Official Profiles: TTA Awards for Excellence Recipients

Location: Charlotte Convention Center, Charlotte, NC
Date: July 14, 2026 (Mega Convention held July 17 – July 19, 2026)
Status: Official Press Release / Honoree Directory

The Telangana American Telugu Association (TTA) has officially announced the recipients of its prestigious “TTA Awards for Excellence” ahead of the highly anticipated TTA Mega Convention 2026. The selection represents a distinguished group of trailblazers, visionaries, and community builders from around the world.

Below is the complete, comprehensive profile of all ten TTA awardees, reorganized in accordance with updated presentation directives.

1. Dr. Duvvur Nageshwar Reddy (Padma Vibhushan)
Award: TTA Lifetime Achievement Award
FIELD: GASTROENTEROLOGY & THERAPEUTIC ENDOSCOPY

Dr. D. Nageshwar Reddy is a world-renowned pioneer in gastroenterology and the founder and Chairman of the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology (AIG) in Hyderabad—the world’s largest specialized gastroenterology hospital. He revolutionized global medicine by pioneering therapeutic endoscopy and inventing groundbreaking minimally invasive procedures like Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES) and the NAGI Stent. He is the first Indian doctor to receive all three of India’s civilian honors in medicine: the Padma Shri (2002), the Padma Bhushan (2016), and the Padma Vibhushan. Internationally, he was honored with the Rudolf V. Schindler Award (often called the “Nobel Prize of Endoscopy”).

2. Dr. A.V. Gurava Reddy
Award: TTA Excellence Award
FIELD: ORTHOPEDIC SURGERY & HEALTHCARE LEADERSHIP

Dr. A.V. Gurava Reddy is a legendary joint replacement surgeon and the Managing Director of KIMSSunshine Hospitals in Hyderabad. Performing close to 2,000 joint replacements annually, he commands the second-largest joint replacement center in all of Asia. Following a successful decade-long career in the UK, he returned to India to build world-class, affordable, and patient-centric healthcare systems. He is a globally recognized pioneer in “robot-assisted joint replacement surgery” and holds prestigious advisory and academic roles internationally, including with the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh.

3. Venkata Subba Row Chennuri
Award: TTA Excellence in Journalism Award
FIELD: MEDIA & JOURNALISM

Venkata Subba Row Chennuri is the Founder, Editor, and CEO of Telugu Times, established in July 2003 as the first global Telugu newspaper printed and circulated in the United States. For over two decades, he has been a pillar of the Non-Resident Telugu (NRT) community, building an essential media bridge between Telugu heritage in India and the diaspora across North America. His dedication to ethical reporting and community engagement has made Telugu Times the premier media tool for global Telugus.

4. Vandemataram Srinivas (Kanneboina Srinivasa Rao Yadav)
Award: TTA Telugu Cultural & Literary Award
FIELD: MUSIC & TELUGU CINEMA

A household name in Telugu cinema, Vandemataram Srinivas is an acclaimed music director, playback singer, actor, and director. He is highly revered for blending traditional Telugu folk rhythms with socially conscious cinema. Making his debut in the 1985 classic Vande Mataram, he has composed music for over 50 films, delivering unforgettable hits in movies like Osey Ramulamma, Orey Rickshaw, and Devullu. He holds the rare distinction of winning multiple Filmfare (South) and Nandi Awards across dual categories—both as a Best Music Director and a Best Playback Singer.

5. T. Ramchandra Reddy
Award: TTA Excellence in Community Service Award
FIELD: PHILANTHROPY & COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP

T. Ramchandra Reddy is a veteran community leader who has dedicated decades to supporting the spiritual and cultural integration of the Telugu and wider Indian diaspora. He has served in prominent leadership positions for decades, including as a past President and long-term Trustee of the Hindu Temple Society of Augusta. His tireless organizational leadership, commitment to temple-building, and dedication to preserving cultural roots have made him an exemplary figure of community service.

6. Kandi Vishwabharath Reddy
Award: TTA Excellence in Community Service Award
FIELD: PHILANTHROPY & RURAL DEVELOPMENT

A US-based NRI philanthropist hailing from Bhadradri Kothagudem (Yedullabayyaram village), Telangana, Kandi Vishwabharath Reddy is celebrated for his deep-rooted charity. Operating under the Kandi Charitable Trust, he has spent heavily to transform his native village—installing reverse osmosis (RO) clean drinking water plants and funding infrastructure improvements at the Zilla Parishad High School. An avid believer in youth empowerment through sports, he sponsored both the state-level and the SGFI National Under-17 Kabaddi tournaments, investing significantly to bring rural Telugu athletic talent to the national spotlight.

7. Dr. Ramya Chitrangada
Award: TTA Youth Achievements Award
FIELD: YOUTH LEADERSHIP & EXCELLENCE

Dr. Ramya Chitrangada represents the vibrant and high-achieving next generation of the Telugu diaspora. Her recognition highlights her stellar contributions, leadership, and outstanding excellence in her professional domain, serving as a model to empower and inspire youth throughout global Telugu communities.

8. Mahidhar Rayasam
Award: TTA Excellence in Information Technology Award
FIELD: COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE & IT ENGINEERING

Dr. Mahidhar Rayasam is an advanced computational scientist and systems engineer. Holding a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University, his research focuses on revolutionary IT engineering frameworks, specifically the multiscale design optimization of heterogeneous objects and complex computational simulations. His cutting-edge work in meta-modeling, design optimization, and software-driven systems analysis has driven significant advancements in highly technical engineering and IT sectors.

9. Ravinder Reddy Regatte, PhD
Award: TTA Excellence in Science & Technology Award
FIELD: QUANTITATIVE IMAGING & MUSCULOSKELETAL RESEARCH

Dr. Ravinder R. Regatte is a Professor of Radiology and Orthopedic Surgery at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine (NYU Langone Health). He is a leading global expert in advanced, quantitative, multinuclear musculoskeletal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). His pioneering research into T1ρ mapping and multinuclear MRI has drastically improved non-invasive diagnostics, tissue characterization, and therapeutic evaluation for degenerative joint diseases like osteoarthritis.

10. Prof. Dr. Deepak Ravindran
Award: TTA Excellence in Medicine & Related Fields Award
FIELD: PAIN MEDICINE & INTEGRATIVE HEALTH

Based in the UK, Prof. Dr. Deepak Ravindran is a highly decorated Consultant in Pain Medicine, MSK, and Lifestyle Medicine. The Director of Berkshire Pain Clinic and an honorary Professor at Teesside University, he is one of the very few European specialists to hold a triple qualification in these fields. He has been instrumental in establishing award-winning, trauma-informed NHS recovery clinics (such as for long-COVID) and is the author of the Amazon bestseller The Pain Free Mindset, which champions early multidisciplinary intervention and non-drug-based therapies for chronic pain management.