Indian-American appointed as White House fellow

An emerging Indian-American leader in California, Anish Mahajan, has been nominated by US First Lady Michelle Obama for the prestigious White House Fellowship for the year 2009-2010. 34-year-old Mahajan, a health services researcher, is the only Indian-American to figure in the list of 15 outstanding young men and women selected from across the United States for this fellowship.

CNN's chief medical correspondent, Sanjay Gupta, was the other Indian-American to have bagged this fellowship earlier.Mahajan was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar and completed a Master of Science in Health Services at University of California Los Angeles. He has led innovative research collaborations between academic, government, and relevant stakeholder organisationson an array of domestic and international health policy issues.

"We are thrilled that these exceptional men and women will be joining us here in Washington for the next year," said Michelle Obama in a statement. "The programme not only allows for a variety of perspectives to come together, offering expertise and experience to benefit the administration's efforts, but these Fellows in turn carry what they've learned to their own communities to benefit Americans far beyond the walls of the White House," she said.

The White House said, Mahajan has given presentations and published numerous peer-reviewed articles on topics including HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, the private sector response to the South African AIDS epidemic, high-deductible health plans, and adherence to medications for chronic illnesses.

Mahajan's work has addressed health care challenges in the US, India, and South Africa. Mahajan has previously served as a consultant to The Ford Foundation and RAND Corporation. He is currently serving a two-year term as a publicly elected council member on a City of Los Angeles neighbourhood council. He is also Vice-Chair on the council's Public Policy Committee. Mahajan received a BA in Public Policy and MD from Brown University. He also earned a M.P.H. in International Health from Harvard School of Public Health.