Basavapatna Narayana Balakrishna Rao (1910–1995) was an Indian surgeon, medical academic, researcher, writer and the president of the Association of Surgeons of India. He was a professor and head of the department of surgery at the

All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi (AIIMS New Delhi), is a public medical research university and hospital in New Delhi, India. The institute is governed by the AIIMS Act, 1956 and operates autonomously under the Ministry of He ...

. One of the founder fellows of the

National Academy of Medical Sciences National Academy of Medical Sciences (India), better known by its acronym, NAMS, is a non-constitutional, non-statutory advisory body to the Government in matters related to National Health Policy and Planning and as a promoting agency for contin ...

, he was also an elected fellow of the

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and List of Nobel laureates, Nobel Laureate Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 27 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it ...

. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

, in 1971, for his contributions to medical science.

Biography

Balakrishna Rao was born on 21 January 1910 at

Channapatna Channapattana or Chennapattana is a city and taluk headquarters in Bengaluru South District, Karnataka, India. Channapatna is approximately 60 km from Bangalore and 80 km from Mysore. Channapatna toys are popular all over the world ...

, a town known as a manufacturing centre for lacquered wooden toys, in

Ramanagara District Bengaluru South ( Ramanagara ) District is one of the 31 districts of Karnataka state in southern India. Ramanagara City is the administrative headquarters of this district. The district is part of Bangalore Division. History Ramanagara dist ...

of the south Indian state of

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

in a

Sankethi Brahmin The Sankethi people are a South Indian Smartha Brahmin community located in Karnataka, India, mostly in villages in the south of the state. They speak a Dravidian language known as Sankethi, which is related to Tamil and Kannada. Their traditiona ...

family to Nacharamma and Rajasevasakta Narayana Rao, an ophthalmologist and the founder of

Minto Eye Hospital Minto Ophthalmic Hospital is a government run specialty hospital in Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and large ...

, who migrated to Mysore from

Palakkad Palakkad (), Renaming of cities in India, also known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery, is a city and a municipality in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of P ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. He did his early schooling in

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

and after graduating in medicine from

Mumbai University University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

, he continued his medical studies in England to secure an LRCP, followed by MRCS in 1936. He also completed his FRCS there in 1937 before returning to India to join Mysore State Services as an assistant professor in 1940 and became a professor and head of the department of surgery at Mysore Medical College in 1945. After serving there for two years, he moved to Gajara Raja Medical College, Gwalior in 1947 and served as a professor, head of the department of surgery and a dean till 1964. His next move was to the

All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi (AIIMS New Delhi), is a public medical research university and hospital in New Delhi, India. The institute is governed by the AIIMS Act, 1956 and operates autonomously under the Ministry of He ...

where he continued till his superannuation in 1972, after which he served as a Scientist Emeritus of the Indian Council of Medical research till 1975. He also worked at Choithram Hospital and Research Centre,

Indore Indore (; ISO 15919, ISO: , ) is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The commercial capital of the state, it has been declared as the List of cleanest cities in India, cleanest city of In ...

, for two years from 1976 to 1978. Rao, who was known to have researched on Neurosciences and

Renal calculi Kidney stone disease (known as nephrolithiasis, renal calculus disease, or urolithiasis) is a crystallopathy and occurs when there are too many minerals in the urine and not enough liquid or hydration. This imbalance causes tiny pieces of cry ...

, published many articles which included ''Primary carcinoma of the liver in infancy: report of a case'', ''Active immunization against E. coli as a protective measure against haemorrhagic shock'' and ''Bilateral Prefrontal Leucotomy in Indian Patients''. He served as the honorary surgeon to the President of India for a number of years and was the president of the Association of Surgeons of India (ASI) for two terms during 1962–63. He was one of the founders of the

and is on the list of their founder fellows. The

elected him as their fellow in 1945 and the Government of India awarded him the civilian honor of the

in 1971. He became a member of the

International College of Surgeons The International College of Surgeons (ICS) is a global organization dedicated to promoting excellence of surgeons and surgical specialists worldwide. It was founded in 1935 by Max Thorek and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. ICS works thou ...

in 1993 and, two years later, he died on 7 March 1995, at the age of 85. The Association of Surgeons of India instituted an annual award oration, ''Dr. Balakrishna Rao Oration'', in 2000, in honor of its former president.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, B. N. B. Recipients of the Padma Shri in medicine 1910 births 1995 deaths People from Ramanagara district Indian medical academics Indian medical administrators Indian medical writers Fellows of the National Academy of Medical Sciences Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences Malayali people Academic staff of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi University of Mumbai alumni Academic staff of the University of Mysore Indian medical researchers Scientists from Karnataka 20th-century Indian surgeons