Events
NDMC Invited Talk Series : Invited talk by Dr. Madhavi Bhargava, Yenepoya Medical College and Dr. Anurag Bhargava, Kasturba Medical College
February 9, 2026
NDMC hosted an invited talk by Dr. Madhavi Bhargava and Dr. Anurag Bhargava on "Nutrition in Disease Care and Prevention: The RATIONS trial and Tuberculosis as an exemplar" on the 9th of February 2026.
Dr. Madhavi Bhargava is a Professor of Community Medicine at Yenepoya Medical College (Yenepoya (Deemed to be University)), Mangalore, and Deputy Head of its Center for Nutrition Studies. Her research focuses on the intersection of nutrition and communicable diseases - particularly tuberculosis and social determinants of health - and on public health nutrition, maternal and adolescent nutrition, and primary care in low-resource settings. She is Co-Principal Investigator on large ICMR-supported trials and has analysed national data to address undernutrition, adolescent health, and related risk factors. Dr. Anurag Bhargava is a clinician-scientist and epidemiologist working as a Professor of Medicine at Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore (and formerly at Yenepoya Medical College, Mangalore) in India. His research centers on tuberculosis (TB) and its interaction with undernutrition, social determinants of health, acute febrile illnesses, and non-communicable diseases. He leads large field-based studies - including trials of nutritional support in TB-affected households - and contributes to national and international technical advisory groups on TB and diagnostics.
Abstract
Undernutrition in children and adults continues to be a major public health problem in India, especially in lower-income groups who bear a disproportionate burden of diseases and their unfavourable outcomes. Tuberculosis continues to be the single largest cause of death due to a single pathogen in India, with 300,000 deaths annually. An estimated 2.7 million new cases occur annually in the absence of an effective vaccine. The nutritional status of a population and the individual is a powerful determinant of the occurrence of new cases as well as unfavourable outcomes in tuberculosis and many other infectious diseases. The RATIONS trial conducted in Jharkhand has been acknowledged globally as a landmark trial that has highlighted nutritional improvements as a powerful tool in TB prevention and care, and led to changes in WHO Guidelines. Our talk will discuss the journey of research that led to the trial, the results of the trial, and the broader implications of nutritional interventions to reduce the burden of communicable as well as key non-communicable diseases in India.