Dr. S. Krishnamurthi

On September 12, 1919, Sundara Krishnamurthi was born to Dr. Sundara Reddy and Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy, India's first woman medical graduate. Growing up in that household was not merely an education in medicine — it was an education in what medicine was for.

He completed his MBBS in 1942 and his MS in 1946. He trained as a Fellow at the Ellis Fischel State Cancer Hospital in Missouri, USA, and later at the Royal Cancer Hospital in London. He returned to India in 1949 to fight cancer — and found a system riddled with corruption that he refused to accept.

He became the first Resident Medical Officer of Cancer Institute (WIA) in 1954 and its Scientific Director from the very beginning. Within three years, the institute had Asia's first cobalt-60 teletherapy unit and India's first nuclear medicine department. He introduced combined modality treatment for oral cancer — integrating surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy — declared an 'innovative advance' in the International Year Book of Cancer, 1964.

He founded India's first paediatric oncology unit in 1960, conducted the country's first rural cancer screening survey in 1961, and after a decade of persistent effort, introduced the MCh in Surgical Oncology and DM in Medical Oncology — the first super-specialty oncology qualifications in India. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1970 and served as Honorary Surgeon to the President of India from 1987 to 1992.

He passed away on July 3, 2010. The Dr. S. Krishnamurthi Campus of Cancer Institute (WIA) stands as a permanent testament to a partnership with Dr. V. Shanta that lasted half a century and changed the face of cancer care in India.