Dr Rajagopal is the director of the WHO Collaborating Center at Trivandrum, Kerala for Policy and Training on Access to Pain Relief, and the founder-chairman of "Pallium India".

His initiatives to remove regulatory barriers in availability of oral morphine for pain relief have contributed significantly to the recent Amendment of the NDPS Act of India in 2014. His initiative has also contributed to the development of a Government policy on Palliative Care in the state of Kerala in 2008 and Government of India's National Palliative Care Strategy in 2012.

In 2014, Human Rights Watch honored him with Alison Des Forges award for "Extraordinary activism in promoting the notion that denial of pain relief is a violation of human rights".

In 2017, a documentary film titled "Hippocratic: 18 experiments in gently shaking the world" based on Dr. Rajagopal's contributions to palliative care was released by Moonshine Agency, Australia (http://hippocraticfilm.com/). In 2017, he was named one of the 30 most influential leaders in hospice and palliative medicine by American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM).

In 2018, Dr Rajagopal was honored with Padma Shri, the third highest civilian award given annually from Republic of India.

Prof. Rajiv Sarin is the Former Director of Advanced Centre for Treatment Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC), Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai.

He is In-Charge of the Cancer Genetics Unit & Professor of Radiation Oncology at the Tata Memorial Centre. Trained in Clinical Oncology & Radiation Oncology at The Royal Marsden Hospital & Tata Memorial Hospital, he has over 2 decades of experience in Oncology. His research interests include Cancer Genetics, Breast cancer, Technology development & Public health.

He has about 100 scientific publications pertaining to cancer management, cancer genetics and radiotherapy. He established the first Indian comprehensive Clinical & Laboratory Cancer Genetics services at the Tata Memorial Centre and leads the ICMR Centre of Advanced Research in Cancer Genetics and Genomics at ACTREC.

He serves as a member of the Ethics and Pathology working groups of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC). In his capacity as an expert advisor in various committees and task forces of Indian medical and scientific funding bodies like CSIR, ICMR, DBT and in various developing world forums he has contributed towards developing Cancer Control, Cancer Research and low cost technology development programmes in these regions. As the leader of one of the very few Comprehensive Cancer Research Centres in the developing world and as the executive editor of main cancer journal from the developing world - Journal of Cancer Research & Therapeutics (JCRT), he has championed the cause of open access to medical literature and public health issues such as access and cost of cancer care.

Dr Madhukar Shukla is Chairperson, Fr Arrupe Centre for Ecology & Sustainability and Professor (Strategic Management & OB) at XLRI Jamshedpur (India), and has keen research and teaching interest in the development sector and social entrepreneurship. He serves on the Board of School of Management & Labour Studies, TISS, and is a member of the Board of Governors of XLRI Jamshedpur. Madhukar is on jury for the oikos Case Competition on Social Entrepreneurship, and is also a Member, Livelihood India Advisory Group. He has been the Conference Coordinator for the National Conference on Social Entrepreneurship since 2009-2017.

Madhukar holds a Masters degree in Psychology from Lucknow University and is a PhD from IIT, Kanpur. Prior to Joining XLRI in 1990, he has worked with National Productivity Council and Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad. He was also a visiting faculty to ESADE, Barcelona during 1993-94.

Raghu has been enquiring into three questions relentlessly in his life, these are how does one become the best that one can be? How do organizations and groups become the best that they can be? What does it mean to be an Indian?

This quest has led to more than a decade of intense study of Yoga with Yogaachaarya T Krishnamaachaarya and Desikachar. During this period he also had the opportunity to interact deeply with J.Krishnamurti and learn Process Work from Prof. Pulin K. Garg. He obtained his Postgraduate Degree in Bio-Medical Engineering from IIT Madras during this time for which he studied the application of Yoga and Praanaayaama in curing back pain. He has published a very well received book "Learning Through Yoga".

Raghu Ananthanarayanan has co-founded Sumedhas Academy for Human context, The Barefoot Academy for Governance and FLAME TAO Knoware (Pvt. Ltd); He serves on the board of several companies. He is now engaged in mentoring a young group of "sacred activists" called Ritambhara, as well as co-creating a platform of Yoga Teachers from the Krishnamaachaarya Tradition called "Ananta Yoga". He is also associated with YogaVahini, a training and healing centre that specializes in offering Yoga teacher training and therapist training programs.

Dr. Roop Gursahani is currently a Consultant Neurologist and Epileptologist at the P.D.Hinduja National Hospital, Mumbai.

He passed his MBBS (1981) and MD (1984) from the Government Medical College, Nagpur; DM in Neurology in 1988 from GMC and JJ, Mumbai. He was Head of the Department of Neurology at Nair Hospital and T.N.Medical College from 1991 to 1994 and Honorary Assoc Prof in Neurology at Grant Medical College & Sir JJ Hospital 1998-2012.

In addition to Clinical Neurology, his main interest is in Epilepsy and EEG. He is associated with the Epilepsy Clinic on the Lifeline Express. He is a founder trustee of FINE (Forum for Indian Neurology Education) which organizes teaching courses in Neurology. He is on the steering committee of ELICIT, the interdisciplinary task force of intensivists, palliative care physicians and neurologists for End of Life Care in India.

Apoorva Gupta Jalan is the founder of In.Breath, and has been studying and teaching yoga, facilitating healing and personal journeys for individuals for over a decade now. Her journey has been one of tremendous growth and personal transformation, and she has found these practices and philosophies to be an empowering source steering her health, inner growth and evolution.

