CGHH welcomes Commonwealth Rutherford Fellow

Dr Namrata R Ganneri has been awarded the 23 month fellowship from the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, and funded by the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) through the Rutherford Fund, an accolade awarded to highly skilled researchers from Commonwealth countries for postdoctoral research. Namrata will be based in CGHH and the Department of History from 22 March 2018 to 21 February 2020.

Namrata’s research at CGHH will examine the pilot programmes for smallpox eradication in the Indian state of Goa. Her project entitled ‘India’s Smallpox Eradication Programme as a Global Roadmap’ hopes to argue that the contact-tracing based vaccination strategy that expunged smallpox globally was actually developed through the pilot programmes within India. Her work would offer a fuller picture of the global history and narrative of smallpox eradication and insights into the role of international agencies and workers in the fight against major communicable diseases like smallpox.

Namrata is on a two-year study leave from her position as Assistant Professor in History at SNDT College of Arts & SCB College of Commerce and Science for Women, Mumbai, where she has been employed since 2007. She completed her PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University with scholarships for postgraduate study as well as doctoral research. She has successfully completed major research projects awarded by the government as well as private institutional donors in India.

We welcome Namrata to the Centre and look forward to hearing the outcomes of her research!