Dr. Kumar V. Udhayakumar doing lab work with Task Force partners. Credit: Kumar V. Udhayakumar
One Innovator Advancing Technology to Detect Diseases
Dr. Kumar V. Udhayakumar
A satellite in India in the 1980s inspired Kumar V. Udhayakumar to pursue a life-saving career.
“Professor R.M. Vasagam from my village was the first to build India’s first communications satellite,” said Dr. Kumar V. Udhayakumar, recalling the event from his childhood. “He studied in the village without proper school infrastructure, so that was an eye-opener for me. He was my role model throughout my career.”
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Dr. Kumar V. Udhayakumar outside of The Task Force for Global Health Headquarters
Photo Credit: Sumon Ray
From his youth, Dr. Udhayakumar was interested in the wonders of blood and the purpose it serves. A college professor recognized this curiosity and introduced him to Madurai Kamaraj University in southern Tamil Nadu, located in the same state where he grew up. The school’s Department of Immunology was established in 1976, making it the first of its kind among universities in India. This is where he gained knowledge that led him into the world of global health.
“I was so excited to get this information, and I was lucky enough to be selected to join that master’s program,” said Dr. Udhayakumar, who now leads The Task Force’s integrated serosurveillance program. “That’s how my entry into the field of immunology started. It was very serendipitous.”
Dr. Udhayakumar began his career in the United States in 1985 as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Six years later, he joined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Malaria Branch and spent more than 30 years there. During this time, he built the CDC’s first research lab in Kisumu, Kenya, with very limited resources.
Dr. Kumar V. Udhayakumar and his family in Kenya in 1998. Photo supplied by Dr. Kumar V. Udhayakumar
“At the time, there was no CDC lab system in Kenya, so when we went in 1992, we had to build a lab from the ground up,” he said. “There was no equipment, nothing. And our budget at the time was very limited. From this humble beginning, the CDC/Kenya Medical Research Institute was expanded with substantial investment. Now, it is one of the CDC’s biggest labs.”
Dr. Udhayakumar’s experience building this lab and gradually expanding services to test and treat people for malaria instilled in him a lasting sense of patience. This quality has served him well throughout his career. He eventually headed the Malaria Research and Development team at the CDC in Atlanta before joining The Task Force in 2023.
Dr. Udhayakumar’s team is currently working with partners from the private and public sectors to promote the commercial development of “integrated serosurveillance multiplex assay” kits that can test for hundreds of diseases using blood spots. This technology will allow public health professionals to understand immunity gaps in entire communities quickly and cost-effectively for preventable diseases. With the support of the Gates Foundation, his team is working with commercial manufacturer Tetracore, Inc. to develop kits for diseases such as HIV, COVID-19, mpox, and emerging infectious diseases such as Ebola, Marburg and others. His team has conducted pilot testing of mpox kits in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and is pursuing further collaboration in other parts of Africa, as well as India, Australia and South America. These efforts are just the start of the broad impact they expect this technology to have in strengthening global health security.
Dr. Kumar V. Udhayakumar attending a workshop with partners in Peru Photo credit: Instituto de Investigacion de Enfermedades Tropicales
“It has a lot of value for the future to understand the different burdens of infectious diseases,” he said. “Hopefully, we can help move this platform to be routinely used in the countries that need it most. That would be a huge achievement.”
Dr. Udhayakumar’s commitment to improving health and serving others runs in his family, as his wife and daughters have also worked for the CDC. He said he is passionate about mentoring the next generation of global health workers, regardless of whether or not they are family.
“I was fortunate to work with great students, fellows, graduate students and postdoctoral students during my CDC career. Many of them are leading public health experts now. So, that’s always a great feeling to see other individuals embrace public health and contribute to improving the lives of others.”