Dr Sandra Desa Souza is an ENT Head, Neck and Cochlea Implant Surgeon. She is the first Indian Fellow of the American Otological Society. She was awarded the Padma Shri India's fourth-highest civilian award in 2020. She is the first woman surgeon in the world to pioneer the Cochlear implant surgery in India and Asia in 1987. [1] [2] [3] [4] Dr. Souza was one of the first ENT surgeons in the country to perform artificial ear operations, is credited to have given the gift of hearing to thousands of patients. [5]
Graeme Milbourne Clark AC is an Australian Professor of Otolaryngology at the University of Melbourne. His work in ENT surgery, electronics and speech science contributed towards the development of the multiple-channel cochlear implant. and his invention was later produced and sold by Cochlear Limited.
Devi Prasad Shetty, MS, FRCS, is an Indian entrepreneur and cardiac surgeon who is the chairman and founder of Narayana Health, a chain of 21 medical centers in India. He has performed more than 16,000 heart operations. In 2004 he was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, followed by the Padma Bhushan in 2012, the third highest civilian award by the Government of India for his contribution to the field of affordable healthcare. There is an episode about his life and work on the Netflix TV series "The Surgeon's cut”.
Naresh Trehan is an Indian cardiovascular and cardiothoracic surgeon. After graduating from King George Medical College, Lucknow, India, he went on to practice at New York University Medical Center Manhattan USA from 1971 to 1988. He returned to India and started Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre. He serves as the chairman and managing director and chief cardiac surgeon of MedantaTM-The Medicity. He has served as personal surgeon to the President of India since 1991, has received numerous awards, including the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award and Dr. B. C. Roy Award.
Air Marshal Padma Bandopadhyay, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, PHS is a decorated former flight surgeon in the Indian Air Force. She was the first woman to be promoted to the rank of Air Marshal in the Indian Air Force. She is the second woman in the Indian Armed Forces to be promoted to a three-star rank, after Surgeon Vice Admiral Punita Arora.
Ramesh C. Deka is an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist and the former Director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, which is globally recognised as the premier medical institute of India. He is one of the pioneers of cochlear implant surgery in India and performed the country's first bilateral cochlear implantation surgery.
Sanduk Ruit is an ophthalmologist from Nepal who has restored the sight of over 130,000 people across Africa and Asia using small-incision cataract surgery. He is also one of the founders of the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology.
William Fouts House was an American otologist, physician and medical researcher who developed and invented the cochlear implant. The cochlear implant is considered to be the first invention to restore not just the sense of hearing, but any of the absent five senses in humans. Dr. House also pioneered approaches to the lateral skull base for removal of tumors, and is considered "the Father of Neurotology."
Noshir Minoo Shroff is an Indian ophthalmologist, known as a pioneer of intraocular lens implantation surgery in India and a medical director of the Shroff Eye Centre. The Government of India honoured him in 2010, with the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award, for his services in the field of medicine.
Panangipalli Venugopal is an Indian Cardiovascular surgeon and hospital administrator from Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh, India who is widely regarded as a pioneer in cardiac surgery. The Government of India honored him, in 1998, with the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award, for his services to the field of Medicine.
M. Subhadra Nair is an Indian gynaecologist, medical teacher and social worker, reportedly credited to have assisted over 50,000 child births. The Government of India honoured her, in 2014, with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for her services to the field of medicine, the first gynaecologist to receive the Padma award.
Milind Vasant Kirtane is an Indian otorhinolaryngologist, reported to have performed the first cochlear implant surgery in Mumbai. The Government of India honoured him, in 2014, with the award of Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for his contributions to the field of medicine.
Raghu Ram Pillarisetti is an Indian surgeon, the youngest recipient of the Overseas Gold Medal of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the Founder-Director of KIMS-Ushalakshmi Center for Breast Diseases at KIMS Hospitals, the first dedicated and comprehensive facility for breast healthcare in the Indian subcontinent. He is also the Founder of Ushalakshmi Breast Cancer Foundation, a not for profit organisation working in tandem with government and non government bodies for spreading awareness about breast cancer and Pink Connexion, the first newsletter from India, a quarterly, about breast healthcare.
