Shyam Sundar

Kala-azar (visceral leishmaniasis) is a neglected tropical disease ^[2]. Shyam Sundar has spent four decades studying how to diagnose and treat it. In 2026 he was named for the Padma Shri in the field of medicine, from Uttar Pradesh ^[1].

Muzaffarpur

Sundar was born on 30 November 1953 and grew up in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, in the heart of kala-azar country ^[2]. He studied medicine at Banaras Hindu University and has taught there ever since; he is now an honorary professor of medicine ^[2].

In 1993 he set up the Kala-azar Medical Research Centre in Muzaffarpur, a charity that gives patients free diagnosis, treatment, food and travel money ^[2].

Research

Sundar helped evaluate the rK39 rapid test, which can diagnose kala-azar from a drop of finger-prick blood in about ten minutes ^[2]. He led trials of miltefosine, the first oral drug for the disease ^[2]. His citation says easy testing and oral treatment were major reasons for the elimination programme launched by India, Nepal and Bangladesh in 2005 ^[2].

In 2010 his study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that a single dose of liposomal amphotericin B worked better and was safer than the month-long treatment then used ^[2]. The WHO recommended it as a first-line treatment, the maker donated the drug, and the three countries reached their elimination target in 2023–24 ^[2].

He has been president of the Association of Physicians of India ^[2].