Abhishek Suryawanshi

Abhishek Suryawanshi is the first visiting scholar hosted by the School of Data Science. His research interests include healthcare, accessibility, India, and languages. Specifically, Suryawanshi is passionate about increasing the accessibility of healthcare information in rural India. 

He is currently also the Director of Wikipedia SWASTHA, the Special Wikipedia Awareness Scheme for the Healthcare Affiliates. Wikipedia SWASTHA works to curate, translate, and disseminate vital healthcare information to rural communities in India. 

Prior to directing Wikipedia SWASTHA, he was a Media Advisor to the Consul General of India. Before that, Suryawanshi was a Communications Advisor for the United Nations, specifically in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN. In this position, Suryawanshi served in the United Nations General Assembly Third Committee and identified key targets for proactive public relations outreach. He also contributed to the Tuberculosis Draft Resolution which was adopted at the UN General Assembly and collaborated on several global communications projects. 

Suryawanshi earned his M.A. in Health Communication from Tufts University and another M.A. in Political Communications from Emerson College. He earned his B.S. in Pharmacy from the University of Pune.