A unique philanthropic grassroots effort to reach out to younger school children and educate them on healthy eating and lifestyle, garnered strong support recently from high profile organizations.
The ALIGN Health Initiative acquired the partnership of the Global Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, GAPIO, led by its President, Padma Shri recipient Dr. Sudhir Parikh; the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, AAPI, led by Dr. Amit Chakrabarty, and WHEELS Global Foundation, WGF, led by Ratan Agarwal along with Raj Shah.
The June 17, 2026 pledge-signing event was led by Dr. Vikas Khurana, and hosted by The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education, represented by Michael Mahon, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Associate Designated Institution. The Wright Center trains future healthcare leaders while maintaining a strong commitment to community service, preventive medicine, and population health.
Dr. Vriti Khurana, founder of the ALIGN Health Initiative, explained what the program was about – a physician-led, school-based program that delivers interactive health education to children and adolescents. The program teaches core concepts in nutrition, movement, sleep, mindset, and lifestyle medicine in ways appealing to children. ALIGN partners with local schools to make preventive health education accessible and practical for communities. (Website: https://www.facebook.com/alignhi).
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Each of the major philanthropic organizations present at the pledge-signing event, committed to partner with ALIGN, promising to take the initiative nationwide and expand on a global scale.
In his video-message, Dr. Parikh said he was “very proud and privileged to become part of ALIGN” calling it a “great philanthropic partnership,” one which GAPIO would be happy to work with. He described GAPIO’s mission as a global organization representing some 1.4 million physicians of Indian origin, and having chapters in 60 countries. He also offered the support of his other philanthropic initiative as President of Life Global which builds schools in India for the disadvantaged, as well as his media organization Parikh Worldwide Media/ITV Gold, to send out the message of the ALIGN Health Initiative.
Dr. Chakravarty, President of AAPI, said he was “totally amazed” by the (ALIGN) initiative. “We are going to highlight this at the AAPI annual conference,” he added. “You will have an amazing presence” there, adding, “We’ve got ALIGN T-shirts also made.”
Ratan Agarwal noted how for WHEELS Global Foundation, health and education go together. “Nearly 100 doctors from US and India are helping us,” with projects ranging from telehealth to sanitary pads and low-cost medical diagnostic, post-partum depression, and a plethora of other medical needs. “We are almost in all 50 states” in the US, he noted. “WHEELS is fully committed to tackle the challenges,” and bring its capabilities to bear on ALIGN’s objectives, he added.
Vikas Khurana pointed out that WHEELS is planning to reach 20 percent of the Indian population by 2030.
Raj Shah, a cardiologist, passionate about what technology can do for healthcare, agreed with ALIGN’s vision that children are at the center of medicine. Positing the question, ”What’s in it for us?” Dr. Shah said, “We all got our success and resources from the community,” and now, as non-profits like WHEELS Global, it was time to give back to the community. The Wrights Center, he noted, will help reach the doorsteps of those we want to help. I am sure this (ALIGN) will take on like wildfire.”
Dr. Rajiv Jain spoke about the work of Akshaya Patra which has been serving 2.35 million nutritious midday meals to school children in India every year covering 25,000 schools. “We focus on education and nutrition. I say nutrition an dnot food. And we have brought that concept back to US, to community colleges here. ALIGN brings that perspective to children.” Jain said he was there to focus on the ALIGN initiative and expand it across the US.
Michael Mahon of the Wright Center praised the work of Dr. Vikas Khurana, emphasizing that, the “Power of Partnership” is what is going to drive these programs for “our children.” He said it was “deeply humbling” to be part of the effort.
Dr. Manju Thomas, a pediatrician by specialty, at the Wright Center, described the March 27, 2026, event at Riverside School in Scranton, PA, where 150 students were exposed to the ALIGN initiative – to know what constituted the foods they consumed, and how their sleep, their moods, depression, etc. were linked to food habits. She said even if only 3 out of the 150 children went home and changed their food habits, she would consider it a success. “We as pediatricians need to shift from the focus on infectious diseases to food habits and healthy living through healthy habits.”