This research project will investigate the politics and ethics surrounding high-end diagnostic testing in India. Through interviews, participant observation, and group discussions with scientists and industry practitioners involved in this nascent, yet burgeoning industry, I will map two important sets of concerns in this field. The first is to do with pre-conception, pre-implantation and pre-natal genetic testing, important precursors to debates around genetic and social engineering. The second will look specifically at testing around ambiguous genitalia in newborn infants to understand how sex and gender discourses align with so-called bodily ambiguity. The discussions generated by these two forms of testing will feed into the researcher's larger interests in how class, race, and gender are both formative and transformed in the quest for future bodies free of defect and malfunction.

We intend to develop a point-of-care Quantum-dot (QD) based multianalyte biosensors that can be used for the management of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). The multianalyte biosensors will be developed for sensing glucose, urea, pH and electrolytes like sodium, potassium and bicarbonate. These biosensors will be housed in a micro-fabricated cuvette (completed) for low-volume plasma detection. The biosensor laden micro-fabricated cuvette with the plasma sample will then sensed for QD's fluorescence f or determining various analyte concentrations. The QD's fluorescence will be measured using an indigenously developed fluorescence reader. Indigenously developed fluorescence reader abides with the low-cost and affordability of the health-care need of India. The QDs that will be used include CdTe and CdTe-CdS-ZnS that are stabilized using appropriate ligands like mercaptopropionic acid and glutathione, depending on the sensing analyte. The first key goal is to develop and validate the three bios ensors (Glucose, Sodium and Potassium, and pH) essential for the management of DKA. After validation using plasma samples, second primary goal is to validate the sensors using the indigenously developed fluorescence reader. Other key goals include the development and validation of the urea and bicarbonate sensor along with the pilot validation of the complete device using a tertiary health-care centre.

This application is a part of an ongoing research project supported by the Wellcome Trust (Ref no.096389/Z/11/Z). I am currently working as a research associate with Professor VR Muraleedharan, who is coordinating the SP2 of this project. This research project has two major objectives: (a) to trace the introduction and diffusion of medical technologies (namely x-ray, incubator and anaesthesia) and (b) understand the role of clinical trials in the practice of medicine in early 20th Century in Bri tish India. So far, we have consulted the archival material on history of X-ray in Madras Presidency, and related secondary sources. The primary aims of this application are to make use of this grant for (a) consultation of the literature (pertinent to the two objectives of the above mentioned WT project) available at the Wellcome Library and British Library for a period 3 weeks and (b) to present a research paper at the forthcoming 24th International Congress of History of Science, Technology and Medicine (Manchester). The paper to be presented at Manchester conference is a direct outcome of the work already done for the above project.

The proposed visit ( from July 1st to 21st, 2013) is intended for an archival and library work at central London and at the University of Birmingham as part of my research which focuses on colonial Kerala (which included the princely states of Cochin and Travancore; and Malabar which came under Madras Presidency of British-ruled India), in analysing the historical renderings of the medical encounters in the region, the cross-cutting influences of missionary works and the launching of a nationali stic medical experiment. I intend to collect primary materials from India Office Records, The British Library London; Wellcome Trust Collections, London; CMS archives at the University of Birmingham and both primary and secondary materials from SOAS, London. Towards the end of the visit I would also attend the 24th International Congress of History of Science, Technology and Medicine at Manchester (22nd to 28th July, 2013) where I intend to network with experts and scholars in the field from di fferent parts of the world apart from presenting a paper too.

The proposed research is to complete the development of a self-actuated standing wheelchair. The goal is a design that is affordable and accessible to the vast majority of wheelchair users in India. The design will use user centric design inputs to build multiple prototypes based on user needs and feedback. Subsequently the design will undergo certification processes to ensure it is fit for the domestic and later the international market. Business development will be an integral part of the proj ect to ensure that the technology is adopted with and without government subsidy support