Veruschka Pandey: The Youth Champion Bridging Research, Social Impact And Policy Reforms

Veruschka Pandey, a Class 12 student at The International School of Bangalore, represents the new generation of changemakers who blend innovation, research, entrepreneurship, and creative expression with empathy. Her trajectory seamlessly unites grassroots action under Project Suryanayak, a published study in PLOS Global Public Health, two registered patents for groundwater recharge system and storm water drainage and two acclaimed poetry collections, bridging science and soul in her role as a concerned citizen and WHO Youth Game-Changer.

Public-Health Youth Champion: Project Suryanayak

Veruschka founded Project Suryanayak to train frontline workers and citizens in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), a critical yet often neglected life-saving skill in rural India. The initiative has trained tens of thousands, including ASHA workers, making it India’s first youth-led project to influence state-level policy reform.

Aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Project Suryanayak fosters partnerships across public, private, and government sectors. Its impact was showcased in a documentary titled “The Heart is a Vessel” at the United Nations Headquarters, New York.

> “Our hearts are like vessels that hold empathy, love, and life. It’s our responsibility to save people from untimely death by educating them about CPR,” says Veruschka.

Through this initiative, she demonstrates how empathy-driven leadership can transform identified policy gaps into national movements for systemic change.

Research and Evidence: Study on Type 1 Diabetes with policy reform

Veruschka authored India’s first youth-led qualitative research study, “Invisible Inequities in Type 1 Diabetes Care in India: A Multi-Stakeholder Study from Karnataka,” published in PLOS Global Public Health.

Her research examined gaps in access and care for children and families living with Type 1 Diabetes (T1DM), identifying systemic failures including misdiagnosis, stock-outs of insulin, gender bias, and emotional stress. This study led to deliberations by the Government of Karnataka to integrate T1DM into its Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) program.

"Data without empathy is incomplete. Research without empathy is sterile,” Veruschka emphasizes, highlighting her belief that evidence must be rooted in compassion to drive real policy change"

Innovation and Sustainability: Groundwater Recharge Patent

Beyond public health, Veruschka’s innovation extends to environmental sustainability. Along with her sibling, she registered a patent for a rainwater-recharge system, believed to be India’s first of its kind, which diverts stormwater into aquifers through retrofitted drains.

The siblings second patent A SOLID SEGGREGATION GRILL FOR STORM WATER DRAINS defines A system and method for collecting solid contaminants from storm water drains.

These inventions reflects her broader vision of research-led innovation driving policy reform ; identifying system gaps, developing technological solutions, and aligning them with national sustainability goals. She embodies the mindset of a young policy entrepreneur, committed to improving community and environmental well-being.

Poetry as Advocacy: Where Words Meet Action

Veruschka’s creative expression complements her scientific pursuits.

Her debut anthology, “Tween Twilight” (written at age 12), explores social pressure, racism, body image, and the pandemic through a child’s voice.

Her second collection, “The Quiet Geometry of Chaos” (2025), delves into identity and emotional resilience, using poetry as a medium of activism.

Through her writing, she humanizes data and bridges policy with lived experience proving that art, like science, can drive empathy and awareness.

Veruschka says, “Although my books were nominally priced in order to reach larger audience specially youth, yet I succeeded in raising phenomenal funds that have completely been donated to UNICEF. The day I become financially capable and independent, some percentage of my earnings shall always go for charity because we all owe it to the society, our people and their developement.”

A Profile in Policy Entrepreneurship

Veruschka’s journey embodies five key dimensions:

Public Health Leadership : designing training programs, conducting research, and influencing policy at just 17.

Innovation for Impact : turning systemic challenges into actionable solutions.

Empathy in Evidence : blending compassion with rigorous data to create human-centered reform.

Cross-Sector Collaboration : bridging policy, research, and art through civic engagement.

Global Citizenship : representing India as a WHO Youth ambassador for NCDs and UN Youth Summit Speaker as well as PHFI Youth Champion.

The Road Ahead

Looking forward, Veruschka aims to scale her models, expanding T1DM policy integration to other Indian states and transforming Project Suryanayak into a nationwide movement. Her dual identity as a scientist-entrepreneur and poet-advocate makes her a symbol of India’s next-generation leadership: empathetic, informed, and reform-driven.

All her work is bound by one philosophy ; empowering people, reforming systems, and elevating empathy in policy. Veruschka Pandey stands as a young woman of substance, shaping a future where science meets compassion, and where youth leadership redefines change itself.