Geetika Srivastava, an IndianAmerican physician trained at AIIMS, is leading the American health regulator’s ‘Project Asha’ to increase cancer clinical trials in India.
Srivastava, a haematologist-medical oncologist and a medical officer at the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA), works as a regulator to review cancer drug applications and continues to treat patients with cancer. FDA’s ‘Project Asha’ aims to increase oncology clinical trial access in India as currently, only 1.5 per cent of global trials are conducted in the country.
Srivastava leads the project which originated from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US in June 2023, where he and US President Joe Biden pledged to ease India’s cancer burden by announcing commitments including convening a US-India Cancer Dialogue to advance the prevention, early “With Project Asha, we have interest in increasing cancer clinical trial access in India and enabling India to become an active partner in multinational global trials,” Srivastava said.
UD FDA has already begun conversations with various stakeholders, including Indian physicians, patients, regulators, and sponsors to understand the regulatory landscape and identify barriers that exist to bringing intervention oncology clinical trials in India. The possible timeline for kickstarting the project on ground has not been worked out but Srivastava hoped it would be announced soon.
Srivastava came to the US to pursue her Master of Public Health from the University of Texas and was involved with cancer research at MD Anderson Cancer Center during that time. She is trained at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, and well versed in India’s constrained public health system and local health issues at the grassroots level.
The objective of the project is to put India on the global map for conducting oncology clinical trials. However, before this, an ecosystem needs to be created. Project Asha comes from the vision of Dr Richard Pazdur, director of the FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence, following the US-India cancer dialogue in 2023.
“It is a great opportunity to lead Project Asha that brings together my knowledge in oncology and public health as well as my experience of training in India,” Srivastava added. She explained that a robust clinical trial ecosystem will enable India to access multi-regional trials, and this will also serve as a platform for Indian pharmaceuticals to grow to international standards.
