Rabindra Nath Chaudhuri (1901 – 6 August 1981) was an Indian physician, medical academic and the director of the

Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine (CSTM) is a medical institute from Kolkata, India, dedicated in the field of tropical disease. It was established in 1914 by Leonard Rogers (1868–1962) of the Indian Medical Service, professor of pathology ...

Early life and education

Born in

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

in 1901, he graduated in medicine from the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

before securing his MRCP degree from 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 set the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by royal charter i ...

and the degree of TDD from Wales.

Career

He started his career as an assistant professor at the Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine in 1934 where he became a professor in 1945 and the director of the institution in 1950 before superannuating in 1966. He also served at Carmichael Hospital for Tropical Diseases as a Superintendent and Senior Physician. Chaudhuri is known to have done extensive research on diseases such as

Cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

Malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

Amoebiasis Amoebiasis, or amoebic dysentery, is an infection of the intestines caused by a parasitic amoeba '' Entamoeba histolytica''. Amoebiasis can be present with no, mild, or severe symptoms. Symptoms may include lethargy, loss of weight, colon ...

and Hypoproteinemia and was credited with contributions to

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

and

chemoprophylaxis Chemoprevention or chemoprophylaxis refers to the administration of a medication for the purpose of preventing disease or infection. Antibiotics, for example, may be administered to patients with disorders of immune system function to prevent bact ...

of malaria. He sat in the

Asiatic Society The Asiatic Society is an organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of " Oriental research" (in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions). It was founded by the philologist Will ...

as a member, edited the Indian Medical Gazette and was a member of the

Indian National Science Academy The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is a national academy in New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three b ...

during 1968–70. He was also associated with Indian Medical Association, Indian Association of Pathologists and Microbiologists, International Congress of Tropical Medicine and Malaria and Indian Association for the Advancement of Medical Education as a member, presided over the Medical and Veterinary Section of the

Indian Science Congress Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) is a premier scientific organisation of India with headquarters at Kolkata, West Bengal. The association started in the year 1914 in Calcutta and it meets annually in the first week of January. It h ...

and served the

Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, more commonly known by its acronym RSTMH, was founded in 1907 by Sir James Cantlie and George Carmichael Low. Sir Patrick Manson, the Society's first President (1907–1909), was recognised as ...

as its vice president during 1973–74. He was a founder fellow 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 ...

and an elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy and the

, London. The Government of India awarded Chaudhuri the third highest civilian honour of the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') 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 Januar ...

, in 1960, for his contributions to medical science. He also received the ANB Prize of the

in 1968 and the Kamala Menon Medical Research Award 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 ...

in 1977. He died on 6 August 1981, at the age of 80.

References

Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in medicine 1901 births 1981 deaths 20th-century Indian medical doctors Indian medical academics Indian medical administrators University of Calcutta alumni Indian medical researchers Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Fellows of the National Academy of Medical Sciences Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy Scientists from West Bengal Academic staff of the University of Calcutta {{India-med-bio-stub

Early life and education

Career

See also

References