Dr Nikhil Tandon named acting director, AIIMS, Delhi

The order said the appointment is a temporary arrangement, set to remain in place for up to six months or until a regular Director is appointed, whichever comes earlier. The order also specifies that Dr Tandon will not receive any additional remuneration for taking on the extra responsibilities.

Dr Nikhil Tandon has worked within the public healthcare system of India for 25 years as a clinician-researcher specializing in cardio-metabolic disease. His research group has conducted large scale epidemiology studies in children and adults evaluating the prevalence of cardio-metabolic risk factors and their associations.

He was one of the founding investigators of the CARRS Cohort, a population-based cohort in two Indian metropolitan cities evaluating cardiometabolic risk and incident disease. These studies have evaluated a range of biomarkers, performed exploratory metabolomic analysis, and created a substantial biorepository.

His work in the field of childhood obesity genetics has revealed strong associations with inflammatory pathways and adipocytokine genes. An inflammatory pathway is how your body creates swelling and defence when something is wrong, while adipocytokine genes are genes in fat cells that produce signals controlling inflammation and metabolism.