Jonas S. Sundarakumar, MBBS, DNB (Psychiatry), MRCPsych
Psychiatrist and Dementia Researcher
We need to address the social and economic roots of dementia to close the diagnostic gap in low- and middle-income countries and deliver affordable, scalable strategies for underserved communities.
Current Work
Jonas is a Clinician Scientist at the Centre for Brain Research, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. His research focusses on the early identification of risk and protective factors of dementia through longitudinal aging cohort studies.
Personal Hero
Mother Teresa
Words of Strength
Motivation and reliability
Vision
We need to to address the social and economic roots of dementia to close the diagnostic gap in low- and middle-income countries, and deliver affordable, scalable prevention and intervention strategies for health disparate and underserved communities.
Strategy
Jonas is working with a longitudinal cohort of 10,000 aging individuals from rural India, aimed at the early identification of dementia risk in this marginalized population, to inform the development of low-cost, culturally grounded interventions.
Impact
Jonas aims to become a leader in collaborative dementia research in underrepresented rural communities in India and South Asia, and an advocate for brain health equity in these populations, so that they are and remain visible to research and care.
Motivation
Amidst the ongoig demographic transition, India’s dementia burden is rising rapidly. Yet its rural communities, comprising two-thirds of its population, face tremendous disparities in terms of dementia diagnosis, treatment and policy implementation.
Education & Experience
Jonas is a Psychiatrist, who trained in Medicine and Psychiatry at Christian Medical College, Vellore, India, and further went on to obtain his MRCPsych from the Royal College of Psychiatrists, UK. He is a Diplomate of National Board in Psychiatry and a Member of the National Academy of Medical Sciences. He is also a Fellow of several other National and International professional bodies in Psychiatry and Neuroscience. As a clinician with a keen interest in research, he recently transitioned to a full-time research career and currently works as a Senior Scientist at the Centre for Brain Research (CBR), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore. His research if focused on studying the diverse patterns of cognitive aging in the Indian population and thereby, identifying risk factors and protective factors for dementia unique to this population, particularly within under-resourced rural communities.
Awards & Honors
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