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In a tweet, Dr. Celine, of Tamil roots, said that she kept her caste name as “it is part of my history and identity, even if part of that history is painful.”
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and opposition party leader MK Stalin met on Tuesday to congratulate and wish the Indian-origin epidemiologist in the United States, Celine R. Gounder, who has Tamil roots. Celine, who is an assistant professor at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, was appointed to the COVID-19 Advisory Board of US President-elect Joe Biden. Another from South India who came to the task force is Vivek Murthy, the former American surgeon general. His family was originally from Karnataka. This marks his return to health policy after the Trump administration asked him to resign in 2017.
Congratulating Vivek Murthy of Celine and Karnataka origin, Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami wrote: “I am extremely happy that @celinegounder and @vivek_murthy have been appointed to the US National Pandemic Task Force to combat the # COVID19. They have both made India proud and I am very happy to learn that Dr. Celine Gounder is of Tamil descent. Best wishes to both of you. “
I am extremely happy that @celinegounder Y @vivek_murthy have been appointed to the U.S. National Pandemic Task Force. # COVID-19. They have both made India proud and I am very happy to learn that Dr. Linea Gounder has a Tamil heritage. Best wishes to both of you. pic.twitter.com/b6EkrmOKB8
– Edappadi K Palaniswami (CMOTamilNadu) November 10, 2020
DMK leader MK Stalin wrote: “Glad to hear about the appointment of Celine Gounder to President-elect Joe Biden’s National Pandemic Task Force to fight Covid-19. Glad to hear about the appointment of a woman of Tamil origin for this crucial working group. “
“Congratulations and best wishes,” Stalin added.
Glad to hear about the appointment of @celinegounder to President-elect Joe Biden’s National Pandemic Task Force to combat COVID-19. Happy to hear about the appointment of a woman of Tamil origin to this crucial task force.
Congratulations and best wishes. pic.twitter.com/qmMH7gjZQ9
– MKStalin (@mkstalin) November 10, 2020
Celine’s father, Raj Gounder, is from Tamil Nadu. She is a specialist and internist practicing HIV / infectious diseases, epidemiologist, journalist and filmmaker, according to her Linkedin page.
He received his BS in Molecular Biology from Princeton University, his Master of Science in Epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and his MD from the University of Washington. Celine was an Internal Medicine intern and resident at Harvard General Hospital in Massachusetts, and a postdoctoral fellow in Infectious Diseases at Johns Hopkins University. She was elected to the Infectious Diseases Society of America in 2016.
Acknowledging and thanking the wishes that were sent to her from Tamil Nadu, Celine in a Twitter thread explained why she continues to retain her caste name as her surname. “My father changed his name to Gounder in the early 1970s before I was born. My name is my name. It is part of my history and identity, even if part of that history is painful. I did not change my name when I received married. I’m not going to change it now, “he wrote.
My people in Tamil Nadu, India, are very proud: pic.twitter.com/xtFzCFNrdM
– Céline Gounder, MD, ScM, FIDSA (@celinegounder) November 10, 2020
(With inputs from IANS and PTI)
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