Dr. Bhavani PK is Scientist D in the Department of Clinical Research at ICMR – National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis, Chennai which is an internationally recognized institution for Tuberculosis (TB) research. It is a Supranational Reference Laboratory and a WHO Collaborating Centre for TB Research and Training. Dr. Bhavani has a background in Medicine, Public Health and Biostatistics and has a vast work experience in the field of HIV and Tuberculosis. She was involved in conducting Randomised Controlled Clinical trials for the past 15 years. Her specific area of interest has been on Paediatric HIV, in particular pharmacokinetic studies on HIV-TB co-infected children and adults which had a significant impact on the national Programme and generated evidence for policy change. She has served as a Teaching Assistant and was involved in curriculum designing for NPTEL Online Certification course Manage TB for Doctors.

She is Site PI for Report India Phase II project and currently conducting an RCT Evaluating the safety, tolerability, PK & anti-bacterial activity of High dose RMP vs Conventional dose in NSP TB Patients and Evaluation of the cause of death among adult TB patients registered for treatment under Public sector in Chennai District of Tamil Nadu using Verbal autopsy. Also involved a Study to Evaluate the Effectiveness of BCG vaccine in Reducing Morbidity and Mortality in Elderly individuals in COVID-19 Hotspots in India.