Ishwar Chander Verma

Ishwar Chander Verma was a paediatrician who did more than almost anyone to build medical genetics services in India. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2023 in the field of medicine, from Delhi ^[1].

Training

Verma was born on 25 December 1936 ^[2]. He studied medicine at Amritsar Medical College, earned the MRCP in London and a diploma in child health from Glasgow University, and trained in genetics in Switzerland, Britain and the United States ^[2].

Firsts at AIIMS

He joined the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi as a lecturer in 1967 and became professor of paediatrics in 1988 ^[2]. In 1968 he set up India’s first genetics centre there, and later the first registry for genetic disorders ^[2]. He was also the first to offer advanced genetic tests at low cost using methods developed in India, and the unit he built became a World Health Organization collaborating centre in genetics ^[2]. After retiring from AIIMS he set up a modern genetics centre at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in 1997, which he led until 2018 ^[2].

Research and service

For about 20 years he studied health problems among tribal communities, including the Onge of the Andaman Islands, the Muria Gonds of Bastar and the Paniyans of Kerala ^[2]. He counselled thousands of families, set up prenatal diagnosis to help prevent genetic disease, and helped start patient societies for thalassaemia, intellectual disability and muscular dystrophy ^[2]. His studies measured the burden of genetic disorders in India, giving planners a baseline ^[2].

He wrote 445 research papers, edited the Indian Journal of Pediatrics from 1993 to 2018, advised the WHO for two decades and helped shape the government’s policy on rare diseases ^[2]. He received the Dr B. C. Roy national award ^[2]. Verma died in February 2024 ^[3].