Peter Patel

Founder and International Director of the Faculty of Disaster Medicine - India & Nepal

Dr Peter (Pankaj) Patel is a microbiologist with 22 years of track record in the biomedical and health care sector, with significant senior level teaching, management and leadership experience in academia and industry.

He has special interest in infectious diseases, epidemics and pandemics and disaster medicine. In 2017, he stepped down from holding a full-time GP contract holder to lead on international work in disaster medicine and strengthening Primary Care for developing countries with focus on commonwealth countries.

Peter is founder and International Director of Faculty of Disaster Medicine – India & Nepal, visiting Professor for Disaster Medicine at Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai, and Joint Chair of the Academic Development Board for Disaster Medicine of Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai, and Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (deemed medical university), Kochi, India.

Peter started working in post-disaster reconstruction and rehabilitation projects after the 1993 earthquake in Latur, India. Since then he has carried out significant work in the post-disaster recovery phase with a focus on health and education. His disaster work experience includes: Bangladesh floods (1998); Gujarat (1998) and Orissa (1999) cyclones; Gujarat (2001) earthquake; South Asian tsunami (2004); and more recently, the Kashmir floods (2014) and Nepal earthquake (2015). In 2002, Peter founded the ‘The National Institute for Pre-Hospital Care & Trauma Management’ at Ruby Hall Clinic (a major hospital) in Pune, India.

The Faculty of Disaster Medicine – India & Nepal was launched in 2015 from Pune with support from the UK’s National Association of Primary Care (NAPC) and the Research Centre in Disaster and Emergency Medicine of the Universitá del Piemonte Orientale (CRIMEDIM) in Italy. The base of the Faculty is in Birmingham, UK, and Peter was responsible for developing partnership support from Public Health England, Faculty of Pre-hospital Care of the Royal College of Surgeons (Ed), NAPC and CRIMEDIM.

Peter’s above work is as an unpaid Rotarian, building teams and programmes for humanitarian work. After leaving academia in 1994, Peter worked as an independent development consultant in biotechnology and joined NHS general practice in 2003. He held a number of leadership roles in Primary Care, which included Chair of South Birmingham Independent Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) Group, CEO of a Pathfinder clinical commissioning group (CCG), Leadership Champion for a regional deanery programme and Locality Lead and Primary Care Development Lead for Birmingham CCGs.

Peter was also the millennium President of Birmingham Rotary, President and Chair of Human City Institute – a local charity – and chair and trustee of University Hospital Birmingham Charities. He has been board member of NAPC for last nine years.