In this episode of Medicine and the Healing Arts, hosts Profs. Michael Stanley-Baker and Ronit Yoeli-Tlalim speak with Dr Unnikrishnan Payyappalli, Professor and Dean of Research and Outreach at the University of Trans-Disciplinary Health Sciences and Technology in Bengaluru, India, about traditional medicine, the politics of medical knowledge and the future of global healthcare.
Drawing on his unusual journey from traditional Ayurvedic training to medical anthropology, international development and global health policy, Unnikrishnan explores the inequalities between different systems of medical knowledge. How can traditional healing practices be evaluated without losing sight of their cultural and philosophical foundations? And can new approaches to research, including whole-systems studies and real-world evidence, help bridge the divide between Ayurveda and biomedicine?
The conversation also examines the connections between biodiversity, medicinal plants and human health, and the importance of protecting not only endangered species but the communities and living traditions that sustain them.
Finally, Unnikrishnan Payyappalli introduces his vision for a ‘fourth tier’ of healthcare, rooted in community knowledge, ecological resources and local self-reliance. Together, they ask what a more inclusive, culturally sensitive and environmentally grounded approach to health might look like.
Medicine and the Healing Artsis a podcast from the MIT Global Humanities Initiative, exploring the global histories of medicine, healing, ritual and care.
Links and documents:
