GHI One Health Center-India

The UW-Madison Global Health Institute (GHI) joined campus partners in India for a Badger Utsav Sunday, February 5, 2023, to celebrate Badgers Building a Better World. GHI was joined by both Dr. Krishna Ella, who is a GHI Board of Visitors Member as well as Co-founder & Executive Chairman of Bharat Biotech and Co-founder of the Ella Foundation, and his wife, Suchitra Ella, who is Co-founder and Managing Director of Bharat Biotech and also Co-founder of the Ella Foundation.

During the Utsav event, GHI Director Dr. Jorge Osorio and Dr. Ella signed a bi-lateral agreement to establish the first ever “UW-Madison One Health Center” in Bangalore, India (pictured above). The Center is expected to be operational by end of 2023.

Policymaker panel at Badger Utsav

The Utsav also featured two panels to discuss global health and impact. The first featured India policymakers and was introduced by Wisconsin Foundation & Alumni Association Managing Director Lora Klenke and moderated by Dr. Jorge Osorio and Dr. Krishna Ella. The panel included Secretary, Department of Biotechnology Dr. Rajesh Gokhale; Secretary, Department of Science & Technology Dr. S Chandrasekhar; and Secretary (DARE) & Director General (ICAR) Dr. Himanshu Pathak, and Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Executive Director Erik Iverson (see above).

UW Alumni Panel at Badger Utsav; guest sitting on stage with red and white flowers and a red backdrop
UW Alumni Panel at Badger Utsav

The other panel featured UW-Madison alumni who are making a health impact in India. That panel was moderated by Dr. Jorge Osorio and Erik Iverson. The panel featured Dr. Krishna Ella, PhD’93;  Suchitra Ella, and Pidilite Industries Ltd. Executive Director Apurva Parekh, ’93 (see right).

Meeting with India’s Minister of Health.
UW Delegation and Dr. & Mrs Ella at Bharat Biotech in India
Capturing the ‘W’ while visiting Bharat Biotech

During GHI’s trip to India, Dr. Osorio and GHI Associate Director, Strategic Partnerships & Development Calyn Ostrowski were part of a large delegation of UW representatives in India with the mission of creating partnerships and sharing the announcement of the One Health Center-India. This included meetings with India’s Minister of Health Honorable Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya and Dr. C.N. Ashwath Narayan, Minister for Higher Education, IT&BT, Science and Technology and Skill Development, Government of Karnataka to discuss additional outreach opportunities in India to continue UW-Madison and GHI’s efforts of putting the Wisconsin Idea into global action (see above). The delegation also visited BioVet, Ella Foods, and Bharat Biotech to learn more of their vaccine efforts, business operations, and continue conversations for future partnership opportunities (see right).

Find more media coverage on this event here.

Click here to learn more about GHI and One Health Centers.