Chandigarh:
Dr. Suresh Kumar has been selected for the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar: Vigyan Yuva – Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Medicine for the year 2025 in recognition of his outstanding contributions to Pediatrics and Pediatric Critical Care. He is among the 15 Vigyan Yuva Awardees for the year of 2025.
After graduating from Government Medical College, Jammu, Dr. Kumar completed his MD in Pediatrics, Senior Residency in Pediatrics, and DM in Pediatric Critical Care at PGIMER, Chandigarh. Currently, he is working as Additional Professor in the Division of Pediatric Critical Care, Department of Pediatrics, Advanced Pediatric Centre (APC), Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh
His pioneering research has substantially advanced understanding of the gut microbiome’s role in critical illness and infection prevention in children. Dr. Kumar led several landmark clinical trials on probiotics in pediatric intensive care. A pivotal randomized controlled trial (Critical Care Medicine, 2013) demonstrated that a multi-strain probiotic mix significantly reduced gastrointestinal candida colonization and candiduria in children on broad-spectrum antibiotics.
Another randomized 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, Dr Suresh 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.
Dr. Kumar 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 characterized 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.
Dr. Kumar has demonstrated leadership in several national and international collaborative studies, including the ICMR-funded ReLiSCh-M Trial on fluid management in ventilated children, Effect of various therapeutic options on outcomes in MIS-C, and Development and Validation of 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, Dr. Suresh Kumar has made exceptional contributions to pediatric intensive care research.
His work has been recognized with numerous national honors, including Dr. H.B. Dingley Memorial Award (ICMR), Dr. Tulsi Das Chugh Award (NAMS), Major General Amir Chand Gold Medal, and Prof. D. Subrahmanyam Gold Medal.
Dr. Suresh Kumar’s work exemplifies translational research that bridges bench to bedside, improving outcomes for critically ill children across India and beyond as he stated, ” I am deeply honored to receive the prestigious Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar: Vigyan Yuva – Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award (Medicine, 2025). It is a moment of great pride and humility for a person like me, coming from a modest background, to be recognized 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, Chandigarh for providing the platform and environment to pursue meaningful research and patient care. This Puraskar belongs to our Unit, Department, and Institute which provided the wonderful platform to serve humanity. My sincere thanks to the Government of India and the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar Secretariat for this recognition. This honor will continue to inspire me to work with greater dedication toward improving outcomes and quality of care for critically ill children in India.”
