June 2, 2010
School of Medicine, Kochi
 

Dr. Aswathy, Professor in the Department of Community Medicine at the Amrita School of Medicine was recently appointed as Honorary Editor of an international open-access peer-reviewed journal.
 

The journal, Research and Reports in Tropical Medicine, covers a broad spectrum of topics including diseases and medicine in tropical regions, entomology, epidemiology, health economics issues and infectious diseases.
 
Laboratory science and new technology in tropical medicine, parasitology, public health medicine/health care policy in tropical regions and microbiology are among other topics addressed by the journal.
 

Dr. Ashwathy is one among 32 board members chosen from all over the world. She is one of only 3 members from India.
 

“As a member of the Honorary Editorial Board, I will support the Editor-in-Chief, by reviewing journal articles and providing comment on the journal’s overall direction from time-to-time,” informed Dr. Aswathy.
 

Dr. Ashwathy joined Amrita five years ago.
 

“My work in tropical medicine includes an emphasis on filariasis, chikungunya and dengue, diseases that have become more common in India,” she shared. “My work focuses on vector control and behavioral changes.”
 

Dr. Ashwathy has published research papers in this area in several journals. When the chikungunya epidemic was at its peak in 2006 and 2007, she took the leadership in initiating source reduction activities, working with the local government officials.
 

A resource person for training PHC medical officers in tropical diseases, Dr. Ashwathy is also the Administrative Medical Officer of the Amrita Community Health Training Centre in Njarakkal, Kochi.
 

Setup to serve rural patients in the villages of Njarakkal Panchayat, the center sees about 120 patients per day. Medical students spend some time here to interact with and see first-hand the woes of the rural populace.
 

“Our vision is to create an empowered, healthy and self-reliant community by providing preventive and curative health services to them,” stated Dr. Ashwathy. “Besides providing free treatment, patients are also referred to AIMS, if needed.”