Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

Kiran Mazumdar was born on 23 March 1953 in Bangalore, Karnataka state, to Gujarati parents. She was educated at Bangalore's Bishop Cotton Girl's High School, graduating in 1968. She then attended Mount Carmel College, Bangalore, a women's college offering pre-university courses as an affiliate of Bangalore University. She studied biology and zoology, graduating from Bangalore University with a bachelor's degree in zoology in 1973. Mazumdar hoped to go to medical school, but was not able to obtain a scholarship.

Her father, Rasendra Mazumdar, was the head brewmaster at United Breweries. He suggested that she study fermentation science, and train to be a brewmaster, a very non-traditional field for women. Mazumdar went to Ballarat College, Melbourne University in Australia to study malting and brewing. In 1974, she was the only woman enrolled in the brewing course and topped in her class. She earned the degree as master brewer in 1975.

She worked as a trainee brewer in Carlton and United Breweries, Melbourne and as a trainee maltster at Barrett Brothers and Burston, Australia. She also worked for some time as a technical consultant at Jupiter Breweries Limited, Calcutta and as a technical manager at Standard Maltings Corporation, Baroda between 1975 and 1977. However, when she investigated the possibility of advancing her career in Bangalore or Delhi, she was told that she could not be hired as a master brewer in India because "It's a man's work." She began to look abroad for opportunities and was offered a position in Scotland.

Health

Rural areas in India are estimated to have only one doctor for every two thousand people, it is estimated that 70 million people do not have the money to pay for a doctor's visit or for medicine. The Biocon Foundation is involved in numerous health and education outreach programs to benefit the economically weaker sections of Indian society.

Arogya Raksha Yojana

With Devi Shetty of Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital, Mazumdar-Shaw has supported the development of Arogya Raksha Yojana (Health Protection Program/Health Help). Through this program Biocon Foundation establishes clinics to offer clinical care, generic medicines and basic tests for those who cannot afford them. As of 2010, seven clinics each served a population of 50,000 patients living within a radius of 10 km, treating in total more than 3,00,000 people per year. Clinics organize regular general health checks in remote villages by bringing in physicians and doctors from network hospitals. To improve early detection of cancer, they have trained young women as community health workers, using smartphones to send photographs of suspicious lesions to oncologists at the cancer center. Public health campaigns such as "Queen of Heart" educate people about specific health issues and promote early detection of problems such as cardiovascular diseases.

The clinics operate based on a model of micro-financed health insurance. Biocon provides low-cost drugs, making a negligible profit on a unit basis, but an overall profit on volume due to the participation of large numbers of people. Clinics also use a "subsidised convenience" pricing plan, under which more wealthy patrons pay full price in return for the convenience of scheduling their visits and procedures at desirable times, while poorer patients can obtain cheap or even free services by choosing less desirable times. Doctors and researchers look for opportunities to use cutting-edge technology in ways that will drive down costs and ensure quality of service.

In 2004, Mazumdar-Shaw started a corporate social responsibility wing at Biocon, the Biocon Foundation. The Foundation focuses on health, education and infrastructure, especially in rural areas of Karnataka which lack healthcare facilities.

Mazumdar-Shaw dislikes the term "philanthropy", believing that it often provides temporary fixes rather than addressing the root cause or the underlying situation. She prefers the term "compassionate capitalist", believing that properly applied business models can provide an ongoing foundation for sustainable social progress. Mazumdar once said, "Innovation and commerce are as powerful tools for creating social progress as they are for driving technological advancement. When they are put to use for social progress, the implementation is a lot cheaper, a lot more people benefit, and the effect is more lasting." In 2015, she joined The Giving Pledge, promising that at least half of her wealth will be dedicated to philanthropy.

Mazumdar-Shaw Medical Foundation

The death of her best friend, Nilima Rovshen, and the illnesses of her husband and her mother with cancer, have motivated Mazumdar-Shaw to support cancer research and treatment. In 2009, she established a 1,400-bed cancer care center, the Mazumdar-Shaw Medical Foundation, at the Narayana Health City campus in Bangalore, collaborating with Devi Shetty of Narayana Hrudayalaya. In 2011, she added a center for advanced therapeutics with a bone marrow transplant unit and a research center. Her goal is to create a world-class cancer center.

Mazumdar Shaw Medical Foundation is a non-profit organization and has two arms to support its cause, which are Mazumdar Shaw Center for Translational Research and Mazumdar Shaw Cancer outreach program.