First Indian American woman on presidential commission

Tuesday, 10 September 2002, 19:30 IST
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WASHINGTON: Indian American Vijayalakshmi Appareddy has become the first woman from her community to be appointed to a presidential commission. Andhra Pradesh-born Appareddy was selected by President George W. Bush to be a member of the Presidential Commission on Mental Retardation (PCMR). "I am very honoured and pleased not just for myself, but as an Indian American," Appareddy, 44, told IANS. She is the third Indian American and the first woman from this community to be appointed by Bush to a presidential commission. Two leading senators from Tennessee -- Bill Frist and Fred Thompson -- nominated her. Appareddy of Chattanooga, Tennessee, has 12 years of clinical experience and has taken leadership positions in local, state and national groups in the U.S. She and others will be formally appointed on September 23 at the White House. Appareddy, born in Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh, graduated from Osmania University in Hyderabad with four gold medals. She came to the U.S. after finishing her internship and two years of graduate training in obstetrics and gynaecology in India. She has done her fellowship training in child and adolescent psychiatry at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York. Appareddy is board certified in both adult and child and adolescent psychiatry. Appareddy noted that her experience had shown there was a higher level of psychiatric problems in mentally retarded people and she would like to focus on the psychiatric and emotional aspects of mental retardation while she is on the president's commission for two years ending May 2004. "I would be able to add that expertise since I am more certified in children and adults, and I treat people from the very young, including infants and mothers to those in their old age. I want to approach it as an integrated field." The PCMR is a federal committee acting to advise the president and the secretary of health and human services on matters relating to programmes and services for people with mental retardation. It coordinates activities between federal agencies and takes into consideration the lives of citizens with retardation. Appareddy is the daughter of doctor N. Balakrishna Reddy, who she said pioneered the plastic surgery unit in Andhra Pradesh.
Source: IANS