Distinguished India Lecture 2026
The Distinguished India Lecture 2026 is hosted by the Warwick India Network (WIN), a University-wide community that brings together researchers, educators, professional services colleagues and students with a shared interest in strengthening Warwick's engagement with India.
As part of this commitment, the Distinguished India Lecture 2026 brings together global expertise, critical insight and forward-looking ideas. This year's event provides an opportunity for the University community to engage with one of the most pressing questions facing rapidly developing societies today: the relationship between health, prosperity and sustainable development.
Delivered by Professor Gagandeep Kang FRS, the lecture, If Health is Wealth – How Wealthy is India?, will draw on her internationally recognised expertise in microbiology and public health. Professor Kang has made significant contributions to vaccines, child health, water and sanitation, and nutrition. Professor Kang was also the first Indian woman scientist to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Registration is available below on a first come, first served basis, and early sign-up is strongly encouraged.
Distinguished India Lecture
If Health is Wealth - How Wealthy is India?
Monday 23 November, 16:00 - 18:30, Warwick Medical School, Gibbet Hill
Speaker: Professor Gagandeep Kang FRS
Professor Gagandeep Kang FRS
Professor Gagandeep Kang is a physician-scientist specialising in microbiology and public health.
She has made significant contributions to vaccines, child health, water and sanitation, and nutrition. She built an internationally recognised research program at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, and contributed to the development and use of two WHO pre-qualified rotavirus vaccines made by Indian companies. Kangs research has influenced public health policy in India, and she has served on various advisory committees for the Government of India and the World Health Organization and on the Boards of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, Hilleman Labs and the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council. She led the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute under the Department of Biotechnology, building translational and clinical research capacity in service of Indian innovation. In 2023, she joined the Gates Foundation to lead the enterics, diagnostics, genomics, and epidemiology portfolio within the Global Health Division.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she played a crucial role in public health communication. She actively engaged with the media to provide accurate information about the virus, vaccines, and public health measures. Her efforts helped to build public trust and ensure accountability in the dissemination of information.
She was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2019 and an international member of the US National Academy of Medicine in 2023. She has also been recognised with numerous awards, including the Infosys Prize in Life Sciences in 2016 and the Canada John Dirks Gairdner Prize in Global Health in 2024.
As the first Indian woman scientist elected Fellow of the Royal Society, she embodies leadership, excellence and the advancement of women in STEM.