Ranjit Roy Chaudhury | |
|---|---|
 Chaudhury in a 2012NDTV Profit interview | |
| Born | (1930-11-04)4 November 1930 |
| Died | 27 October 2015(2015-10-27) (aged 84) Chennai,Tamil Nadu, India |
| Occupation(s) | Clinical pharmacologist Medical academic Health planner |
| Parent(s) | P. C. Roy Chaudhury Indu Roy Chaudhury |
| Awards | Padma Shri Dr. B. C. Roy Award Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award Unichem Award Chulalongkorn University Award Amrut Modi Award Vishisht Bihari Samman |
Ranjit Roy Chaudhury,FRCPE (4 November 1930 – 27 October 2015) was an Indian clinicalpharmacologist, medical academic and health planner,[1] who headed the National Committee for formulating the policy and guidelines on drugs and clinical trials in India.[2] He was the chairman of the joint programme ofWorld Health Organization and Government of India onRational Use of Drugs in India.[3] He was the founder president of theDelhi Medical Council and the president of the Delhi Society for Promotion of Rational Use of Drugs.[1]
A recipient of theShanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award and theDr. B. C. Roy Award, Chaudhury was awarded the fourth highest civilian award of thePadma Shri by the Government of India, in 1998.[4]
Chaudhury was born in 1930 inPatna, in the Indian state ofBihar, to Indu and P.C. Roy Chaudhury.[5] His graduate studies in medicine were at thePrince of Wales Medical College,(presentPatna Medical College and Hospital) Patna.[6] Later, he secured the doctoral degree of DPhil fromLincoln College, Oxford[7] and joined theAll India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi in 1958 and served as an assistant professor till 1960, when he moved toCiba-Geigy Research Center, Bombay as a professor of pharmacology.[6]
In 1964, he was appointed as the Head of the Department of Pharmacology at thePost Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER),Chandigarh.[3] He served the institution as its dean and superannuated in 1980 as its director, during which time he started a DM course in clinical pharmacology, a first time for India.[1] When theIndian Council of Medical Research set up theToxicology Review Panel, he was appointed as its founder chairman.[8]
His next posting was at theWorld Health Organization (WHO), with his base in Geneva. His service with WHO lasted till 1991 and he worked at the Regional Offices atAlexandria andYangon and at theChulalongkorn University,Bangkok.[6] Returning to India in 1991, he was involved in various medical organization activities. He was one of the co-founders of Delhi Medical Council, working as its founder president and served PGIMER as the chairman of its selection committee, while retaining his position as a WHO consultant.[7] He was also involved with theNational Institute of Immunology, New Delhi as the Emeritus Scientist, holding the post till 2005.[6]
During this period, Chaudhury chaired the Board of Trustees of theInternational Clinical Epidemiological Network (INCLEN) for two terms till 2006 and held its membership.[6] He has also been a member of theSub-Commission in Macroeconomics and Health set up by the Government of India in 2005.[9] He became a non-executive independent director of the Indraprastha Medical Corporation in 2008 but relinquished the post in 2014 when he was appointed as the Advisor to theMinistry of Health and Family Welfare.[10] He has also been a Non-Executive Director of Super Religare Laboratories[6] and is a member of the Task Force for Research of the Apollo Hospitals Educational and Research Foundation.[11] He sat in the governing bodies of several medical and health institutions and organizations such as PGIMER,Population Foundation of India,Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, and theFoundation for Revitalization of Local Health Traditions and the Advisory Council of theIndia International Centre.[6]
In February 2013, theMinistry of Health and Family Welfare constituted a committee,National Committee for formulating the policy and guidelines on drugs and clinical trials in India under the chairmanship of Chaudhury[12] and the committee submitted a report.Professor Ranjit Roy Chaudhury Expert Committee to Formulate Policy and Guidelines for Approval of New Drugs, Clinical Trials and Banning of Drugs, recommending significant changes in the system.[13] Researchers acknowledged the usefulness of his proposals.[14] The Ministry subsequently accepted the proposals.[15] Besides 275 articles[16] in national and international journals, he has written 25 textbooks of medical education[6] and a book on Ayurveda, titledThe Healing Powers of Herbs.[17]
Chaudhury died on 27 October 2015, eight days before his 85th birthday, during a visit toChennai,Tamil Nadu, where he was attending a conference on Pharmacovigilance.[18]
Chaudhury, the first Indian doctor[6] to receive aRhodes Scholarship in 1955,[19][20] was a Fellow of theRoyal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and a recipient of the degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) from theChulalongkorn University.[6] He was the Patron of the India chapter of the International Society For Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR)[21] and an Emeritus Professor and an elected Fellow of theNational Academy of Medical Sciences.[22][23] TheCouncil of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded him theShanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award, the highest Indian award in the science and technology category, in 1969,[24] and theMedical Council of India honoured him with theDr. B. C. Roy Award, the highest Indian medical award.[6]
The Government of India included him in the 1998Republic Day Honours list for the civilian award of thePadma Shri. TheFederation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) awarded him the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013.[25] He was also a recipient of awards such asVishisht Bihari Samman,[11]Unichem Award,Chulalongkorn University Award,[6] and the Amrut Modi Award of the UNITRUST.[8]
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