Manipal, 1^st July 2024: Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), India Institution of Eminence Deemed to be University, a leading Multidisciplinary University, has appointed Dr. Raviraja N. Seetharam, Director - Planning & Monitoring, MAHE, as Chief Operating Officer, MAHE, Manipal effective on July 01, 2024. Dr. Raviraja will focus on enhancing operational efficiencies of the non-academic functional departments of MAHE like General Services, Purchase, Projects, IT & Digital Transformation, Human Resources, Legal, Corporate Relations, Public Relations, Media & Social Media, Hostels and Campus Safety, which will report to him.

Dr. Raviraja earned his M.Sc. in Biosciences in 1993 and Ph.D. in Biosciences (Microbiology) in 1997 from Mangalore University. He has also completed an MBA in Operations Management. Further, he has received postdoctoral training at Mount Allison University, Canada, and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY, USA, where he also served as faculty until 2008. Following this, he joined Montefiore Medical Centre/ Albert Einstein Cancer Centre in New York City and worked there until 2010 as a faculty.

In 2020, he joined MAHE as Founding Director of Corporate Relations and was soon appointed Professor and Coordinator at the Manipal Centre for Biotherapeutics Research (MCBR). Under his leadership, MCBR has emerged as a leading research centre in MAHE and India. In March 2023, he was appointed as the Director - Planning & Monitoring, MAHE, Manipal.

Lt. Gen. (Dr.) MD Venkatesh, Vice Chancellor, MAHE, Manipal congratulated Dr Raviraja, saying, “Dr. Raviraja is the right choice for the position of Chief Operating Officer, due to his vast academic, research, administrative and industrial experience. In his role as Director of Planning and Monitoring at MAHE, he has worked closely with leadership in developing and monitoring vital strategies of the university. He had even served in the leadership roles of Manipal group company “Stempeutics Research” for a decade while being associated with MAHE as an adjunct faculty and PhD guide at Manipal School of Life Sciences. I trust he is well acquainted with the ethos and principles of the university”.

As a devoted scientist and having worked in fields like microbiology, cell and molecular biology, nano-biotechnology, cancer biology and regenerative medicine during his doctoral and postdoctoral period, Dr. Raviraja has more than 27 years of post-PhD research experience in diverse areas of biology. He was also the Principal Investigator/ Co-Investigator for many research projects funded by the American Lung Association, USA, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, USA, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, USA and Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India. He is a life member of the Mycological Society of India (MSI) and a member of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), USA.

Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, congratulates Dr. Raviraja N. S. and wishes him success in his new role.