Biography:Ritam Chowdhury

Ritam Chowdhury
Born	August 1983 New Delhi, India
Alma mater	Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College & Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital (MBBS) Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore (MPH) Emory University, Atlanta (PhD) Harvard School of Public Health, Boston (SM)
Known for	Epidemiology, biostatistics, translational research, bioinformatics, health economics, outcomes research
Scientific career
Institutions	Emory University Harvard School of Public Health

Ritam Chowdhury is an Indian writer, physician, epidemiologist and biostatistician scientist of Bengali descent. His work in the fields of applied epidemiology, health economics, and outcomes research has contributed towards evidence-based medicine guidelines for oncology, heart disease, diabetes and trauma care. He is the Research Director of Medical Associates for Research and Communication (MARC). He also holds appointments as Visiting Instructor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Global Health Department of Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta and Statistical Consultant for the Instructional Computing Facility at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), Boston.

Early life

Chowdhury was born into a Bengali family originally from Kolkata, India. He was born in New Delhi and later moved to Kolkata. In 1993, a few months after the infamous Bombay riots, his family moved to Bombay.

Education

Chowdhury is an alumnus of St. Mary's School (ISC, 1997–1999), Mazagaon, Mumbai and D. G. Ruparel College of Arts, Science & Commerce (HSC, 1999–2001), Matunga, Mumbai. He graduated with a MBBS degree from Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College, Sion, Mumbai at the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, Nasik in 2005. He worked at Kalyan District Prison, Thane district thereafter as Medical Officer. He was awarded an MPH in Epidemiology from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland in 2009, PhD in Epidemiology in 2013 from Emory University, Atlanta and SM in Biostatistics from Harvard School of Public Health in 2015.

Awards and honors

Chowdhury has received multiple awards in his relatively short career.

• 1999 – Ebrahim M. Rowjee Scholarship
• 1999 – Board Topper Mathematics – Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE)
• 2001 – Placed on the Maharashtra State Higher Secondary Certificate Board Examinations Merit List
• 2002 – Distinction in Anatomy
• 2002 – Distinction in Biochemistry
• 2002 – Distinction in Physiology
• 2002 – 2003 Sir Ratan Tata Scholarship
• 2003 – Distinction in Microbiology
• 2003 – Distinction in Pathology
• 2003–2005 JRD Tata Scholarship
• 2008 – 2009 Sir Ratan Tata Scholarship
• 2008 – 2009 J. N. Tata Scholarship
• 2009 – inducted into the Delta Omega Society, Alpha Chapter at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
• 2020 - COVID19 Survivor

Scientific publications

Full list of publications.

