Current designation

• Consultant (Infectious Diseases), Ruby Hall Clinic, Pune (Sep 2022 – present)
• Adjunct Faculty, Dept. of Infectious Diseases, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal

Educational qualifications

• All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi : DM (Infectious Diseases)
• All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi : MD (General Medicine)
• Kasturba Medical College, Manipal : MBBS and Internship

Additional qualifications

• MRCP (UK) part 2
• MRCP (UK) part 1

Awards

• During MBBS, awarded gold medals in Pathology (2012), Pharmacology (2012), ENT (2013) and Ophthalmology
  (2013) as well as awards for academic excellence for the first, second and final MBBS part-I professional
  examinations.
• During MD, awarded the Smt. Kirpal Kaur gold medal for best house physician in general medicine (2016)

Publications

1. Desai D, Khan AR, Soneja M, Mittal A, Naik S, Kodan P, Mandal A, Maher GT, Kumar R, Agarwal A, Gowda NR, HV, Kumar P, Pandey S, Pandey RM, Kumar A, Ray A, Jorwal P, Nischal N, Choudhary A, Brijwal M, Madan K, Lodha R, Sinha S, Dar L, Wig N, Guleria R. Effectiveness of an inactivated virus-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, BBV152, in India: a test-negative, case-control study. Lancet Infect Dis. 2022 Mar;22(3):349-356.
2. Desai D, Aggarwal A, Singh K, Naik SR, Kumar A, Kaur R, Wig N. Contact tracing in the hospital setting for COVID19: An experience from AIIMS, New Delhi. J Public Health Prim Care 2022;3:27-9.
3. Kadnur HB, Aggarwal A, Soneja M, Singh K, Mittal A, Nischal N, Tirlangi P, Khan AR, Desai D, Gupta A, Kumar A, Jorwal P, Biswas A, Pandey RM, Wig N, Guleria R. Hydroxychloroquine pre-exposure prophylaxis for COVID-19 among healthcare workers: Initial experience from India. J Family Med Prim Care. 2022 Mar;11(3):1140-1145.
4. Gupta A, Khurana S, Das R, Srigyan D, Singh A, Mittal A, Singh P, Soneja M, Kumar A, Singh AK, Soni KD, Meena S, Aggarwal R, Sharad N, Aggarwal A, Kadnur H, George N, Singh K, Desai D, Trilangi P, Khan AR, Kiro VV, Naik S,
   Arunan B, Goel S, Patidar D, Lathwal A, Dar L, Trikha A, Pandey RM, Malhotra R, Guleria R, Mathur P, Wig N. Rapid chromatographic immunoassay-based evaluation of COVID-19: A cross-sectional, diagnostic test accuracy study & its implications for COVID-19 management in India. Indian J Med Res. 2021 Jan & Feb;153(1 & 2):126- 131.
5. Mandal D, Desai D, Sinha S. High prevalence of plasma EBV DNA among the HIV positive individuals, with or without malignancies, attending the clinic at AIIMS, New Delhi. Virusdisease. 2021 Mar;32(1):137-139.
6. Vaithiyam V, Ranjan P, Desai D, Mittal A, Kapil A, Wig N, Biswas A. Risk factors of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections among patients admitted in a tertiary care hospital of north India. J Infect Dev Ctries. 2021 Apr 30;15(4):544-551.
7. Naik S, Haldar SN, Soneja M, Mundadan NG, Garg P, Mittal A, Desai D, Trilangi PK, Chakraborty S, Begam NN, Bhattacharya B, Maher G, Mahishi N, Rajanna C, Kumar SS, Arunan B, Kirtana J, Gupta A, Patidar D, Kodan P, Sethi P, Ray A, Jorwal P, Kumar A, Nischal N, Sinha S, Biswas A, Wig N. Post COVID-19 sequelae: A prospective observational study from Northern India. Drug Discov Ther. 2021 Nov 21;15(5):254-260.
8. Chopra N, Chowdhury M, Singh AK, Ma K, Kumar A, Ranjan P, Desai D, Wig N. Clinical predictors of long COVID19 and phenotypes of mild COVID-19 at a tertiary care centre in India. Drug Discov Ther. 2021;15(3):156-161.
9. Gupta A, Mittal A, Dhakad S, Brijwal M, Soneja M, Srigyan D, Xess A, Kumar A, Ray A, Meena VP, Garg RK, Singh K, Desai D, Chowdhury M, Chowdhury S, Sharma K, Narayan A, Krishnan GR, Naik S, Dar L, Pandey RM, Pandey S, Sinha S, Wig N. Gargle lavage & saliva: Feasible & cheaper alternatives to nasal & throat swabs for diagnosis of COVID-19. Indian J Med Res. 2021 May;153(5&6):665-670.
10. Kajal S, Reddy CS, Kumar A, Sharda R, Desai D, Ahmed A, Khan MA, Sivasree AJ, Manjunath MB, Kaur R, Wig N. Effectiveness of an institutional COVID-19 central sampling team during pandemic at a tertiary care centre. J Family Med Prim Care. 2021 Aug;10(8):2993-2997.
11. Tilangi P, Desai D, Khan A, Soneja M. Hydroxychloroquine prophylaxis for high-risk COVID-19 contacts in India: a prudent approach. Lancet Infect Dis. 2020 Oct;20(10):1119-1120.
12. Gupta N, Kodan P, Mittal A, Singh G, Netto G, Ramteke P, Malla S, Kumar R, Kumar TP, Singh K, Aggarwal A, Desai D, Soneja M, Xess I, Wig N. Role of Voriconazole in the Management of Invasive Central Nervous System Aspergillosis: A Case Series from a Tertiary Care Centre in India. J Fungi (Basel). 2020 Aug 18;6(3):139.
13. Tirlangi P, Khan AR, Desai D, Soneja M. False reassurance or inadequate drug levels? Indian J Med Res. 2020 Jul & Aug;152(1 & 2):121-123.
14. Praveen T, Desai D, Soneja M, Wig N. Immune dysregulation in COVID-19 and its therapeutic implications. J ClinSci Res 2020;9:37-41.
15. Desai D, Gupta K, Kumar R, Biswas A. Levosulpiride-induced neuroleptic malignant syndrome in rheumatoid arthritis. BMJ Case Rep. 2018 Aug 11;2018:bcr2018224679.

Other academic activities

• Contributed a chapter to the textbook titled “Post-COVID Clinical Issues and Management.” (1st Edition, CBS
  Publishers, 2022)
• Presented abstract at the 31st European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases –
  “Descriptive epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 infection among employees of a tertiary care medical institute in
  Delhi: lessons learnt from the first wave” (currently under publication).
• Contributed to the WHO-AIIMS Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis Training Module
• Reviewer for the following scientific journals:

1. Annals of Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobials (2021 impact factor 6.781)
2. Scientific Reports (2021 impact factor 4.996)