Members
President
Dr Babu Mathew is a renowned Head & Neck Oncologist / Maxillofacial Pathology professor with nearly six decades of experience in Cancer prevention and control . He is a veteran in the field of community oncology . He was a Professor / Principal / Dean in many colleges from 1985 – 2002 . He was a Professor and Head, Community Oncology, Division Regional Cancer Centre, Thiruvananthapuram .
He has held many positions in organizations of repute including current President of CCFI.
- Secretary Thiruvananthapuram Regional Cancer Association
- President, Indian Academy of Oral Medicine and Radiology
- Member, Scientific Committee of ICMR
- Member, Governing body of Indian Institute of Preventive Oncology, New Delhi
- Short Term Consultant, WHO on Cancer Control for Developing Countries
- Member of Editorial & Review board of many journals.
- Member, Workshop to formulate Frame Work Convention of Tobacco Control by WHO at New Delhi
- More than 100 scientific papers in indexed journals.
- Authored 11 books on Cancer Control.
- Edited and contributed to 4 books on Cancer Control.
- Short Term Consultant, WHO on Cancer Control for Developing Countries.
- Award by Indian Academy of Oral Medicine and Radiology, 2017.
- Lifetime Achievement Award by Indian Academy for Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, 2021.
- Lifetime Achievement Award by the Kerala State Dental Council, 2023.
Vice President
Dr Paul Sebastian is an experienced cancer surgeon, with a proven track record in supervising and directing programmes at the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC), Trivandrum and Tata Cancer Care Foundation (TCCF) under Tata Trusts. With over 40 years of experience in clinical work, research, administration and programme leadership, Dr Sebastian currently works for the Clinical Governance and Early Detection programme of Karkinos Healthcare since 2023. Prior to this he worked for the public health and palliative care programme of the Tata Cancer Care Foundation under Tata Trusts and led the cancer outreach activities in several states in India since 2018. Creating cancer awareness, tobacco control, capacity building of healthcare professionals, screening and early detection of common cancers and ensuring continuum of care was the focus of his work at TCCF.
Earlier, he has worked for more than three decades as a cancer surgeon in RCC with a special interest in head and neck cancers before assuming the position of Director in which he served for close to a decade. Dr Sebastian was instrumental in developing RCC as a major centre for teaching and training in oncology. He also had a major role to play in the elevation of RCC as a State Cancer Institute. Providing affordable, accessible and equitable cancer care to all is a major interest of his. His research interests include prevention and early detection of cancer, aetiology of oral cancer in young adults and development of simple, low-cost cancer treatment strategies for countries with limited resources. He was the principal investigator in several international and national research projects and has more than 100 peer-reviewed publications to his name.
Vice President - Resources
Dr. Malini Chandrasekharan, MBBS, DO, Dip in Asthma and Allergic Disorders.
In August 2022, she assumed the role of Medical Director (Honorary) – South with Karkinos Healthcare Private Limited, leading the Early Detection & Elimination of Cervical Cancer under the Women’s Wellness Programme.
Under the mentorship of Dr. Sankaranarayanan, Dr. Chandrasekharan directed a comprehensive awareness and screening initiative across South India. Over the past 18 months, she and her team screened 10,738 women, delivering critical health interventions. They successfully detected and prevented cervical cancer in 10% of women who tested positive for HPV16 and HPV18, high-risk strains of the virus. Additionally, they identified approximately 800 women with breast nodules, enabling early treatment and potentially life-saving outcomes.
Dr. Malini Chandrasekharan is deeply committed to promoting women’s wellness and creating awareness, especially among the rural population. She focuses on dispelling myths surrounding vaccines and educating women about their health. Following her awareness campaigns, an impressive 98.4% of the women participants voluntarily underwent screening tests, a remarkable achievement in its own right.
Dr. Malini Chandrasekharan’s work has made a significant impact on women’s health, demonstrating the effectiveness of proactive healthcare and early detection in rural communities.
Vice President
Professor Kunnambath Ramadas is a Radiation Oncologist with 40 years’ experience in oncology. He was the former Additional Director & Head of Department of Radiation Oncology at the Regional Cancer Centre, Trivandrum. Currently he is the Director – Clinical Operations and Allied Services in Karkinos Healthcare. He is the recipient of several awards including the Best Doctor award of Kerala, Visiting Senior Scientist Award of the WHO – IARC, France, Nazli Gad –el-Mawla Award of INCTR and the Spirits of Humanity Award for Oncology Research from Americares India . He has over 110 publications to his credit and has contributed 19 chapters in various text books. He has completed over 45 original research projects and received funding from several national and international agencies.
Executive General Secretary
D Krishnanadha Pai – Founder & Executive Secretary of CCFI & Founder, President and CEO of Malabar Cancer Care Society, Kannur, the nodal agency of Government of Kerala, and Collaborating Centre of World Health organisation/IARC, Collaborating Centre of C-DAC, IT Dept of Govt of India, Health & Family Welfare Dept of Govt. of India for comprehensive cancer care.
- Co-Investigator of the UNFPA aided Malabar Cervical Cancer Control Project, implemented by Regional Cancer Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, Govt. Of Kerala, and Malabar Cancer Care Society, Kannur, during the period 1998-2001
- Co-Investigator of “Cervical Cancer Control Project” using VIA-VILI technique implemented by MCCS Kannur, and WHO IARC
- Co-Investigator of Sanjeevani Mobile Tele- Onco net Project, a joint venture project of C-DAC, Thiruvananthapuram, MCCS Kannur, supported by Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of Government of India and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare Dept of Govt. of India implemented by MCCS Kannur.
