Dr Rakesh Aggarwal is Director of Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research, Puducherry since January 1, 2019.

Dr Aggarwal obtained his MBBS and MD (Medicine) degrees from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, and DM (Gastroenterology) degree from the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh. In addition, he has a Master’s degree in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK, and has received training in laboratory research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, USA. He has also been conferred with the degree of DSc (Honoris Causa). 

He joined the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI), Lucknow as a faculty member in Gastroenterology in 1991, and worked there in various capacities, including as Professor, till 2018, when he moved to JIPMER.

Dr Aggarwal is an eminent physician, teacher and researcher. He has been involved in research on clinical, epidemiology, laboratory and economic aspects of liver disease, in particular viral hepatitis, leading to nearly 350 publications and several awards. He is also interested in and has expertise in other areas, including vaccination, epidemiology, biostatistics, research methodology, scientific communication, journal editing, health economics including health technology assessment, and medical education. 

He is an elected fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy, National Academy of Sciences (India) and National Academy of Medical Sciences (India). He has also been the President of Indian Association for the Study of Liver (2018-2020) and is the immediate Past President of the World Association of Medical Editors. He has been associated with editing several journals, including as Editor of the Indian Journal of Gastroenterology and Associate Editor of the Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

He serves on several national and international panels and committees. He is currently a member of the WHO’s Strategic and Technical Advisory Group on HIV, viral hepatitis, and sexually transmitted infections (STAG-HHS; since 2017), WHO’s Immunization and Vaccines Related Implementation Research Advisory Committee (IVIR-AC; 2023 onwards), the WHO’s Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS; 2024 onwards), and has previously been a member of the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group on Immunization (SAGE; 2017-22). He is also the Chair of WHO South-East Asia Region’s Immunization Technical Advisory Group (SEAR-ITAG; since 2023).