Academic Qualifications

DLSHTM (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, 2012)

MSc Control of Infectious Diseases (University of London, 2011)

MD Community Medicine (University of Kerala, 1999)

DPH (University of Kerala,1996)

MBBS (University of Kerala, 1992

Professional Record

Professor & Head, AMCHSS(2022-07 onwards)

Professor (AMCHSS, SCTIMST, 2017 onwards)

Additional Professor (AMCHSS, SCTIMST, 2012-2017)

Associate Professor (AMCHSS, SCTIMST, 2008-12)

Assistant Professor (AMCHSS, SCTIMST, 2004-08)

Assistant Professor (Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi, 2002-04)

Assistant Professor (KS Hedge Medical Academy, Mangalore, 2000-02)

Programme Officer - Health (Dept. of Rural Development, Govt. of Kerala, 1999-2000)

Honors

Academic Standing Committee Member - SCTIMST, Trivandrum Former Chairperson - Board of Studies (Health Sciences, 2021-2023), SCTIMST, Trivandrum Former Associate Dean (Health Sciences, 2018-21) - SCTIMST, Trivandrum Chairperson - Local Research Committee, Model Rural Health Research Unit (MRHRU) Kerala Member, Advisory Committee, IIPH, Public Health Foundation of India (PFHI), Delhi Executive Member, Centre for Advancement of Global Health (NGO) Executive Member, Health Action by People (NGO), Trivandrum Executive Member, Indian Medical Association(IMA), Trivandrum Branch

Area of Interest

Data Science in Public health

Public Health Informatics (and its use in epidemiology & surveillance of infectious and non-infectious diseases)

GIS in Public Health, Telemedicine & Health Technology Assessment

Democratising and demystifying newer technologies for public health

Collaboration

Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway

Indian Institute of Science (Bangluru)

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)

Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC-Trivandrum)

Dept of Health and Family Welfares Govt. of Kerala

Health Technology Assessment India (HTAIn)

Current Activities

Member, Academic Standing Committee, SCTIMST

Chairperson, Boad of Studies(Health Sciences), SCTIMST

Undertake funded research programs
E.g., Mobile Telemedicine project in Wayanad to improve secondary health care service coverage in the tribal areas of Wayanad district, Action research on NCD risk factors in Kerala, sero-surveillance of Measles Rubella vaccination in the country, etc.

Teaches the following modules in the public health school
Database Management in Epidemiology
Public Health Technologies
Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Public Health Biology

Conducts short-course trainings on
GIS in public health using R
Public Health Informatics
Bibliographic softwares
Health Technology Assessments
Use of R for data analysis for health professionals

Other academic/research activities
PhD Guide
MPH students (Guides dissertations)
Reviewer of Journals (E.g., PLOS One, BMC Public Health, Applied Geography, Health Sciences, etc.)
Visiting Faculty (E.g., SOAHS, MAHE, School of Public Health, Nitte University, Mangalore, School of Social Work, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, etc.)

On-going Projects

Transforming Covid-19 testing data using data science methods (PI) ICMR, GoI Rs.26.2 lakhs 2022-24

Regional Technical Resource Centre for HTA In; 2018-22; funded by DHR, Govt of India; Rs.1.6 crores, Role: Principal Investigator.

Mobile Telemedicine Project; 2017-22; Rs. 5.64 crores; funded by DST; Role: Principal Investigator.

Portable Mobile Refrigerator for difficult to reach areas; 2019-20; funded by DST, Govt. of India, Rs. 4.5lakhs Role: PI (SCTIMST site)

Documenting the cause of death among the tribal population using automated verbal autopsy: Institute fund through DST; Proj: 6118; Role:Co-PI

HPSR FELLOWSHIP INDIA; Proj.5419; Role: Co-Investigator.

Secondary prevention of stroke survivors in Kollam. 2021-2022; Health & Family Welfare Department, Government of Kerala; Rs. 10 lakhs; Role: Co-PI.

Patents

Subhash Joshi Tharayparambil George, Rajiv Iyappan, Kiran Babu, Seena S Rajan, Jeysingh Packiaraj K, Renji V Chacko, Vinod John, GSVL Narasimham, and Biju Soman. n.d. PORTABLE AUTONOMOUS TEMPERATURE-CONTROLLED MEDICAL CABINET. Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks, Govt. of India TEMP/E-1/60325/2020-CHE, filed December 14, 2020.

Membership

Executive Member, Health Action by People, NGO

Executive Member, Centre for Advancement in Global Health, NGO

Member, Research Advisory Committee, Centre for Environment Development, Trivandrum.

Member, Research Advisory Committee, State Health System Resource Centre, Trivandrum

Member, International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences-India.

