Reducing hypertension: The role of low sodium salt substitutes for population health

Professor D. Prabhakaran

Executive Director of Centre for Chronic Disease Control New Delhi, India

Professor D. Prabhakaran is a cardiologist and epidemiologist by training. He is an internationally renowned researcher and is the Executive Director of Centre for Chronic Disease Control, New Delhi, a Distinguished Professor of the Public Health Foundation of India. He heads the NIHR Centre for Global Health at PHFI. He is currently the President-Elect of the World Heart Federation and the immediate past Chair of the International Society of Cardiovascular Epidemiology and Prevention.
His work spans from mechanistic research to understanding the causes of increased propensity of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) among Indians to developing solutions for CVD through translational research and human resource development. Prof. Prabhakaran is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, UK, a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India, a Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy and an Adjunct Professor at the Emory University. He has received funding from NHLBI, Wellcome Trust, the European Commission and several other international and national funding bodies. He has mentored over 50 post-doctoral and doctoral students so far. He has authored several chapters and over 700 scholarly papers with an H index of 117. He was listed as the topmost researcher in Medicine in India in terms of publications for 2009-2014 by Scopus and Department of Science & Technology, Government of India. He is the lead editor of the Cardiovascular Disease Volume of the latest Disease Control Priorities Project. He is the lead editor of Tandon’s textbook of Cardiology, a comprehensive book on Cardiology for Indian Cardiologists and Fellows. Recognizing his work in Chronic Diseases and Global Health, he was conferred an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from Glasgow University.

Professor Bruce Neal

Executive Director, The George Institute for Global Health, Australia

Bruce Neal is Executive Director at The George Institute for Global Health Australia and Professor of Medicine, UNSW Sydney. Prof Neal is a physician with 25 years’ experience in clinical, epidemiological, and public health research with a focus on heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Bruce has a longstanding interest in high blood pressure and diabetes and the potential for both clinical interventions and changes in the food supply to deliver health gains.

Dr. Thomas R. Frieden

President and CEO, Resolve to Save Lives

President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, Dr. Thomas Frieden is a physician trained in internal medicine, infectious diseases, public health, and epidemiology. He is former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and former commissioner of the New York City Health Department.  
Dr. Frieden began his public health career in New York City, leading efforts that documented and ended the largest outbreak of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis to occur in the US. He was then assigned to India, on loan from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he helped scale up a program for effective tuberculosis diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring that saved millions of lives. Asked to return to New York City to become Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s Health Commissioner, he directed efforts to reduce smoking and other leading causes of death that increased life expectancy by 3 years. He helped start Mike Bloomberg’s global health philanthropy, particularly the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, which has helped countries implement measures that will prevent more than 35 million deaths. As Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Frieden oversaw the work that helped end the 2014 West Africa Ebola epidemic.  
Dr. Frieden founded Resolve to Save Lives in 2017 and leads the organization’s efforts to partner with countries to prevent 100 million deaths from cardiovascular disease and to make the world safer from epidemics. In the organization’s first 7 years, these efforts had prevented nearly 8 million deaths. 

Moderator: Professor Vivekanand Jha

Executive Director, The George Institute for Global Health, India

Executive Director at The George Institute for Global Health, India, Chair of Global Kidney Health, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College of London, and the President of the International Society of Nephrology. Read more

Dr. Rajan Ravichandran

Director of Nephrology at MIOT International Hospital

Dr. Rajan Ravichandran is a highly accomplished Director of Nephrology at MIOT International Hospital and Professor of Practice at IIT Madras. He is also the Chairman and Founder of both the Sapiens Health Foundation and the Cystinosis Foundation of India. Dr. Ravichandran has specialised interests in Blood Group Incompatible Kidney Transplantation, Cystinosis, and population salt intake.
With several scientific publications in leading international and national journals, Dr. Ravichandran is widely recognized for his research and contributions to the field of nephrology. He has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Dronacharya Award, Service of Excellence Award by the American Nephrologists of Indian Origin (ANIO), and the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Tamil Nadu Government. Additionally, he is honored with FACP and FRCP distinctions.
Dr. Ravichandran's dedication to both patient care and education has made him a leading figure in the nephrology community.

Dr. Meenakshi Bajaj

Dietician, Tamil Nadu Govt. Multi Super Speciality Hospital & Faculty

Dr. Meenakshi Bajaj is a distinguished dietitian based in Chennai, India, with over 30 years of experience in clinical and therapeutic dietetics. She currently serves as the Dietitian at the Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital in Chennai. Her expertise spans critical care nutrition, diabetes education, bariatric nutrition, and nutrigenomics counseling. She has held prominent leadership roles, including Chapter Convener of NetProFaN, Chennai, National Executive Committee (NEC) Member of the Indian Dietetic Association, and Treasurer of the Association of Diabetic Educators (India).
Her career has been honored with several prestigious awards, including the FITUP FEST Award by IAPEN, SADHANA AWARD, NECTAR Award, and the Rotary Club Chennai Carnatic Award (2024). She has also received the Meritorious Service Award at TNGMSSH (2023 and 2025).
Dr. Bajaj is the Author of "TWO LIVES - TWICE AS PRECIOUS: Medical Nutrition Therapy for Hyperglycemia in Pregnancy (2023)" and "DIET METRICS: Handbook of Food Exchanges (2019)", further contributing to the field through her published works.

Professor Dike Bevis Ojji

Faculty, University of Abuja

Prof Dike Bevis Ojji areas of interest include pharmacotherapy of hypertension, spectrum of hypertensive heart disease, hypertensive heart failure in native Africans. Dike holds a PhD in Cardiovascular Medicine from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He is a faculty at College of Health Sciences of University of Abuja and an Honorary Consultant Physician/Cardiologist, at University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, Abuja, Nigeria. Read more