Ramakanta Panda

Ramakanta Panda, MCh, is the chief consultant for cardiovascular thoracic surgery and the group CEO of the Asian Heart Institute, a speciality cardiac care hospital under the aegis of Asian Hospitals, at the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai, India.

He joined SCB Medical College, Cuttack to do his MBBS and proceeded to do a post-graduation in surgery and heart surgery between 1980 and 1985 at AIIMS Delhi, and then to Cleveland Clinic, USA for his fellowship.

He has trained under cardiac surgeons like Floyd Loop and transplant specialist Magdi Yacoub, at Harefield Hospital in the UK.

Panda is credited and recognized among his peers as one of the first in India to introduce "total arterial revascularization", as well as being one of the pioneers of "off-pump" bypass surgery, redo bypass surgery and high-risk surgeries.

Panda has performed a number of high-profile cardiac surgeries on members of the Indian government.

In 2002, he set up the Asian Heart Institute in India.

Panda has performed about 28,000 successful cardiac surgeries as of 2022, including over 1,900 redo bypass surgeries.

In 2009, he led the team that successfully operated on the then-prime minister of India, Manmohan Singh.

This was followed by highly complex surgeries on several leaders of Indian politics, such as Lalu Prasad Yadav, Tarun Gogoi, Narasingha Mishra, D Raja, Rajiv Shukla and many others.

Panda was born at Damodarpur village of Jajpur district.

The son of a farmer he studied at Binod Bihari High School in Pritipur, Jajpur.

In January 2009, Panda led the AHI team that operated on Manmohan Singh, the then Prime Minister of India.

This successful 'redo bypass', the second for Singh, further cemented Panda's reputation as India's leading cardiac surgeons In 2009 Dr Panda also did a 5 arterial bypass on former parliamentary affairs minister, Mr Rajiv Shukla.

He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2010 by the Government of India.

Known as "the surgeon with the safest hands" Panda is also one of the world's safest heart surgeons.

In August 2010, Panda operated on Tarun Gogoi, Chief Minister of the north-eastern Indian state of Assam.

In January 2010, Panda was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award in India by Pratibha Patil, the president of India.

Panda has also been conferred with a degree of doctorate in science (honorius causa) from Utkal University, Orissa and Utkal Ratna by the Oriya Sahitya Samaj.

The Central Board of Taxes, government of India, has awarded him the Rashtriya Samman Patra twice, for being one of the highest taxpayers in India.

He was nominated to the AIIMS governing body.

In January 2014, Panda operated on D. Raja, a leader of the Communist Party of India

In June 2014 he operated on Odisha Congress leader and former minister Narasingha Mishra.

In August 2014, Panda operated on Lalu Prasad Yadav, ex Railway Minister and a significant politician from the state of Bihar.

Panda has also performed many successful cardiac surgeries that are widely recognised to have been extremely complex and challenging.

The most recent one was on 56-year-old Omani citizen Qassin Nasser Sultan Alriyani, who was gifted a second lease of life when Dr Panda performed six life saving procedures at a go on his heart.

After having had his heart cut open twice in two different countries, Alriyani was "finally literally snatched back from death by the cardiac surgeons at Asian Heart Institute (AHI), Mumbai."

In 2016, Dr Panda successfully operated on Puspa Saraf who underwent a 5th time operation to replace the aortic valve and Ascending Aorta.

On World Heart Day he addressed the country and spoke on why taking statins, as efficacious as they can be, should not replace living healthily in the battle against heart disease.

Along with Neurosurgeon B. K. Misra and former Police Commissioner of Mumbai Arup Patnaik, he set up the Konark Cancer Foundation for patients coming to the Tata Memorial Hospital for cancer treatment, providing them with financial support of up to INR 1 lac per patient, logistical support such as finding food and shelter for their attendants, providing other voluntary support, collecting and donating blood, medications and prosthesis.

Around 10,000 patients and their families have been benefited since its inception.