This techie-doctor gives voice to Parkinson’s patients

VIJAYAWADA: Proper utilisation of advanced technology in medicine can really help reach out to the many in rural areas who have no access to proper medical care. USA-based Dr Raj Pallamothu, a digital health expert, has made this his passion. In fact, Raj is only the third from India to have a telemedicine certificate. Telemedicine, the practice of treating a patient remotely, through video conference is in itself very new in India.


Born in Guntur’s Brodipet, this techie-doctor has worked with the Ebola-affected in Africa. What most would see as a ‘risky affair’, Raj saw it as the best experience he has had in his life.

Now, his mission is to develop devices that could be a better communicator for patients with neurological problems like Parkinson’s disease. Raj’s father Pallamothu Narasimham is an orthopaedic surgeon and former faculty member of Guntur Medical College. Going into medicine somehow came naturally to Raj. However, he took a decision of his own. After his MBBS degree, his father wanted him to do his post-graduation in some super-speciality. However, Raj wanted to do something else, something new. “I always wanted to link technology with medicine. I flew to Australia in 1997 to catch my dreams. And it changed my life for ever,” he remembers. Healthcare system in developed countries is far more developed when compared to India.

The perception itself is completely different. “How many in India know that a smartphone can be very useful to monitor vitals? In fact, smartphone technology led to a boom to the world of healthcare devices,” Raj said. The doctor thinks that the primary need is to do away with the myths that work in people’s mind and doctors should work in sensitizing them. “Also, the government should work at developing and propagating use of technology in rural healthcare,” he added.

Raj started working a major mobile phone manufacturer and moved to the USA for his research. There, he started working with the World Health Organisation (WHO). He has gone around the world, handling technology in remote areas with WHO.