Dr Ruchi Saxena
Public Speaker | Writer | Independent Director | Consultant | Researcher | Mentor | Lifelong Learner
Dr Ruchi Saxena
Mumbai, India
Introduction
Dr Ruchi Saxena is the Founder-Director of Caerobotics - a social impact consultancy that helps large-scale adoption of emerging technologies such as drones and geospatial data for public health, disaster risk reduction and sustainable development projects.
She is a medical and management graduate, a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, a quality systems auditor and a certified professional coach.
She has worked with diverse technologies that strengthen health systems and helped design processes and protocols for lean operations of public health facilities. She has built national and global multilateral collaboration networks. She coordinates and facilitates knowledge-sharing events at a global scale. She works with academics, policymakers, think tanks, global non-profits, and private companies. She has mentored on national and international-level hackathons and student-led events.
She is building a dedicated deep learning model for supporting women's health through local language support with a generative-AI chatbot, and data-driven evidence-based research on non-communicable diseases in women.
She has been awarded the 'People's Choice Award' in the 'Disruptor' category at Airwards and was among the '50 Women in Robotics You Must Know About' list in 2021.
She is a Chevening Scholar (2022-23) and an alumnus of the University of Oxford.
Expertise
Partnership building
Stakeholder engagement
Cross-cultural networks
Multistakeholder collaboration
Strategic planning
Program management
Capacity Development
Technology and Knowledge Transfer
Gap Analysis
Process and System Audits
Monitoring and Evaluation
Continual Improvement.
Design Thinking
Human-centered Design
Data Modeling
Event Facilitation
Community-led Project Designs
Inclusive Development
Participatory Research
Emerging Technologies
International Health
Tropical Medicine
Infectious Diseases
Alternative and Traditional Medicine
Drones
Data and Analytics
AI
Generative AI
Geospatial Intelligence
Digital Health
Telemedicine/ Telehealth
Public Health Data Models
Key Roles
Founder-Director, Caerobotics
Lead, Project FEMINA
Facilitator, Global Voices on Drones in Development Podcast
Director, Global Alliance on Health Research and Innovations
Director, Global Alliance on Drones in Development
Advisor, Chetanalaya
Director, Cloud-n-Care eHealth Technologies
Mentor, Girls in Tech
Mentor/ Jury, Corona Health Hackathon
Ex-Director, India Flying Labs
Ex-Director, Karuna Healthcare
Ex-CEO, International Society for Quality and Safety in Healthcare
ExConsultant, Danish Red Cross/ Ministry of Health (Nepal)
Ex-Senior Manager, Dr Batra's Healthcare
Key Projects
Medical Intelligence and Network Analysis (MINA)
FEMINA DLM
Building a localised deep learning model and medical intelligence application for women's health and longevity.
With Global Alliance on Drones in Development, expanded the knowledge-sharing platform to 37 countries with 50+ partners.
Advanced Course on Drones in Development
Designed, facilitated and delivered a 30-day hands-on live online course with 40+ topics, for a cohort of 120 people from 37 countries in 2 batches.
International Conference on Drones in Development
Designed, convened and facilitated a 3-day online conference with 30+ speakers from 25 countries and 15 tracks.
Drones and Data in Sustainable Development
Facilitated and delivered a live in-person workshop in Mumbai for understanding challenges and opportunities for applications of drones in sustainable development.
Capacity Building Framework for Drones in Development
Published a framework for grassroots capacity building in the countries of the global south for adopting drones in development.
With India Flying Labs, build an active network of 200+ professionals and 40+ partners in India to accelerate adoption of drones.
UAV Task Force
Built a community of 200+ drone pilots across India for responding to climate emergencies.
Co-Creating Sustainable Futures with Drones and AI
A 3-day workshop at IIT Delhi to build India's ecosystem for adopting drones for good.
Cyclone Fani Drone Data Response
Coordinated the first project to demonstrate use of drones and AI in damage assessment.
Drones and Data in Disasters
Designed, organized and facilitated a 5-day hands-on workshop on use of drones and data for disaster response in Odisha, Nagaland and Maharashtra.
Drones for Daughters
Enabled an inspiration and knowledge sharing for girls for careers in STEM, aviation, and robotics.
Project WINGS
Enabled a capacity building program for young adults from schools to learn about drones and their applications in development sector in the most fun way.
With Danish Red Cross, designed pre-hospital medical referral protocols for emergency response of medical teams, hospitals, ambulances, and emergency operations centers, to mass fatalities and climate emergencies or Far-West Nepal alongside Ministry of Health, Ministry of Home Affairs and Nepal Red Cross Society.
With the International Society of Quality and Safety in Healthcare, facilitated launch of certification and accreditation programs in 17 countries in healthcare quality, nursing quality, biomedical quality and pharmaceutical quality.
With British Standards Institution, conducted quality audits of hospitals, clinics and labs in Mumbai.
With Dr Batra's, built the foundation of data-driven quality of care protocols.
Clinic Management System
Tested, help in blueprinting of processes, and overall user friendliness of the CMS. Then helped in launch, change management, training, and user support for medical teams.
Medical Audits and Quality Management
Monitored the quality of cases, prescriptions, and follow-ups, with training of doctors and medical teams, to improve overall treatment and service quality.
Patient Experience Research and Medical Protocols
Led in-depth research on patient experience and designed medical protocols and service standards according to the research outcomes.