She has trained extensively as a Yoga Acharya and Yoga Vaidya (Therapist) in the tradition of Sri.Krishnamacarya. She is also a Reiki Master and a Breathwork Therapist. In her work, she brings together passion, conviction, and experience, offering the ancient wisdom and tools of Yoga in today's language and context. She is particularly passionate about the power of working with the breath to deal with physical and mental/emotional aspects of our lives.

Over the years, Apoorva has done a wide range of work- from taking personalized classes, to taking large group classes in schools, colleges and corporates all over India, to conducting workshops and talks both in India and abroad. As she herself puts it, she is willing to be anywhere to support others in bringing these practices into their lives.

Gaurav Suri provides leadership to the marketing and communication functions along with BIU & Digital Eco System for the UTI Asset Management Company Ltd. He is a member of the AMFI financial literacy committee and leading communication development on "MF Sahi hai " campaign.

His previous assignment was as Director Marketing and Product Development, Metlife. Having worked with a variety of companies such as FMCG Majors (Britannia Industries Limited-Danone group and Perfetti Van Melle} and the Insurance industry, he has over 23 years of diverse experience.

After completing his Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical} from Regional Engineering College, Bhopal he went on to earn his MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur.

"Cure sometimes, relieve often, comfort always!"- a quote by Hippocrates, I really relate to!

Even though, most of us in the medical profession strive towards this, we often ignore the care-givers of our patients.

As a practicing paediatrician initially and now as a Pediatric Hemato-Oncologist, I have personally seen and experienced the amount of stress, pressure, anxiety and mental turmoil the parents (and/or care-givers) have about their children afflicted by life-limiting illness.

Through the platform of Caregiver Saathi™, I hope to touch more lives and ensure good quality of life, not only for the patients directly but also to the caregivers who in most situations get ignored.

Mustafa has worked in both Corporate and Social sectors for over 30 years. He has worked in social organisations at the field and board levels.

He has promoted micro-livelihoods in poor communities. He has promoted poultry farming and organising village level families into clusters and federations and creating viable enterprises owned by them. He continues his association with the social sector by being on the Boards of a couple of NGOs and acts as advisor and consultant to a couple more.

In industry, he has gained experience as a Trainer and an Organisational Development Consultant. He focusses on HR strategy and policy, structuring and culture building.

He has run profit centre operations in India and UK. He headed businesses in Consulting and Recruitment. He has set up from scratch operations for these units.

He has worked in the following organisations so far – Bradma, Modi Xerox, Pradan, Ma Foi and Innobridge.

He is a fellow of Sumedhas, a society for human context.

He has a post-graduate diploma from XLRI, Jamshedpur.

Roop Sen is a researcher and facilitator, who is a founding member of a non profit organisation Sanjog (www.sanjogindia.org), and also consults with organisations and governments (www.changemantras.in). He specialises in the intersectional space of migration, youth and violence and has worked in India, Bangladesh and Nepal.

Roop has anchored 9 researches on human trafficking that studied causalities and vulnerabilities, response mechanisms and its effectiveness and systems of criminal justice and social welfare in addressing survivors and the vulnerable populations. He is a member of the Central Advisory Committee on Human Trafficking, and standing committees and the Interministerial Committee that has drafted a new law on human trafficking in India.

• • Senior Consultant, Department of Palliative Medicine and Supportive Care Kasturba Medical College and Hospital, Manipal

• • Full-time Faculty and Consultant, Palliative Care Training Program for Cancer Treatment Centers in India

• • Honorary Tutor, School of Medicine, Cardiff (UK)

• • Member of the Clinical Consultative Committee, PALCARE, Mumbai

Dr. Seema Rao completed her postgraduate studies in Psychiatry in the year 2001 from Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore. Her work in the field of mental health involved working with the vulnerable and abandoned – the destitute elderly, those with dementia, and chronic mental illnesses in Mumbai. She completed the ‘National Fellowship in Palliative Medicine’ in 2013 and joined Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai as a Senior Research Fellow in the Geriatric Palliative Care Project. During her tenure of six years at Tata Memorial Hospital she was responsible for the clinical and administrative functioningof the 13-bedded inpatient respite palliative care facility. Dr. Rao completed her Masters in Palliative Medicine with distinction from Cardiff University, United Kingdom in January 2019.

She was awarded the Commonwealth Scholarship to pursue her MSc. She is currently working as a Senior Consultant in the ‘Department of Palliative Medicine and Supportive Care’ at Kasturba Medical College and Hospital, Manipal. She is also an Honorary Tutor at School of Medicine, Cardiff University, UK. She is a full-time faculty and consultant with the Palliative Care Training Program for Cancer Treatment Centers in India, which is a collaborative effort of Lien Collaborative for Palliative Care, Asia Pacific Hospice and Palliative Care Network, AIIMS - New Delhi, and Kasturba Medical College and Hospital, Manipal.

As a palliative care physician her role encompasses management of physical symptoms in advanced cancer patients, psychosocial care of patients and their caregivers, and end-of-life care. Her special focus of interest is psycho-spiritual care. A physician by profession and a writer by choice, she pens her creative thoughts in her blog https://randommusings69.wordpress.com

Dr Rajam Iyer is a pulmonologist and palliative care physician with Bhatia and Hinduja Hopitals. She has completed MRCP (UK), DNB, MD and has been a practicing Pulmonologist for 25 years. Her aim is to provide good quality healthcare in a compassionate manner. She believes that educating patients and their families is the key to improving healthcare in India.

Narendran is an Organisation Development consultant. He writes from time to time on matters that strike a chord or touches a raw nerve in him.