Lifetime Achievement Award for work in Acute Kidney Injury

Ravindra L. Mehta

Ravindra L. Mehta, MD, FACP, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine's Division of Nephrology and associate chair of clinical research at the UCSD Department of Medicine, has received the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) 2011 Shire Bywaters Award.

The award was established by the ISN to recognize lifetime achievement and outstanding contributions to the understanding of acute kidney injury in critically ill patients. It was awarded to Mehta at the recent biannual Acute Renal Failure Satellite Symposia, held in conjunction with the World Congresses of Nephrology.

An internationally recognized expert in acute kidney injury, Mehta directs the Acute Dialysis Program at UC San Diego Health System. His research has focused on the epidemiology and management of acute kidney injury (AKI) in critically ill patients.

His many contributions to the field have led to the development of citrate anticoagulation for continuous renal replacement therapies, formation of the Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN), diagnostic and staging criteria for AKI, and the development of guidelines for AKI management. He also initiated an international registry project involving 15 institutions from around the world, all contributing epidemiological information on AKI to help guide the design of new clinical trials.

Mehta is also chair of ISN's Committee on Acute Kidney Injury which seeks to raise awareness. Previously called acute renal failure, AKI is a rapid loss of kidney function. Its causes are numerous and include low blood volume, exposure to substances harmful to the kidney, or obstruction of the urinary tract.

Sewa International helps Bhutanese refugee student win Gates scholarship

Ram Siwakoti, a senior from Clarkston High School, Clarkston, GA, is one of the 1000 children chosen as a 2011 Gates Millennium Scholar in the US. The Millennium scholarship covers Ram's 4 years of college and graduate school expenses that are not covered by any other financial aid he receives. Ram received help from volunteers of the Sewa International USA, a leading Hindu-faith based nonprofit organization in achieving this rare honor. Ram happily recalls how Sewa volunteers assisted him and his community settle in America since the Bhutanese refugees arrived in 2008.

Dr. Sree Sreenath, president of Sewa International USA, praised Ram Siwakoti for his dedication and hard work in obtaining the scholarship. "Ram shows the way to Bhutanese and other under-privileged kids in this country that with a blend of focus, persistent efforts and community help it is possible to excel," Dr Sreenath said.

Inspired by his association with a Sewa mentor and a leading physician of Atlanta, Dr. Ravi Sarma, Ram is planning to attend medical school after college to become a neurologist. He made his career choice when he volunteered in the medical camps organized by Sewa International for the Bhutanese community in Atlanta. The Millennium scholarship ended Ram's anxieties about financing his college education as his parents were new immigrants to this country and did not have enough money to support him through college. As one among the 23,000 applicants to the Gates scholarship, Ram was not sure of his chances when applied but is very happy now as an award recipient.

Ram has been accepted to his school of choice, The Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. He recalls how Sewa volunteers provided him transportation to the Hindu Temple of Atlanta for his SAT training course. He also attended the SAT training organized by Sewa under its "Get Inspired Atlanta" program. The SAT courses helped his SAT score go up by 200 points to 1740.

Ram Siwakoti lives in an extended family in Clarkston, GA with his grand parents, parents, a brother and a sister. His sister is a trained medical assistant and brother a junior in Clarkston high school. He thanks his family for the consistent support he received despite difficult and challenging circumstances they faced in settling in this country.

Houston teacher is Regional Winner in Science Lab Challenge

Bhavna Rawal had also won an award in 2009.

Bhavna Rawal, a science teacher at Northbrook High School in Houston, Texas, has been named a regional winner in NSTA's Shell Science Lab Challenge.

This new competition for middle and high school science teachers encourages teachers of grades six to 12, who have found innovative ways to deliver lab experiences with limited resources, to share their approaches for a chance to win a $20,000 makeover package for their lab. Rawal is one of 17 regional winners, a press release said.

Five national winners will be chosen from the regional contestants and a grand prize winner will be selected from among them. Rawal and her school will receive donated science lab equipment or gift certificates, a grant to purchase additional science lab tools and resources and a $300 gift certificate to the NSTA bookstore.

UNA New York honors Ruchira Gupta for battling trafficking

An Indian was honored by the UN Association's New York chapter on May 11, 2011 for her nearly two decades of fighting for the rights of South Asian women and girls lured or sold into prostitution.

For 23 years Ruchira Gupta has worked as a journalist, activist and policymaker on issues related to violence against women and children. She has won an Emmy for "outstanding investigative journalism," founded Apne Aap, a grassroots organization of over 5,000 women and children trapped in or at risk to prostitution in India's red-light areas and slums and has provided policy support to the Indian government, UN agencies in Nepal, Thailand, Kosovo and New York, to name a few.

She sits on the Steering Committee for the Planning Commission of the Indian government for the 11th Five-year Plan and on the Working group of the Ministry of Women and Children. Her testimony to the UN Senate had a direct role in the passage of the "Trafficking Victims Protection Act, 2000." Her book on Confronting the Demand for Human Trafficking is being used extensively to train Indian law-enforcement officers to confront trafficking.