Suraj is a tropical & infectious disease physician and a global health specialist based in Nepal, with research interests in infectious disease epidemiology and surveillance, antibiotic stewardship, health systems, and social determinants of health. He was a co-PI of the ‘Mortality surveillance research using Minimal Invasive Tissue Sampling (MITS) technique’ in Gandaki Province of Nepal, the study funded by the BMGF and coordinated by the RTI International. This research found a high burden of serious bacterial infections and multidrug-resistant pathogens attributing to most deaths among the adult population in both the community and hospital settings, informing the policy and program needs around infection prevention and antimicrobial stewardship in low-resource settings. He also co-leads ‘quality-of-care focused pediatric antibiotic stewardship research’ and contributes to the IHME’s ‘Global burden of disease’ studies as a national collaborator. Previously, he worked as a clinical research doctor at Patan Hospital, Kathmandu getting involved in the University of Oxford sponsored studies on childhood invasive bacterial infections and PCV vaccine impact. He received ‘ESPID Distinguished Award 2020 for Science Communication’ for raising awareness regarding various common to rare cases and evolving evidences on pediatric infectious diseases through the European Society of Pediatric Infectious Disease (ESPID) and the PID Journal social media platforms.
Suraj is very active in global health academia and networking, which is proven by his selection to become as a member of the Global Young Academy in 2018 and an Inter-Academy Partnership Young Physician Leader in 2016. He has advised the development agencies for their health projects, professional societies, policy working groups, and research funding bodies such as NIHR Global Health UK. Suraj obtained Master’s degree in Tropical Medicine and International health as well as a professional diploma in clinical tropical medicine (DTM&H) from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK. He received medical education and training in Nepal (BPKIHS) and USA.