Member, Technical Committee, School of Health Policy and Planning, Kerala University of Health Sciences(KUHS)

Life member, Indian Medical Association

Life member, Indian Public Health Association

Life Member, Telemedicine Society of India(Kerala Chapter)

Team

Mr. Vishnuraj NK (Research Assistant)

Mr. Navaz MP (Research Assistant)

Ms. Soumya PS (Research Nurse)

Ms. Kavyadas PS (Research Nurse)

Ms. Hashida Beegum(Research Nurse)

Ms. Athira SS (Research Nurse)

Ms. Priya Abraham (Data Manager)

Mr Abhilash Kurup (Junior Economist)

Dr Ashis Samuel (Research Associate)

Dr Adrija Roy ( PhD Scholar & Research Associate)

Dr Arun Mitra( PhD Scholar)

Dr Anand N (PhD Scholar)

Dr Antony Stanley (PhD Scholar & Research Associate)

Dr Gurpreet Singh(PhD Scholar)

Dr Thejus Vinod (Project Medical Officer)

Dr Hisham Moosan (PhD Scholar)

Dr Mathew J Valamparampil (PhD Scholar)

Mr Krishna Raj PC (Driver)

Mr Vinod P Prabhakaran (Driver)

Projects Completed

Secondary prevention of stroke survivors. 2017-2019; Health & Family Welfare Department, Government of Kerala; Rs. 10 lakhs; Role: Co-PI.

NCD Risk factor Survey; 2016-20; funded by Govt. of Kerala; Rs. 4.96 crores; Role: Co-Investigator.

TIMED FELLOWS for innovation in Ageing and Health; 2017-18, supported by Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIREC) through their Social Innovation Programme for Products; Affordable and Relevant to Social Health (SPARSH); Rs.76 lakhs; Role: Co-Investigator.

Measles-Rubella sero-surveillance, 2017-2019; Rs. 26 lakhs; collaborative project with Indian Council of Medical Research; Role: Principal Investigator.(Kerala site)

GIS training for public health professionals; 2014-15; funded by DST, GoI; Rs. 2.5 lakhs; Role: Principal Investigator

Prevalence of NCD risk factors in the Kani Tribe in Trivandrum; 2013-14 funded by KSCSTE, GoK; Rs.15000/-; Role: Principal Investigator.

Geospatial mapping of reported Dengue cases to explore clustering and its association with climatic and Physio-environmental factors in Trivandrum (PI); 2013-14; funded by KSCSTE, GoK; Rs. 15000/- Role: Principal Investigator.

Capacity building of women health workers in Kerala; 2009-13; funded by DST through SCTIMST-WCP; Rs. 9.89 lakhs; Role: Principal Investigator.

Health impact of household technology in women: Soman B(PI); 2009-13; funded by DST through SCTIMST-WCP; Rs. 19.96 lakhs; Role: Principal Investigator.

Geospatial analysis of seasonality in pulmonary tuberculosis detection rate in India over a period of five years(2006-11; Role: MSc dissertation at LSHTM (No funding).

Psychosocial impact of Tsunami affected populations in Kerala; Johnson A(PI); 2006-09; A longitudinal study in collaboration with University of Southern California, USA; Funding from USC(USA); Rs.40 lakhs; Role: Co-Investigator.

NCD risk factor sentinel surveillance project; Thankappan KR(PI); 2004-06; ICMR funded multi centric Research study; Rs.25 lakhs; Role: Co-Investigator.

Capacity building of elected local leaders; 2004-06; Funded by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation; Rs. 5.6 lakhs; Role: Principal Investigator.

ICMR sponsored 'RF/RHD Registry Project; 2000-04; Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology, Kochi; funded by ICMR; Rs.30 lakhs; Role: Co-Investigator.

Geospatial mapping of Noolpuzha Grama Panchayat; 2017-18; institute funding through IDRC project; Rs. 3.5 lakhs; Role: Principal Investigator.

Advances in Research on Globally Accessible Medicine (AROGYAM); 2013-2016; funded by ICSR, Rs. 21.6 lakhs; Role: Co-Investigator.

Closing the gaps: Health Equity Research Initiative in India; 2014-18; funded by IDRC, Canada; Role: Team Member.

Desertations Supervised

36

Training

Control of Infectious Diseases, LSHTM, University of London, United Kingdom.

Advanced training in health informatics from Oslo University (Norway)

Teaching Methodology from Boston School of Public Health (USA)

Multilevel Modelling from Bielefeld University (Germany)

Advances in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) from National Remote Sensing Centre (Hyderabad), India

Major Achievements

Formulation and teaching of an innovative module on Public Health Technologies for the public health program. Formulation of the Wayanad Model of Telemedicine for extending secondary healthcare services in inaccessible areas. Formulation and conduct of a short course on "Use of data science for public health", a life-course approach using ODK, Zotero, and R:A language and environment for statistical computing.

Organisational Activities

Lead, Regional Resource Centre(RRC-SCTIMST), Health Technology Assessment India (HTA In)

Member, Academic Standing Committee, SCTIMST.

