Rakesh Aggarwal assumed charge as director of the Centrally-administered JIPMER, Puducherry on January 1.

Earlier, Aggarwal was professor of gastroenterlogy in the Sanjay Gandhi PG Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, since 1991, a press release from JIPMER said. He has done a MBBS course and was an MD in medicine at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, and a DM in gastroenterlogy in the PG Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, the release said.

He has obtained a masters degree in epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, and undergone training in research at the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, USA, the release said.