Prof. (Dr.) Radha Krishan Dhiman

Director, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow 226014, India

Member, National Medical Commission (NMC), India

MD, DM, FAMS, FACG, FRCP Edin, FRCP London, FAASLD

Recipient of Padma Shri and Dr BC Roy awards

Dr. Radha Krishan Dhiman is currently the President of AIIMS Patna, and the Director of Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Lucknow.

Born on June 4, 1960, Dr. Dhiman received his M.B.B.S. and M.D. in Medicine from King Georges Medical College, Lucknow in 1984 and 1987 respectively, Doctorate in Medicine (Gastroenterology) from Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow in 1991. He has been bestowed Fellow from several Institutions including American college of Gastroenterology, American Association for Study of Liver Diseases, Royal College of Physicians, London and Edinberg and National Academy of Medical Sciences. He subsequently joined prestigious Postgraduate Institute of Medical education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh as Assistant Professor in Hepatology and arose to the position of Head of the Department of Hepatology before he moved to SGPGIMS as its Director, Lucknow in 2020.

At PGIMER, Chandigarh, he was instrumental in starting first ever Doctorate in Medicine (DM) in Hepatology in the country, starting Liver ICU for sick patients with liver diseases and starting Liver Transplantation program at PGIMER, Chandigarh.

Dr. Dhiman was instrumental in devising a cost-effective algorithm for the treatment of hepatitis C at the public health level under Mukh-Mantri Punjab Hepatitis C Relief Fund, MMPHCRF. The primary care physicians and pharmacists across Punjab were trained to treat hepatitis persons in all 22 district hospitals and at all Government Medical Colleges across Punjab. The program has now been further expanded for micro-elimination of HCV infection in other populations, such as, co-infection with HIV, incarcerated persons, persons who inject drugs (PWID), persons on oral substitution therapy (OST), etc. Based on the success of Punjab model, Government of India launched the National Viral Hepatitis Control Program (NVHCP) on 28th July 2018 with provision of free diagnosis and treatment for viral hepatitis through the National Health Mission. Dr. Dhiman has been the Chairman of Technical Resource Group (TRG) of NVHCP and was Scientific Advisor to Hepatitis C Control Program in the Punjab, and Chairman, Injection Safety, Punjab, and member of “Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination (CGHE)”. In the capacity of Chairman, Injection Safety in Punjab, Dr Dhiman guided the introduction of Re-Use Prevention (RUP) syringes in all government hospitals in Punjab, a step toward safe injection practices for the prevention of new viral hepatitis infections.

Dr. Dhiman contributed significantly to fight against Covid in the state of Uttar Pradesh. He is the Chairman of the UP State Advisory Boards on Covid management and Covid-Associated Mucormycosis (CAM) in Uttar Pradesh. Creation of state-of-the-art Rajdhani Covid Hospital (RCH), as well as Protocols/SOPs for patient monitoring and management was done in record time. Telemedicine was utilized to its fullest during these troubled times in several aspects of Covid Care and Education. Capacity building of 52 State Medical Colleges of UP, via COVID-Version-1.0 (55-sessions) and 2.0 (95 sessions), comprising of 13 training modules, helped train over 75,000 health care workers; also included were Life Support Skill Training sessions. Electronic COVID Care Support (e-CCS) & e-OPDs (Nearly 55000 Tele-consultations/assistance). Dr Dhiman provided guidance and assistance in strategic planning, implementation and management of COVID in UP in the following areas: (a) Micro-containment, stricter CAB discipline and enforcement, enhanced RT-PCR testing, serosurvillance and genomic sequencing profoundly contributed to reducing COVID positivity rate in UP. Strategies employed in UP in fight against COVID have been well appreciated by WHO, Australia, Niti Ayog and media.

Dr. Dhiman has been front runner in promoting the organ donation. With all his efforts, the “Pledging for Organ donation” on driving license in Chandigarh UT became a realty in 2013; Chandigarh UT is the 2nd state/UT in India to have this honour. He started the website for organ pledging in 2012, conducted several public forums, poster making competition amongst school children, etc. for promoting organ donation in the region. As a result of active campaign for Organ Donation in this region since 2011, Chandigarh became the 2nd State/UT for Organ Donation in India.

Dr. Dhiman is recipient of numerous National and International awards and honours. He was awarded Dr BC Roy National Award, highest in the medical field, by the President of India (2008). He is recipient of 4-times Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) awards; “Basanti Devi Amir Chand” in 2009, “Amrut Modi Unichem” in 2007, “Shakuntala Amir Chand Award” in 1997 and “Dr DV Datta Memorial Oration Award” in 1996. He is recipient of several international awards; he received Harold O Conn Award by American Association for the study of Liver (AASLD). He has the honour of being President of the prestigious International Society on Hepatic Encephalopathy and Nitrogen Metabolism (ISHEN) for 6 consecutive years from 2012 to 2019. He was Secretary, Indian National Association for the Study of Liver (INASL) for 3 consecutive years – 2016, 2017 and 2018; he is now the President of the same society. He was Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Clinical & Experimental Hepatology (JCEH) for 10 years – 2011 to 2020. He was Governor of American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) for 6 consecutive years - 2011 to 2017.

1. President, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Patna
2. Director, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Lucknow 226014, India
3. Professor, Department of Hepatology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Lucknow 226014, India