Dr M.R. GIRINATH

Dr M.R. Girinath has performed nearly 25,000 open-heart operations in the last 16 years.

As one of the first surgeons to obtain the M Ch (Magister Chirurgiae) degree in Cardio Vascular Surgery in India (1969), Dr Girinath is a pioneer in cardiac surgery for infants, coronary bypass surgery, multivalve replacement and cardiac transplantation. He has trained over 20 surgeons who, together, perform 20% of the cardiac surgeries done in the country today.

Recipient of many national awards including the Padma Bhushan in 1998, Dr Girinath has been at the forefront in establishing coronary bypass surgery as a standardised and safe procedure in India (thus reversing the trend of patients going abroad for this facility).

He has presented over 275 papers at national and international conferences and has made around 20 orations including the Subroto Memorial Oration and the Sadasivan Oration. Dr Girinath has participated in the first multi-organ transplant in India (Heart, Liver, Kidneys and Cornea). He was the first surgeon to repair a complex congenital heart defect in a child below one year. And he is also the first to apply heart, lung machine-supported Coronary Angioplasty in India.

He joined Apollo Hospitals as Chief Cardio-vascular surgeon in 1984.

Dr. SUNITI SOLOMON

One of the most committed crusaders for AIDS control and awareness, Dr Suniti Solomon is the Director of YRG CARE (Y.R.Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education). She has been instrumental in helping victims of AIDS and educating both young and old about the deadly disease.

Having set up the AIDS Cell at the Institute of Microbiology at the Madras Medical College, Dr Suniti and her team published the report recording the first six cases of HIV positive persons in India in 1986. In 1993, she founded YRG CARE with a vision to prevent new infection and to enable people with HIV and AIDS and their families to live with dignity. She has also started a Day Care Centre for the patients.

A University First Ranker, Dr Suniti is an M.B.B.S. and a M.D. in Microbiology. She has conducted and participated in talks and seminars all over the world. Today, her organisation offers medicines to stabilise HIV patients and to prevent transmission of the virus from a pregnant mother to her child. The latter is provided free of cost.

Inspired and motivated mainly by her patients, Dr Suniti is well ahead on the long and bumpy road towards AIDS prevention and control.

|