Luis Jose De Souza is an Indian surgical oncologist and the founder of Shanti Avedna Ashram, a charitable trust which runs a network of hospices in Mumbai and Goa. He has also contributed to the establishment of Indian Cancer Cell, an educational program co-sponsored by Tata Memorial Centre, Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and Indian Cancer Society, for creating cancer awareness in schools. The Government of India awarded him the fourth-highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 1992.
Jitendra Mohan Hans is an Indian Otorhinolaryngologist, medical researcher and the inventor of HANS speech valve for speech rehablitation after laryngeal cancer surgery. He is a founder member of the Cochlear Implant Group of India and has been a part of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) sponsored project team that developed an indigenous Bionic Ear in 2014. Born on 27 November 1955, he graduated in medicine from the University of Meerut in 1978 He has served as the Honorary ENT Surgeon to the Prime Minister of India and is a government nominee at Ali Yajur Jung National Institute for Deafness, Mumbai and the All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Mysore. He is reported to have pioneered the minimally-invasive surgical techniques for cochlear implants and is a member of the advisory boards of the Union Public Service Commission and World Health Organization (WHO). The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 2005, for his contributions towards medicine.
Mohan Kameswaran is an Indian otorhinolaryngologist, medical academic and the founder of MERF Institute of Speech and Hearing, a Chennai-based institution providing advanced training in audiology and speech-language pathology. He is one of the pioneers of cochlear implant surgery in India and a visiting professor at Rajah Muthiah Medical College of the Annamalai University and Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute, Chennai. He has many firsts to his credit such as the performance of the first auditory brain stem implantation surgery in South and South East Asia, the first pediatric brain stem implantation surgery in Asia, the first totally implantable hearing device surgery in Asia Pacific region, and the first to introduce KTP/532 laser-assisted ENT surgery in India. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2006, for his contributions to Indian medicine.
Keiki R. Mehta, an Indian ophthalmologist, medical researcher and writer, is considered by many as the father of Phacoemulsification in India. He is the Chief Surgical and Medical Director at Mehta International Eye Institute, a Mumbai-based specialty eye hospital founded by him. He is known to be the first surgeon to perform a Radial keratotomy in India and is credited with the development of the first soft eye implant in the world, and the Keiki Mehta BP Valve Glaucoma Shunt, a medical implant used in the treatment of neovascular‚ congenital and uveitic glaucoma. He is a recipient of several honours including the Grand Honors Award of the National Eye Research Foundation, Chicago and the Triple Ribbon Award of the American Society for Cataract and Refractive Surgery. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2008, for his contributions to Medicine.
Lakhumal Hiranand Hiranandani (1917–2013) was an Indian otorhinolaryngologist, social activist and philanthropist, known for pioneering several surgical procedures which later came to be known as Dr. Hiranandani's Operations. He was the founder chairman of Hiranandani Foundation Trust which runs two schools in India and was reported to have been active in the social movement against organ trade in India. He was a recipient of the Golden Award of the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, the first Indian and the fifth overall to receive the honour. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1972, for his contributions to medicine and society.
Shiv Narain Kureel, is an Indian pediatric surgeon, medical academic and writer, and the professor and Head of the Department of Pediatric Surgery at King George's Medical University, Lucknow (U.P).
John K. Niparko was an American surgeon-scientist who specialized in cochlear implants, and edited, and wrote several chapters of, the book Cochlear Implants: Principles & Practices. He was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and attended the University of Michigan for his bachelor's and medical degrees. He completed his residency in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery and a fellowship in neurotology at Michigan and served as a faculty member before moving on to Johns Hopkins University.
Dr Leela Joshi is an Indian gynaecologist and social worker known for her work with tribal women and teenage girls suffering from Anemia in Ratlam district. Nicknamed as the Mother Teresa of the Malwa region, Dr Joshi was conferred Padma Shri in 2020.