Host Institution USA: JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research

Javad Anjum

Dr. Javad Anjum is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Special Education at the University of Georgia. He earned an MBBS, a bachelor’s in medicine, and a bachelor’s in surgery, in India. He subsequently worked as a junior resident in the Department of Psychiatry and later pursued clinical research in the Department of Neurophysiology at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru, India. He then completed an MEd in educational research and evaluation and a PhD in speech-language science, both from Ohio University. Dr. Anjum also holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology (CCC-SLP) from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).

Dr. Anjum’s overarching research agenda focuses on enhancing cognitive and communication outcomes for individuals affected by aphasia, a language disorder that often occurs after focal brain damage such as a stroke, and for individuals with dementia, a neurodegenerative condition that commonly affects both cognition and communication. He approaches this work through three interconnected lines of inquiry: examining the cognitive and lexical-semantic mechanisms that underlie language performance in people with aphasia and dementia; advancing equitable, person-centered neurorehabilitation models for multilingual people with aphasia and dementia; and developing interdisciplinary training programs to strengthen clinical service delivery for people with aphasia and older adults experiencing cognitive decline and dementia. His Fulbright-Nehru Scholar Award extends this third line of inquiry.

The aim of Dr. Anjum’s six-month Fulbright-Nehru flex project is to develop, implement, and evaluate an interdisciplinary cognitive enhancement program for older adults in Mysuru district. Toward this, it is tailoring evidence-based cognitive stimulation activities (brain exercises) that are culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate for Indian families. Graduate students in public health and speech-language pathology are also part of the project; they are being trained to implement the program in 25 households, scaling up to an additional 50 households through telepractice at no cost to the recipients. The project is expected to create a sustainable model to improve cognitive health and delay dementia among older adults in India.

Aditya Yelamali

Aditya Yelamali holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and anthropology with a concentration in global health and environment from Washington University in St. Louis. Throughout his academic journey, he has worked on a number of pursuits that aim to utilize scientific inquiry to make a longitudinal impact on research and public health efforts. He has conducted both clinical and translational research in hematology/oncology, with a focus on exploring innovative and less toxic conditioning strategies and compounds for blood transplantation; this has resulted in several publications and presentations. Aditya also founded and leads Hearts for Arts, an organization dedicated to providing healing and arts-based activities for children in the St. Louis area; this organization has forged partnerships with various establishments throughout St. Louis to make a positive impact on hundreds of youth and pediatric patients by providing spaces for healing and interaction, and also improving mental health through trauma-informed care. Aditya’s dedication to social justice and public health extended to his work as a St. Louis Fellow Scholar with the Gephardt Institute, where he spearheaded efforts to combat HIV-related stigma. Inspired by his experiences working with frontline HIV workers, Aditya’s senior thesis delved into the intricacies of care delivery.

Aditya’s Fulbright-Nehru Research project is focusing on understanding the barriers and decision-making factors that influence adolescents seeking mental healthcare in Mysuru, Karnataka. The project is addressing the lack of dialogue on mental health between parents and adolescents, particularly in culturally sensitive contexts. In collaboration with JSS Medical College, the study is exploring parental hesitancy and gender dynamics that affect adolescent mental healthcare access. Through qualitative research involving interviews with parents, educators, and adolescents, Aditya’s project is identifying the factors that perpetuate stigma, thereby informing interventions to enhance mental health literacy. This research will contribute to global discussions on adolescent mental health disparities and promote community-based approaches toward reforms.

George James

Prof. George James received his PhD in history and philosophy of religion from Columbia University in 1983. He served on the faculty of the University of North Texas from 1983 until his retirement and appointment as Professor Emeritus in 2020. In addition to his research on the activism and environmental philosophy of Sunderlal Bahuguna, titled Ecology Is Permanent Economy (State University of New York Press, 2013; Motilal Banarsidass, 2020; Hindi transl., 2022, Kannada transl., 2022), he is the author of Interpreting Religion (Catholic University of America Press, 1995), a study of phenomenological approaches to religion, and the editor of a volume of essays titled Ethical Perspectives on Environmental Issues in India (APH Publishing Corporation, 1999). For the past 30 years, he has been researching and publishing in the areas of comparative environmental philosophy and environmental movements in India. His research has been published in such journals as Zygon, International Philosophical Quarterly, and Worldviews. He has also contributed to the Encyclopedia of Religion, the Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature, and the Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy. He is interested in the relationship between the environmental values embedded in Indian religious traditions and environmental movements in India.

The Appiko Movement of Karnataka emerged in 1983 as a response to the degradation of the natural forests of the Western Ghats. Inspired by the non-violent ways of the Chipko Movement of the Western Himalaya, Appiko supported the forest biodiversity that sustained village economies. The concern for forest diversity led to projects that addressed the issue of the income of the forest dwellers. It also initiated legislation that limited environmental degradation in the Western Ghats and endorsed village sustainability. In his Fulbright-Nehru project, Dr. James is employing archival research, interviews, and visits to Appiko project sites to produce a monograph on the origin, development, and achievements of the movement.