- Chief Investigator of PUD Project of IARC and MCCS
- Co-chairman of IEC for Cervical Cancer Detection procedure of IARC from 2001 – 2008
- Co-chairman of Project ‘LIVE FEARLESS OF CANCER’ supported by L&T Company
- Co-chairman of Breast Cancer Brigade Project supported by L&T Company
- Co-chairman of Breast light study project of IARC
- Principle Investigator of WHO/IARC PUD Study Project
- Principle Investigator of Cervical cancer Study Project of MCCS
- 34 years of experience in Comprehensive Cancer Control activities throughout Kerala with intensive activities in five districts of Malabar.
- Sensitised 13.3 million population on cancer prevention through house-to- house person-to-person awareness at the doorstep of villages during last 34 years.
- Outstanding Chapter President of Junior Chamber Kerala for the year 1988
- Silver Jubilee Award of Regional Cancer Centre, Trivandrum for unique cancer control initiative in Malabar – 2009
- Award for Excellence in Social Service – Lions Club of Cannanore – 2009
- Outstanding Leadership Award of Rotary of Pilathara – 2010
- K.P. Muraleedharan Memorial Award – 2013
- Outstanding Health Watch Man of the Year Award of DM Foundation, Dubai – 2014
- Life time Achievement Award of Madhav Baliga Foundation – 2015
- Award for Excellence in Social Service – Jaycees, Thalassery – 2016
- NIRDS Foundation, Calicut – Award for Social Service – 2017
- Karunya Sparsham Award by Lions Club, Cannanore North – 2019
- Sree BudhaManavaMithra Award 2020 of Sreebudha Samskarika Samithi, Mattanur
- KARMA SHRESTA AWARD 2022 of Lions Dist 318 E of Lions Club International.
Assistant Executive General Secretary
Easwar is a Management Consultant with over 3 decades of experience in Multi cultural / Multi location organisations in India & the Middle East with exceptional client management skills , working with large conglomerates providing consultative solutions to enterprises for their demanding situations . Setting and creating vision for the organization, creating an organisational culture with Trust , Responsibility & Accountability.
Presently working as Associate Director in Karkinos Healthcare Private Limited since August 2022 – to establish cancer care continuum . Leading Cancer Awareness / Screen & Early detect programs for 5 major cancers like Head and Neck , Breast , Prostate , Cervical & Colorectal for both Men & Women . Working closely with the Medical Director- South in propagating cancer awareness campaigns / initiating and managing early detection programmes in South of India for Karkinos . Championing the cause of Cervical cancer vaccination for children ( both boys & girls) as part of the W.H.O program to eliminate Cervical cancer by 2035.
Treasurer
Anilkumar D started his career as a field enumerator after his graduation and was later appointed as a data entry operator in the Trivandrum Oral Cancer Screening Study Project, which was a collaborative project between the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/WHO) and the Regional Cancer Centre Trivandrum. After completing eight and half years of service from Nov 1995 to April 2004 in this project, he was designated as the programme manager in the cervical cancer screening project in Dindigul District, Tamilnadu, in April 2004, another collaborative project of IARC with Christian Fellowship Community Health Centre(CFCHC), Ambillikai. He is the Programme Manager for the Multi-organ cancer screening initiatives and the Cervical Cancer Vaccination Programme (CCVP) in Ambillikai ,a collaborative project of WHO-IARC & Karkinos Healthcare.
MEMBER
Rajaraman Swaminathan was born on December 27, 1961, and started his career as an Assistant Research Officer (Statistics) in the ICMR Centre for Advanced Research on Health and Behaviour, Government Rajaji Hospital and Madurai Medical College, Madurai, under the supervision of Dr. A. Venkoba Rao after completing his Master’s degree in Statistics from Presidency College in 1984. He was involved in a supervisory capacity in several projects, including healthcare of the rural aged and studies on suicides, domestic burns, and HIV-infected subjects.
He joined the Cancer Institute (W.I.A), Chennai, as a Senior Biostatistician in 1990 under Dr. V. Shanta. He later earned PhDs in Statistics (Madras University, 2002) and Epidemiology (University of Tampere, Finland, 2012). Currently, he serves as Professor and Head of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Cancer Registry at the Cancer Institute, as well as its Associate Director. His expertise includes cancer survival analysis, surveillance through registries, and preventive oncology.
He was a member of the Executive Board of the International Association of Cancer Registries (IACR) as the IACR representative for the Asia region from 2010 to 2014 and served as a WHO Consultant on “Cancer Registries and Control” for the Republic of Maldives in 2015 and for Sri Lanka in 2018. He was also an IAEA imPACT Review Mission Expert for Sri Lanka in 2019.
He is presently the Chairman of the Institute Animal Ethics Committee (IAEC) and the Member Secretary of the Institute Ethics Committee (IEC) of the Cancer Institute (W.I.A), with responsibilities in senior administration and governance. He has been a Life Member of the Indian Society for Medical Statistics (ISMS) since 1991.
Member
Dr. Jissa VT has been working as an academic faculty member at the Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum, since November 2011. Before this role, she had nearly eight years of experience as a Statistician in cancer screening trials of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), collaborating with major institutions across India. She earned her PhD in Epidemiology from the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tampere, Finland and had training in IARC on cancer prevention and control. Her doctoral research was based on the cluster randomized cervical cancer screening trial in Dindigul District, supported by IARC.
MEMBER
Dr. Padmaja Ramadas, MBBS, DLO, DNB – ENT Consultant
Retired as Director of Insurance Medical Services on May 31, 2021, and has been working at the National Institute of Speech and Hearing as an ENT Consultant and Assistant Professor since August 2021.
- Awarded the Best Doctor Award by the Government of Kerala in 2006.
- Received a Certificate of Appreciation from the Labour Minister, Government of India, for COVID-19 management in March 2021.