Chairperson, Board of Studies (Health Sciences)

Books and Journals edited

Review Editor in Frontiers in Public Health

Completed Assignments

Associate Dean (Health Sciences), SCTIMST, from 2018-21

Consultancies

Analyzing the efforts of AMR State Action Plan Implementation in Kerala: What are the learnings for other states? - HISP India -2022-24 Performance audit on a consultancy basis of ambulance services operated by GVK-EMRI (Emergency Management and Research Institute) 2022 Performance audit on a consultancy basis of ambulance services operated by GVK-EMRI (Emergency Management and Research Institute) 2021

No. of Publications

69

Dissertations Supervised - Ph.D

Dr Anand N, 2023, Epidemiological Study of Road Traffic Accidents in an Urban setting in South India

Dr Gurpreet Singh, 2023, Data Science Approach for Spatiotemporal Modelling of Dengue in Punjab, India

Dr Joanna Sara Valson, 2021, Built Environment and Non-Communicable Diseases

Dissertations Supervised - M.Phil

30 MPH dissertations

Select Publications

Singh, Dr. Gurpreet, and Dr. Biju Soman. 2021. Spatiotemporal Epidemiology and Forecasting of Dengue in the State of Punjab, India: Study Protocol., Spatial and Spatio-Temporal Epidemiology, July, 100444. doi:10.1016/j.sste.2021.100444.

Singh, Gurpreet, G. Srinivas, E. K. Jyothi, L. K. Gayatri, Rakhal Gaitonde, and Biju Soman. 2020. ???Containing the First Outbreak of COVID-19 in a Healthcare Setting in India: The Sree Chitra Experience.??? Indian Journal of Public Health 64 (6): 240. doi:10.4103/ijph.IJPH_483_20.

Sajeev, Priyanka, and Biju Soman. 2018. ???Prevalence of Noncommunicable Disease Risk Factors among the Kani Tribe in Thiruvananthapuram District, Kerala.??? Indian Heart Journal. doi:10.1016/j.ihj.2018.01.022.

Thankappan, K.R., Bela Shah, P.S.Sarma Prashant Mathur, G. Srinivas, G.K. Mini, Biju Soman MeenaDaivadanam, and Ramachandran S. Vasan. 2010. ???Risk Factor Profile for Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases: Results of a Community-Based Study in Kerala, India.??? The Indian Journal of Medical Research 131 (January): 53???63.

Valson, Joanna Sara, and Biju Soman. 2017. ???Spatiotemporal Clustering of Dengue Cases in Thiruvananthapuram District, Kerala.??? Indian Journal of Public Health 61 (2): 74. doi:10.4103/ijph.IJPH_26_16.

Sarma, P. S., Rajeev Sadanandan, Jissa Vinoda Thulaseedharan, Biju Soman, Kannan Srinivasan, R. P. Varma, Manju R. Nair, A. S. Pradeepkumar, Panniyammakal Jeemon, K. R. Thankappan, and Raman V. Kutty. 2019. ???Prevalence of Risk Factors of Non-Communicable Diseases in Kerala, India: Results of a Cross-Sectional Study.??? BMJ Open 9 (11).

Reviewer

Review activity for BMC infectious diseases (1) Review activity for BMC public health (1) Review activity for BMJ open. (5) Review activity for Clinical interventions in aging (1) Review activity for Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity. (2) Review activity for F1000Research. (1) Review activity for Geo-spatial information science. (2) Review activity for Healthcare. (3) Review activity for International journal of environmental research and public health. (13) Review activity for International journal of general medicine (1) Review activity for Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare (1) Review activity for Medicina. (4) Review activity for Open access emergency medicine (1) Review activity for PloS one. (6) Review activity for Sustainability. (4) PLOS One; Applied Geography; Health Sciences; Risk Management and Healthcare Policy; BMJ Open; BMC Public Health; Frontiers in Public Health; Nigerian Journal of Clinical Practice; Global Journal of Clinical Studies; International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health; Cerebrovascular Diseases; Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health; Computers in Biology and Medicine;

Intellectual Property Disclosures

Patent filed: Subhash Joshi Tharayparambil George, Rajiv Iyappan, Kiran Babu, Seena S Rajan, Jeysingh Packiaraj K, Renji V Chacko, Vinod John, GSVL Narasimham, and Biju Soman. n.d. PORTABLE AUTONOMOUS TEMPERATURE-CONTROLLED MEDICAL CABINET. Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks, Govt. of India TEMP/E-1/60325/2020-CHE, filed December 14, 2020.

Research

Use of data Science in Public Health

Health Technology Assessment

Spatial Epidemiology

Infectious Disease Surveillance

Professional Experience

PhD Examiner, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh

MPH Examiner, National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai

MPH Examiner, IIPH, Delhi

MPH Examiner, CMC Vellore

Publications