the heightened risk of disease and infections in particular may affect homes, livelihoods and health systems. The time to build those connections across movements is now, not during a crisis, and this is going to be key in LMICs.” Apart from these broad discussions about the challenges of AMR and ICARS role in mitigating it, we also dove into the key responsibilities of the Executive Director role. Sujith emphasized the role of a leader in valuing each person, sharing ideas and strategies amongst each other, and encouraging everyone to optimize their potential towards a clear shared goal. In addition to leading the team and engaging closely with the Board of Directors, Sujith will lead the ICARS Strategic Advisory Forum, which will bring together ICARS partners to discuss our strategic direction
and opportunities. With experience of being a member of the WHO STAG, and earlier on the SEARO AMR Taskforce and as a board member of the Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network (EPN), he looks forward to convening varied perspectives and experiences, uniting them with a shared passion towards tackling the problem of AMR. “By bringing together people with a common goal, who can discuss their experience, perspectives, and ideas… things move forward, history tells us that… If you can really understand the reality and challenges on the ground, you start thinking about feasible and sustainable solutions, and with small steps in the right direction, change starts to happen.” Over the coming months, Sujith will be preparing for his move to Copenhagen. We look forward to him formally joining us in spring 2023.
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