Jacob Chandy (23 January 1910 – 23 June 2007) was an Indian

neurosurgeon Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty that focuses on the surgical treatment or rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, ...

and teacher of medical sciences. As the first neurosurgeon in India, he is widely regarded as the father of modern neurosurgery in India. In 1964, the Government of India honoured him with their third highest civilian award, Padmabhushan, for his services in the fields of

neurosurgery Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the specialty (medicine), medical specialty that focuses on the surgical treatment or rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system ...

and

medical education Medical education is vocational education, education related to the practice of being a medical practitioner, including the initial training to become a physician (i.e., medical school and internship (medical), internship) and additional trainin ...

Biography

Jacob Chandy was born on 23 January 1910, in

Kottayam Kottayam () is a city in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India. It is the district headquarters of the district and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, Kottayam has a population of ...

, in the south Indian state of

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 ...

to an Anglican Syrian Christian family. After his early education in Kottayam, he secured his graduate degree, an MBBS in medicine, from Madras Medical College in 1936. He kickstarted his career in 1939 by joining the Mission Hospital in

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

, a missionary hospital run by the American Reformed Church, where he stayed until 1944, when he took a hiatus from his practice to complete his MD at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

; while there he learned surgery under the guidance of Jonathan Rhoads. In 1945, he received a fellowship from the

Montreal Neurological Institute The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC; ) is one of two major healthcare networks in the city of Montreal, Quebec. It is affiliated with McGill University and one of the largest medical complexes in Montreal. It is the largest hospital system i ...

(MNI) and continued to practice surgery till 1948. After obtaining a fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons, Canada (FRCS), also in 1948, Chandy moved to Chicago to take up duties as the chief resident at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

. It was during this time that Chandy was invited by Robert Greenhill Cochrane, medical missionary and Leprologist, to join the Christian Medical College, Vellore (CMC), a fledgling medical college at that time. Chandy started the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at CMC, the first of its kind in the country, in 1949. Eight years later, in 1958, CMC started the first training program in India for neurosurgery, followed by a program in neurology in 1962, under Chandy's guidance. Over the years, Chandy helped develop the neurology program into one of the most sought after courses in India. During his association with CMC, Chandy held various posts such as the professor of neurology and neurosurgery and the medical superintendent; he was the principal when he retired in 1970. Chandy died on 23 June 2007, leaving behind his wife, Accamma, a daughter, also named Accamma, and two sons, Mathew and Varghese, the former a neurosurgeon and MNI fellow, and the latter, a chemical engineer.

Legacy

Chandy's legacy lives through the numerous practitioners of neurosurgery who have contributed their services to the development of neurosurgery in India. He assisted many medical practitioners to get advanced training at the Montreal Neurological Institute, such as J. C. Jacob and G. M. Taori in neurology, Sushil Chandi in neuropathology, and Elizabeth Mammen and S. Sarojini in neurosurgical nursing. He was instrumental in promoting the biochemist, Bimal Kumar Bachhawat, who founded the neurochemistry laboratory, which identified the enzymopathy of metachromatic

leucodystrophy Leukodystrophies are a group of, usually, inherited disorders, characterized by neurodegeneration, degeneration of the white matter in the brain. The word ''leukodystrophy'' comes from the Greek language, Greek roots ''leuko'', "white", ''dys'', " ...

, in collaboration with James H. Austin. Chandy was the first of the first generation of neurologists, neurosurgeons and neuroscientists. He founded the

Neurological Society of India Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous system, which comprises the brain, the s ...

in 1951, along with B. Ramamurthi, Baldev Singh and S. T. Narasimhan. He was the first surgeon in India to perform an

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of Non-communicable disease, non-communicable Neurological disorder, neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked Seizure, seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activit ...

surgery on 25 August 1952, on a patient suffering from right infantile

hemiplegia Hemiparesis, also called unilateral paresis, is the weakness of one entire side of the body ('' hemi-'' means "half"). Hemiplegia, in its most severe form, is the complete paralysis of one entire side of the body. Either hemiparesis or hemiplegia ...

and medially refractory seizures.

Awards and recognitions

Chandy was honoured by several institutions, organisations, and governmental bodies during his career. * Professor emeritus of the

Government of Kerala The Government of Kerala (abbreviated as GoK), also known as the Kerala Government, is the administrative body responsible for governing the Indian States and territories of India, state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who ...

– 1970 * Padmabhushan – 1964 * Medal of Honour by the World Congress of Neurological Surgeons – 1989 * Founder and president of the Neurological Society of India * Member – Medical Education Committee of the Ministry of Health, the

All India Institute of Medical Sciences The All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is a group of autonomous government public medical universities of higher education under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. These institutes ha ...

* Member – Medical Education Committee of 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 ...

(MNI) Fellow * He was also the founding member of many neurology related societies in India.

Autobiography

After his retirement from active practice, Chandy wrote his autobiography in 1988, titled ''Reminiscences and Reflections'', with several anecdotes from his professional and personal life.

References

External links