PGI’s Dr Suresh Kumar to be honoured with prestigious Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar

Expressing gratitude on the recognition, the PGIMER professor said that it is “a moment of great pride and humility for a person like me, coming from a modest background, to be recognised with such a coveted national award”.

“I take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Almighty, my teachers and mentors, Prof Sunit Singhi, Prof Jayashree M, and Prof Arun Bansal, my parents, family, and friends for their unwavering support and guidance. I am deeply thankful to the critically ill children and their families for their trust, and to PGIMER, for providing the platform and environment to pursue meaningful research and patient care.”

“This puraskar belongs to our unit, department, and institute, which provides a wonderful platform to serve humanity. My sincere thanks to the Government of India and the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar Secretariat for this recognition. This honour will continue to inspire me to work with greater dedication toward improving outcomes and quality of care for critically ill children in India,” Kumar added.

He works as an Additional Professor in the Division of Pediatric Critical Care, Department of Pediatrics, Advanced Pediatric Centre (APC), PGIMER. His pioneering research has substantially advanced understanding of the gut microbiome’s role in critical illness and infection prevention in children. Kumar led several landmark clinical trials on probiotics in pediatric intensive care. A pivotal randomised controlled trial (Critical Care Medicine, 2013) demonstrated that a multi-strain probiotic mix significantly reduced gastrointestinal candida colonisation and candiduria in children on broad-spectrum antibiotics.

Another randomised trial (Critical Care Medicine, 2018) showed that probiotics attenuated inflammation in severe sepsis by reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines, enhancing anti-inflammatory mediators, and improving clinical outcomes. A before–after study (Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, 2013) involving 720 children established that routine probiotic use decreased the incidence of candiduria and invasive candidiasis. Collectively, these studies provided robust evidence for integrating probiotics into the management of critically ill children. In several review articles, Kumar explained the mechanism of action of probiotics in critically ill children and highlighted the role of probiotics in restoring gut microbiome, preventing bacterial translocation, and modulating inflammation.

The professor made pivotal contributions during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, elucidating the clinical spectrum and outcomes of pediatric COVID-19 and Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) in India. His work characterised cardiovascular involvement, shock, and long-term outcomes, contributing to national management protocols and guidelines. He also published a systematic review and meta-analysis on PIMS-TS. The comparative analysis of MIS-C and Severe Dengue informed understanding of these inflammatory disorders in children.

Kumar has demonstrated leadership in several national and international collaborative studies, including the ICMR-funded ReLiSCh-M trial on fluid management in ventilated children, the effect of various therapeutic options on outcomes in MIS-C, and the Development and Validation of the Indian Children Length-Based Tape (InChiTape) for pediatric resuscitation. His international collaborations include the Severe Pneumonia in Children (S-PIC) study under PACCMAN (Singapore) and PRoVENT–PED on ventilation practices in critically ill children.

With over 240 publications in leading journals, 60 conference presentations, and contributions to more than 20 book chapters, the professor has made exceptional contributions to pediatric intensive care research, and his work has been recognised with numerous national honours.

Kumar’s work exemplifies translational research that bridges bench to bedside, improving outcomes for critically ill children across India and beyond.