Medical Operations Data Intelligence
Designed and monitored data intelligence systems for monitoring medical operations and protocols.
EDUCATION
MSc International Health and Tropical Medicine, University of Oxford
MSc International Health and Tropical Medicine
2022 - 2023
University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Chevening Scholarship
Key Topics:
International Development and Health
Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, Child, and Adolescent Health,
Vaccinology
Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Bioethics
Health Policy and Health Systems Research
Social Science Research Paradigms and Tools
Global Health Research and Practice
Experimental Medicine
Environmental Health
Leadership and Change Management
Dissertation: Community Engagement Methods in Health Systems Strengthening for Resilience to Climate Change
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine (MD Hom)
2005-2010
Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, India
Specialisation:
Homoeopathic Repertory and Therapeutics
Research Methodology
Dissertation: Utilisation of Homoeopathic Therapeutics in the Treatment of Autism
Masters in Business Administration
Masters in Business Administration (MBA Health Care Services)
2008-2010
Sikkim Manipal University, India
Specialisation: Healthcare Services, Finance, Marketing, Human Resources, Operations Research
Dissertation: Utilisation of Homoeopathic Therapeutics in the Treatment of Autism
Bachelor in Homoeopathic Medicine and Surgery
Bachelor in Homoeopathic Medicine and Surgery (BHMS)
1999-2005
Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, India
Key Topics: Clinical Medicine, Surgery, Therapeutics, Philosophy, Pathology, Preventive and Social Medicine, Forensics, Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry
Internship Project: Autism
CERTIFICATIONS
Certified Independent Director
Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs
Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt
Juran Academy
Certified ISO 9001:2015 Lead Auditor
British Standards Institution
Certified NABH Internal Counsellor
Quality Council of India
Professional Diploma in Coaching
Austin Peay University
Social Intrapreneurship for Innovation in Health and Wellness
Ashoka Changemakers
Precision Medicine
University of Geneva
Health in Complex Human Emergencies
Emory University
Responsible AI for Digital Leaders
Google Cloud
Strategy and Game Theory for Management
Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
Systems Thinking in Public Health
John Hopkins University
Infectious Diseases Transmission Models for Decision Makers
John Hopkins University
CASA Remote Pilot Online Training
Global Drone Solutions
Human-Centered Design
Ideo
Design Thinking - Prototyping
Ideo
Drones in Humanitarian Action
WeRobotics
Medical Cargo Drone Delivery
WeRobotics
Remote Sensing for Environment and Biodiversity
NASA
AidRobotics
MIT/ Penn University/ / Direct Relief/ WeRobotics
HealthRobotics
MIT/ Penn University/ / Direct Relief/ WeRobotics
Rapid Response Drone Data
Scholar Farms
Building Customer Focused Organizations
Indian School of Business
SheMaps EduDrone Trainer Training
SheMaps/ WeRobotics
Panel discussions/ Presentations/ Conferences
Global AI Summit
Drones and Data in Disasters
SIDRA, Riyadh, 2022
Global AI Summit - Now, Next, Never
AI Ethics in Emerging Technologies
SIDRA, Riyadh, 2024
WeRobotics Regional Meet
Opportunities for Drone Ecosystem for Climate Resilience in India and Indian Subcontinent
Rockefeller Foundation, New York, 2019
India Economic Summit
Drones for Public Health Panel
World Economic Forum, New Delhi, 2019
India Economic Summit
Women in Leadership
BBC Worklife, New Delhi, 2019
Patient Safety Conference
Building Quality through Process Excellence
Fundación para la Seguridad del Paciente, San Tiago, 2017
Other Key Presentations At
IIT Roorkee
IISC Bangalore
Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok
Welingkar Institute
NITI Aayog
FICCI
NASSCOM
IEEE
BBC
Amity University
Drone Federation of India
Ministry of HRD (India)
ITU (Switzerland)
UNOCHA (US)
Chevening Alumni Association (UK)
Women and Drones (Australia)
Goethe Institut (Germany)
YourStory DevSparks (Pune)
Events Convened
Asia Pacific Peace Research Conference, Nepal, 2016
Chevening Health Hackathon, London, 2022/23
International Conference on Drones in Development, 2022
Advanced Course on Drones in Development, 2020/ 21
Co-creating Sustainable Futures with Drones and AI, IIT Delhi, 2019
Drones and Data in Disasters, Bhubaneshwar/ Mumbai/ Kohima, 2019
Drone Leadership Summit, 2021
UAV Task Force Meetings, 2018
Drones and Data in Sustainable Development, 2022
Publications
Chapters: Mobile Technologies for Delivering Healthcare in Remote, Rural or Developing Regions: Chapter Author (2020)
Contributed to development of UN-OCHA's report, 'From Digital Promise to Frontline Practice: New and Emerging Technologies in Humanitarian Action' (2020)
Recognitions
Chevening Award
FCDO, UK
50 Women in Robotics that You Need to Know About
Women in Robotics
People's Choice: Disruptor
Airwards
Mentors
Professional DBA Program
Roxbourg Institute of Social Entrepreneurship
Flying Labs Leadership
WeRobotics
Women on Boards
Aspire for Her/ USAID
EmpowerHer Program
UNDP/ Villgro
WEP-Unnati Program
NITI Aayog
Women on Boards
Aspire for Her/ USAID
Contact Me
For Appointments, Project Consultation, Speaking Opportunities, and Collaborations: