Professor of Surgery wins prestigious award

King’s Health Partners (KHP) Professor of Surgery, Prof Prokar Dasgupta [pictured below] has been recognised by the Indian Government for his distinguished service to medicine in this year’s Padma Awards.

The Padma Awards are one of the highest civilian honours of India announced annually on the eve of Republic Day and presented by the President of India. The Awards are given in three categories:

• Padma Vibhushan for exceptional and distinguished service;
• Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of a high order; and
• Padma Shri for distinguished service.

The award seeks to recognise achievements in all fields of activities or disciplines where an element of public service is involved. This year's list comprises four Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan and 107 Padma Shri Awards.

Prof Dasgupta received the Padma Shri award for his outstanding contributions to the field of medicine in the UK and beyond. He is internationally reputed as a clinician-scientist, educator, polymath and formerly editor-in-chief of the British Journal of Urology International (BJUI). Having received his medical degree from the University of Calcutta in 1989, Prof Dasgupta went on to pioneer robotic surgery in urology in the UK, and with the help of The Urology Foundation, trained and mentored several consultant surgeons and more than 30 fellows both nationally and internationally. His introduction of modern robotics has transformed how surgery is practiced, particularly with regard to prostate cancer.

Twenty-five years ago, while at Queen Square, Prof Dasgupta described the role of C-fibres in overactive bladders (OAB) and then developed the technique of injecting botulinum toxin-A under local anaesthesia. The "Dasgupta technique" and the first international trials of the toxin led to its licensing for OAB and influenced National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Guidelines.

More recently, through his role as Professor of Surgery at KHP, Prof Dasgupta was integral to bringing the Life Lines project to the AIIMS hospital in Rishikesh, India. The project was originally created in the UK to allow relatives to see and speak to their loved ones via a tablet using the secure online platform, ‘aTouchAway’. As India’s COVID-19 crisis hit, Prof Dasgupta with colleagues across KHP, and the support of public and private donations, rapidly developed and successfully implemented plans to use the same technology to connect with India’s clinicians on the frontline. This enabled them to access expert guidance, training and support. More information about the initiative can be found here.

On receiving the award, Prof Dasgupta commented:

It is a great privilege to receive the Padma Shri award for services to medicine. I would like to extend my gratitude to my colleagues across KHP who help facilitate all the fantastic surgical science collaborations that benefit patients’ lives in London and beyond. We have a duty to share our partnership’s expertise, insight and goodwill with others and so I very much look forward to continue working closely with our colleagues in India over the coming years.

More information on Prof Dasgupta’s outstanding work can found here.