Dr Saroj Chooramani Gopal with her supervisor, Prof Ashok Kumar.
Credit: X/@BSBEIITK1
Dr Saroj Chooramani Gopal, a Padma Shri and Dr BC Roy awardee, enrolled for PhD at IIT Kanpur on January 10.
She has had a remarkable career wherein she rebelled her way to be the first woman post-graduate student of general surgery in her Agra college; and went on to become the first Indian woman with a superspeciality in paediatric surgery; the first woman Vice-Chancellor of Lucknow’s King George’s Medical University (KGMU).
Her research at IIT Kanpur will focus on how stem cells from a person’s bone marrow or abdominal lining can help in the regeneration of damaged spinal nerves, helping patients with spinal injuries or vertebral damage get back on their feet, the Indian Express reported.
Dr Gopal's interest in regenerative medicine grew when she was a post-graduate student at Agra’s Sarojini Naidu Medical College.
"I remember this baby born with a condition called meningomyelocele — a condition where the spinal cord of the baby is damaged at the time of birth. My senior said there was absolutely nothing that could be done. I was determined then to find a way out for children like that", she told IE.
In 1973, she completed her super-specialisation (MCh) in paediatric surgery from AIIMS Delhi.
After her MCh, she joined Banaras Hindu University’s Faculty of Medicine as a lecturer and retired as Medical Superintendent and Dean in 2008.
During her early years at BHU, her proposal to carry out research on the use of stem cells was rejected and it was approved only after her appointment as VC at KGMU, IE reports.
She told IE, "I thought my research can also help adults and other earning members of a family lead a better life.”
“There were at least four people in my trials who ended up being able to walk. It was unheard of”, she added.
Two years ago, she met Prof Ashok Kumar, her now-supervisor, at a seminar.
“At the session that day, Prof Kumar had delivered a lecture on the engineering aspect of regenerative medicine. I approached him and told him about my long-pending dream of completing research", she expressed to IE.
Now, in her new role as a visiting professor at IIT Kanpur, Dr Gopal will also mentor other PhD students while working on her research.
Speaking to IE, Kumar said, "Ma’am has had such an extraordinary career that anybody would happily grant her an honorary doctorate but she wanted to work on the project she is passionate about and actually earn it."