Selected papers

• Chowdhury, R; Mukhopadhyay, A; McClellan, W; Sarnat, S; Darrow, L; Steenland, K (2014). "Survival Patterns of Lead-Exposed Workers with End-Stage Renal Disease from Adult Blood Lead Epidemiology and Surveillance Program". The American Journal of the Medical Sciences 349 (3): 222–7. doi:10.1097/MAJ.0000000000000387. PMID 25504219. 
• Huen, K. H.; Chowdhury, R; Shafii, S. M.; Brewster, L. P.; Arya, S; Duwayri, Y; Veeraswamy, R. K.; Dodson, T. F. et al. (2015). "Smoking cessation is the least successful outcome of risk factor modification in uninsured patients with symptomatic peripheral arterial disease". Annals of Vascular Surgery 29 (1): 42–9. doi:10.1016/j.avsg.2014.09.014. PMID 25286112. 
• Steenland, K; Chowdhury, R (2014). "0362 Renal disease incidence among 58 000 male workers with blood lead measurements". Occupational and Environmental Medicine 71 Suppl 1: A45. doi:10.1136/oemed-2014-102362.139. 
• Chowdhury, R; Narayan, K. M.; Zabetian, A; Raj, S; Tabassum, R (2014). "Genetic studies of type 2 diabetes in South asians: A systematic overview". Current Diabetes Reviews 10 (4): 258–74. doi:10.2174/1573399810666140707101325. PMID 25001234. 
• Chowdhury, R; Sarnat, S. E.; Darrow, L; McClellan, W; Steenland, K (2014). "Mortality among participants in a lead surveillance program". Environmental Research 132: 100–4. doi:10.1016/j.envres.2014.03.008. PMID 24769120. Bibcode: 2014ER....132..100C. 
• Siwamogsatham, O; Dong, W; Binongo, J. N.; Chowdhury, R; Alvarez, J. A.; Feinman, S. J.; Enders, J; Tangpricha, V (2014). "Relationship Between Fat-Soluble Vitamin Supplementation and Blood Concentrations in Adolescent and Adult Patients with Cystic Fibrosis". Nutrition in Clinical Practice 29 (4): 491–497. doi:10.1177/0884533614530170. PMID 24743047. 
• Halkos, M. E.; Ford, L; Peterson, D; Bluestein, S. M.; Liberman, H. A.; Kilgo, P; Puskas, J. D.; Guyton, R. A. et al. (2014). "The impact of hybrid coronary revascularization on hospital costs and reimbursements". The Annals of Thoracic Surgery 97 (5): 1610–5; discussion 1615–6. doi:10.1016/j.athoracsur.2014.01.047. PMID 24636706. 
• Alvarez, J. A.; Chowdhury, R; Jones, D. P.; Martin, G. S.; Brigham, K. L.; Binongo, J. N.; Ziegler, T. R.; Tangpricha, V (2014). "Vitamin D status is independently associated with plasma glutathione and cysteine thiol/disulphide redox status in adults". Clinical Endocrinology 81 (3): 458–66. doi:10.1111/cen.12449. PMID 24628365. 
• Lee, A. K.; Binongo, J. N.; Chowdhury, R; Stein, A. D.; Gazmararian, J. A.; Vos, M. B.; Welsh, J. A. (2014). "Consumption of less than 10% of total energy from added sugars is associated with increasing HDL in females during adolescence: A longitudinal analysis". Journal of the American Heart Association 3 (1): e000615. doi:10.1161/JAHA.113.000615. PMID 24572253. 
• Chowdhury, R; Darrow, L; McClellan, W; Sarnat, S; Steenland, K (2014). "Incident ESRD among participants in a lead surveillance program". American Journal of Kidney Diseases 64 (1): 25–31. doi:10.1053/j.ajkd.2013.12.005. PMID 24423781. 
• Thourani, V. H.; Chowdhury, R; Gunter, R. L.; Kilgo, P. D.; Chen, E. P.; Puskas, J. D.; Halkos, M. E.; Lattouf, O. M. et al. (2013). "The impact of specific preoperative organ dysfunction in patients undergoing aortic valve replacement". The Annals of Thoracic Surgery 95 (3): 838–45. doi:10.1016/j.athoracsur.2012.09.035. PMID 23245447. 
• Chowdhury, R; White, D; Kilgo, P; Puskas, J. D.; Thourani, V. H.; Chen, E. P.; Lattouf, O. M.; Cooper, W. A. et al. (2012). "Risk factors for conversion to cardiopulmonary bypass during off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery". The Annals of Thoracic Surgery 93 (6): 1936–41; discussion 1942. doi:10.1016/j.athoracsur.2012.02.051. PMID 22503849. 
• Roy, N; Murlidhar, V; Chowdhury, R; Patil, S. B.; Supe, P. A.; Vaishnav, P. D.; Vatkar, A (2010). "Where there are no emergency medical services-prehospital care for the injured in Mumbai, India". Prehospital and Disaster Medicine 25 (2): 145–51. doi:10.1017/s1049023x00007883. PMID 20467994. 
• Mukhopadhyay, A; Chowdhury, R (2009). "The eunuch patient". Tropical Doctor 39 (1): 63–4. doi:10.1258/td.2008.080016. PMID 19211440. 
• Zaki, S. A.; Dadge, D; Shanbag, P; Choudhury, R (2009). "Mature cystic teratoma: Unusual presentation as dysphagia". The Indian Journal of Pediatrics 76 (12): 1275–6. doi:10.1007/s12098-009-0324-6. PMID 20108063. 

Literary work and hobbies

Chowdhury has also published 14 books under the pseudonym Thomas R. M. Webbe, crediting Chowdhury as the editor. His stories, based in British India, notably feature the exploits of Rito and Gaja. This detective series has been very popular in India among children. In addition, he has written in other genres of fiction for children.

Chowdhury recently made his poetry blog, Catharsis, public. He writes poetry under the pseudonym Ri Tam, three volumes of which have been published.

Chowdhury is a polyglot and speaks 10 languages apart from English.

See also

• List of Indian writers
• List of Indian poets