Priyadarshi Soumyaranjan Sahu
Chapter Affiliation
Membership-at-Large
Statement
As a Sigma Xi ‘Full Member’ I'm honored to have this opportunity to serve as the Associate Director in Canadian and International Constituency. This is an important responsibility that I look forward to fulfilling to the best of my competencies. I have been aware of Sigma Xi for over 2 decades i.e., since starting my PhD project. Through the years, I have recommended many of my colleagues and students to read American Scientist to broaden their perspectives and participate in various scientific and networking activities. I have also introduced candidates to join Sigma Xi. I am always open to accepting additional responsibilities to serve more for this prestigious scientific society. My work over the past many years as an educator and researcher gives me a good overview of the state of science and technology and the main challenges that must be addressed. In the past, I had the chance to serve on research boards and committees during my career at different levels mainly from my employment in different organizations.
As Associate Director (Canadian and International Constituency) representing the ‘Membership at Large Group’, I would work closely with the Director and help develop further and implement new advocacy strategies, especially to nurture and grow the coming generations of scientists. At the current stages of an exponential explosion of new inter- and cross-disciplinary problems, we need to identify further what Sigma Xi can provide as a catalyst for success. I hope to be able to further add to Sigma Xi's new ideas to spur future science while aimed at supporting our future researchers! I will try my best to meet the professional ethics and scientific integrity standards of Sigma Xi throughout my tenure and beyond.
Biography
Dr. Sahu is a Medical Microbiologist and Immunologist with many years of experience in academics, research, clinical laboratory services, and consultancy. He completed his Master’s in Microbiology with a Gold medal, followed by a Ph.D. in the Faculty of Medicine – Microbiology (2006) from Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (India). After this, Dr. Sahu relocated to the USA and started working as a post-doctoral fellow in a neuroimmunology laboratory at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He is trained and approved by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta (USA), to work in a high-security containment facility (Division of Select Agents and Toxins).
Subsequently, he accepted a teaching position and has since undertaken various academic positions. So far, he has worked in different countries in Asia and the Americas. In the year 2016, he obtained a visiting fellowship from the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University (USA), and has also visited JHU’s study centers in South America. He has been teaching students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels in medicine as well as other health science course programs. Now, he is a professor (full) teaching pre-clinical medicine at the Medical University of the Americas at Nevis. He is primarily attached to the Microbiology and Immunology department.
Dr. Sahu has been associated with many international research networks, associations, and/or scientific societies. He is recognized as an expert in the field of Neglected tropical diseases (cysticercosis) by the World Health Organization (Western Pacific Region). He has also been listed under the Welcome Trust Research Funding Panel of Reviewers. He has been engaged in reviewing and/or editorial activities for many scientific peer-reviewed international journals. He is a Country Ambassador of the American Society of Microbiology beginning January 2023, and an Honorary Mentor of the ASM Future Leaders Mentorship Fellowship Program (till 2026). He is the recipient of the "Springer-Parija South-East Asia Award of the Indian Academy of Tropical Parasitology (IATP) " for the year 2023 for excellence in research in tropical infectious diseases. To support his research he has successfully obtained external grants from Melinda Gates Foundation (part funding, Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (Malaysia), Indian Council of Medical Research, etc.
Qualifications:
• PhD in Microbiology (Faculty of Medicine)- Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research, Puducherry, India
• Postdoctoral fellowship- South Texas Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases, University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas, USA
• Visiting Fellowship- Bloomberg School of Public Health, John Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA