Ramachandra Dattatraya Lele (16 January 1928 – 24 June 2022) was a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

from India. He established the department of

Nuclear Medicine Nuclear medicine or nucleology is a medical specialty involving the application of radioactive substances in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Nuclear imaging, in a sense, is "radiology done inside out" because it records radiation emitting ...

Jaslok Hospital Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre is a private hospital located in Mumbai was founded by philanthropist Seth Lokoomal Chanrai along with surgeon Shantilal Jamnadas Mehta. The hospital was formally inaugurated on 6 July 1973 by the erstwhile ...

. Over the years he has worked in medical education, practice, research and hospital administration. He held the roles of Professor and Department Head at Mumbai's Grant Medical College and Sir JJ Group of Hospitals. His autobiography, 'Pursuit of Excellence' was published in 2017.

Achievements

In 1968 – together with the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC)'s health division – Lele established a shadow–shield type whole body counter, illustrating its clinical usage for measuring how well iron and Vitamin B12 are absorbed, as well as the amount of gastrointestinal blood loss and protein loss. This process did not require blood, urine or stool sample collections. In 1973 Lele became Honorary Chief Physician and Chief of Nuclear Medicine at Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, where he set up the first full-fledged hospital based Nuclear Medicine Department in Mumbai. Featuring radio-immunoassay of 75 ligands of clinical interest, he also guided the use of intravenous Technetium-99 m based radio pharmaceuticals in India.

Awards

He was awarded the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

, third highest civilian honour of India by the President of India, in 1992. * 1990: Distinguished Community Service Award (from the Rotary Club). * 1991: 1st recipient of Gifted Teacher Award (from the Association of Physicians of India) * 1992: Padma Bhushan Award (from the President of India) * 1997: Dhanvantari Award (from the Governor of Maharashtra State) * 2000: Honorary Doctor of Science degree (from the NTR University of Health Sciences and Andhra Pradesh) * 2008: Homi Bhabha Lifetime Achievement Award (from the Indian Nuclear Society) * 2011: Prof. M. Viswanathan National Award for Medical Teaching and Medical Care

References

2022 deaths 1928 births Marathi people Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in medicine 20th-century Indian medical doctors Indian nuclear medicine physicians {{India-med-bio-stub