Darab Jehangir Jussawala (1915–1999) was an Indian medical-cum-surgical oncologist, medical writer and the director of

Tata Memorial Centre The Tata Memorial Hospital is situated in Parel, Mumbai, in India. Also popularly known as TMH. It is a specialist cancer treatment and research centre, closely associated with the Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer ...

. He was the co-founder of Indian Cancer Society, along with

Naval Tata Naval Hormusji Tata (30 August 1904 – 5 May 1989) was an adopted son of Sir Ratanji Tata and a noted alumni of the Tata Group. He is the father of Ratan Tata, Jimmy Tata and Noel Tata. The Naval Tata Hockey Academy in Jamshedpur (joint ...

in 1951, and the founder of the Indian Cancer Rehabilitation Centre in

Parel Parel (ISO: Paraḷ, pronunciation: əɾəɭ is a neighbourhood of Mumbai. Parel used to have a number of textile mills, but these have been replaced by commercial office space development. History Originally, Parel was a separate island, ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, in 1956, the first such centre in India and the largest in Asia. He served as the director of ''Lady Ratan Tata Medical and Research Center'' and as the honorary consultant at two Mumbai hospitals,

Breach Candy Hospital Breach Candy Hospital is a private hospital located in Mumbai, India. It is located in the Breach Candy area of South Mumbai. It is well known for the rich and famous patients that have been in the hospital. History It was established in ...

and

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 ...

. An elected fellow of the

Royal Society of Medicine The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society in the United Kingdom, headquartered in London. History The Society was established in 1805 as Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, meeting in two rooms in barristers’ chambers ...

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 ...

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 24 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it began with 65 founding fellows. The first general meet ...

Indian National Science Academy The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is a national academy in New Delhi for Indian scientists in all branches of science and technology. In August 2019, Dr. Chandrima Shaha was appointed as the president of Indian National Science Academ ...

and the

American College of Surgeons The American College of Surgeons is an educational association of surgeons created in 1913.American College of Surgeons Online "What is the American College of Surgeons?"/ref> See also *American College of Physicians The American College o ...

, he was a recipient of the Dhanwantari Award as well as several Oration Awards. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of 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 ...

, in 1975, for his contributions to Medicine.

Biography

Darab Jussawala was born on 13 April 1915 to Jehangir Bezonjee Jussawalla and Shirinbai in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, in the western Indian state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

and graduated in medicine in 1938 from

Bombay University The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

after which he secured a master's degree from the same university in 1942. Subsequently, he obtained the Fellowship of the

Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) is a professional organisation of surgeons. The College has seven active faculties, covering a broad spectrum of surgical, dental, and other medical practices. Its main campus is located on ...

in medical and surgical oncology and started his career as a surgeon at

Tata Memorial Hospital The Tata Memorial Hospital is situated in Parel, Mumbai, in India. Also popularly known as TMH. It is a specialist cancer treatment and research centre, closely associated with the Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer ...

in 1948, becoming one of the first surgical oncologists in the country. He served the institution as a surgeon till 1973 when he became the director of the hospital, a post he held till 1980 after which he served as a professor of oncology till 1983 and continued his association with the hospital till 1986. In 1986, he moved to ''Lady Ratan Tata Medical and Research Center'', but was associated with

and

as a consultant oncologist. In 1951, with the assistance of

, Jussawala founded Indian Cancer Society, the first non-profit organization for fighting the disease of cancer and served as its founder secretary from 1953. Five years later, under the aegis of the society, he established the ''Indian Cancer Rehabilitation Centre'', the first centre for the rehabilitation of cancer patients in India, which was also the largest of its kind in Asia. It was again under the scope of services of the Indian Cancer Society that he contributed research data to the first ''Population-based Cancer Registry'' in 1963, the same year as he founded the ''Indian Journal of Cancer'', followed by the establishment of a comprehensive cancer rehabilitation centre in 1968. The ''Indian Association of Surgical Oncology (IASO)'' (1977) and the ''Lady Ratan Tata Medical and Research Center'' (1984) were also reportedly established by Jussawala and he was credited with the establishment of the first cytology laboratory and the first chemotherapy facility in India, both at

. He served as a member of the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

(WHO) Expert Committee on Cancer and as the corresponding Fellow of Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland. He was also a member of the Association of Surgeons of India and the Chief Editor of the ''Indian Journal of Cancer''. The ''Handbook of Diagnosis and Treatment of Cancer'' is a textbook on oncology published by him in 1980. Besides, he published several medical articles published in peer reviewed journals and his writings have been cited in many oncological texts. Jusswala died on 29 January 1999, survived by his wife, Gertrude.

Awards and honours

The

elected Jussawala as their fellow in 1966 and two other Indian science academies, the

and the

followed suit by electing him as a fellow in 1975 and 1983 respectively. He was also a fellow of the

and the

. He delivered several award orations and Dr. Munsiff Oration Award (1968), Dr. Ernest Borges Oration Award (1974), Dr. Bhansali Oration Award (1975), Dr. B. C. Roy Memorial Oration Award (1976), Dr. N. C. Joshi Memorial Oration Award (1977), Mrs. Vimla Shah Oration Award (1979) and Sandoz Oration Award (1983) are some of the notable ones. The

Indian Council of Medical Research The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the apex body in India for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research, is one of the oldest and largest medical research bodies in the world. The ICMR is funded by the Gove ...

(ICMR) awarded him the ''Raja Ravi Shersingh of Kalsia Memorial Award'' in 1971 and the Government of India included him the Republic Day Honours list for the civilian award of the

in 1975. He was also a recipient of the annual award (1981) of the Danwanthari Foundation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jussawala, Darab Jehangir Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in medicine 1915 births 1999 deaths Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences Fellows of the National Academy of Medical Sciences Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy Indian oncologists Indian surgeons Indian medical academics Indian medical writers World Health Organization officials 20th-century Indian medical doctors Medical doctors from Mumbai Indian officials of the United Nations 20th-century surgeons