Bhubaneswar, April 29: Prof. (Dr.) Ashok Kumar Mahapatra, eminent neurosurgeon and presently Principal Advisor (Health Sciences) to the Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan Deemed to be University (SOA) here, on Monday was conferred with the Padma Shri by the President Ms. Droupadi Murmu at a special function held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
Prof. (Dr.) Mahapatra was conferred with the award for his contribution in the field of medicine.
Prof. (Dr.) Mahapatra, who headed the neurosurgery department at AIIMS, New Delhi, and was appointed as the first Director of AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, also served SOA as its Vice-Chancellor.
He also worked as Director of the Sanjay Gandhi Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow.
Prof. (Dr.) Mahapatra is counted among the top five neurosurgeons in the world.
He had led the surgical team which battled for over 16 hours to separate the conjoined twins Jaga and Kalia at AIIMS-New Delhi which involved separating the cranium where the twins were fused. It is said to be the first such successful surgery conducted in India.
