Vimla Virmani (12 April 1919 – November 1999), also seen as Vimala Virmani, was an Indian neurologist. In 1978, she became the first woman to serve as president of the Neurological Society of India.

Early life

Virmani was born in Lyallpur (now Faisalabad, Pakistan), the daughter of Hakim Rai. She was educated at home. She earned a master's degree in psychology by taking classes informally at the Forman Christian College in Lahore. She attended Khalsa College in

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

and earned a medical degree at Grant Medical College. She pursued further studies on a year's fellowship in London in 1961 and 1962.Nair, K. R
"Prof. Vimla Virmani"
Neurological Society of India.

Career

Virmani was a researcher with the Indian Council of Medical Research, and practiced as a neurologist at Lady Hardinge Medical College and Hospital. She was a professor of neurology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) from 1964, and head of the neurology department from 1975 to 1979. She was a visiting professor of neurology at the Neurological Institute in Montreal in 1969 and 1970, at Banaras Hindu University in 1973, and at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) in 1979. Her research ranged widely in subjects, but often involved neuromuscular dysfunction and

spinal muscular atrophy Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare neuromuscular disorder that results in the loss of motor neurons and progressive muscle wasting. It is usually diagnosed in infancy or early childhood and if left untreated it is the most common genetic ...

. In 1978, Virmani became the first woman to serve as president of the Neurological Society of India. She was a founding member of the Delhi Neurological Group, a precursor of the Delhi Neurological Association. In 1975, she attended the Asian and Oceanian Congress of Neurology in Bangkok, and was national advisor to the WHO/IAMS Seminar on Epilepsy in Bangalore. She was named a fellow of the

Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) is a medical royal college in Scotland. It is one of three organisations that sets the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by Royal charter ...

in 1976.

Personal life

Virmani died in 1999, aged 80 years. The Vimla Virmani Award is a bronze medal and a cash prize given annually by the

National Academy of Medical Sciences National Academy of Medical Sciences (India), better known by its acronym, NAMS, is a nodal agency under the Government of India, which acts as an advisory body to the Government in matters related to National Health Policy and Planning and as a ...

"for outstanding work in the field of physical and/or psychosociological rehabilitation of neurologically and/or mentally afflicted subjects". Among the recipients of the Vimla Virmani Award have been

M. V. Padma Srivastava Madakasira Vasantha Padma Srivastava (born 1965) is an Indian neurologist, medical academic and writer, and the professor of neurology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. She is known for pioneering ''Acute Stroke Programm ...

and

Manas Kumar Mandal Manas K Mandal is a cognitive neuropsychologist serving as the distinguished visiting professor at Indian Institute of Technology – Kharagpur. Research areas Mandal specializes in the areas of neuropsychology and cognitive sciences. His ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Virmani, Vimla 1919 births 1999 deaths Indian neurologists People from Faisalabad Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh