ABOUT

DASH FOUNDATION

The Dr. Dash Foundation, led by globally recognized scientist and philanthropist Dr. Sita Kantha Dash, is a charitable organisation with over 30 years of experience focusing on health, education, and social welfare. The Foundation supports initiatives in nutrition, probiotic research, and community development, and works closely with hospitals and academic partners to improve public health outcomes.

Founder: Dr. Sita Kantha Dash is a renowned probiotic scientist and entrepreneur — founder of UAS Laboratories and Chairman of Kalinga Hospital. Under her leadership, the Foundation has emphasised translational research, capacity building, and partnerships that bring science to community impact.

Key initiatives include the establishment of the Dr. S. K. Dash Probiotic & Prebiotic Innovation Centres of Excellence at IIT Bhubaneswar and South Dakota State University, support for scholarships and endowed professorships, and programs that strengthen preventive healthcare and nutrition at the community level.

The Foundation's work has been recognised through academic honours and national awards, reflecting a long-standing commitment to science-led philanthropy and sustainable community development across India and international partners.

VISION & MISSION

Vision

A just, equitable, and empowered society where every individual thrives with dignity, prosperity, and well-being. A society based on legitimate rights, equity, justice, honesty, social sensitivity and a culture of service in which all are self-reliant.

EquityJusticeDignity

Mission

Touching hearts. Lifting spirits. Changing lives. We foster sustainable and inclusive development through community-centered approaches in education, health, livelihoods, social justice, and environmental sustainability across Odisha and partner regions.

EducationHealthSustainability

Dr. Sita Kantha Dash

Founder & Chairman

Dr. Dash says — “Helping others and giving to the have-nots” means a lot to him. He recounts a “satisfying” endeavor of helping hundreds of students for higher studies in the USA.

The Dr. Dash Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that has been working for over a decade. It is the philanthropic and Corporate Social Responsibility initiative of Dr. S.K. Dash, the founder and innovator in probiotics research and industry.

The Foundation combines science-led philanthropy and community engagement, supporting nutrition, probiotic research, and education through partnerships with academic institutions and healthcare providers. Its programs began with Dr. Dash's adoption of his native village and the construction of shelter homes, a school, a micro‑bank, and a temple.

Dr. Sita Kantha Dash was born in Tunpur, Odisha, came to the United States in 1969, and earned a doctorate in nutrition in 1973. Now based in Minneapolis, he is an innovator, entrepreneur, community leader and philanthropist whose work helped grow a small probiotics company in the 1970s into an industry now worth billions. Inspired by early work on a treatment for E. coli in pigs, he went on to found UAS Laboratories with three American partners to develop probiotics for human health.