Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health honours Dr Cyrus Poonawalla

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has awarded the Dean’s Medal to Serum Institute of India (SII) Chairman, Dr Cyrus S Poonawalla for his outstanding work in developing and delivering affordable vaccines and contributing to the Indian biosciences industry for decades now. The honour was presented to Dr Poonawalla during the Convocation ceremony held on May 21, 2022. Past award winners include social justice advocate Cheryl Dorsey, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Laurie Garrett and former Baltimore Health Commissioner Leana Wen. Founding the Serum Institute of India (SII) in Pune in 1966, Dr Cyrus Poonawalla’s foresight has helped SII achieve global leadership in terms of production with 4 billion doses annually. SII had partnered early on with UNICEF and the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO). Its measles vaccine supply to UNICEF and PAHO between 1990 and 2016 has prevented 22 million deaths.