20 Facts About Raman Viswanathan

Raman Viswanathan was an Indian chest physician, medical mycologist and pulmonologist, considered by many as the father of Chest Medicine in India.

Raman Viswanathan was the founder director of Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute, a postgraduate medical institute based in Delhi.

Raman Viswanathan was associated with the University of Delhi during this period, as the head of the Department of Medicine and as the Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences.

Raman Viswanathan served as the honorary director till 1957 and continued as a full-time director till his superannuation in 1964.

Dr Raman Viswanathan was first married to Parvathi, a homemaker, and then to Dr Sharada, a gynaecologist at the Government Hospital, Delhi.

Dr Raman Viswanathan has two children from his first marriage to Parvathi; his son, Prof.

Raman Viswanathan died on 14 July 1982, at the age of 82.

Raman Viswanathan was involved in the establishment of several medical organizations.

Raman Viswanathan was among the group of medical professionals who founded the National Academy of Medical Sciences in 1961.

Raman Viswanathan was the founder president of the Association of Chest Physicians of India and stayed at the post till its reorganization in 1981.

Raman Viswanathan was one of the founders of the Asthma and Bronchitis Foundation of India and was its president since its inception.

Raman Viswanathan served as the president of many national and international conferences including the 8th National Congress of Diseases of the Chest, the Conference of the Association of Physicians of India, the National Tuberculosis Conference and the World Congress on Asthma, Bronchitis and Allied Conditions.

Raman Viswanathan was credited with pioneering research in bronchopulmonary diseases and was reported to be the first researcher to propose tropical eosinophilia as a distinct clinical entity in 1936.

Raman Viswanathan developed a novel bronchography technique and made innovations in tomography procedures.

Raman Viswanathan's researches covered several other diseases such as cerebral malaria, basal tuberculosis, lung atelectasis, bronchiectasis, emphysema, bagassosis, byssinosis, and high altitude pulmonary oedema, among others.

Raman Viswanathan published seven books which included Pulmonary Tuberculosis, Diseases of the Chest, Medical Problems of Old Age and more than 230 medical articles in peer reviewed journals, Epidemiology, Infectious hepatitis in Delhi : a critical study-epidemiology and A review of the literature on the epidemiology of infectious hepatitis being some of the notable ones; his articles and books have been cited in several medical journals and text books, too.

Raman Viswanathan founded a medical journal, the Indian Journal of Chest Diseases and Allied Sciences in 1959 as the publishing arm of Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute.

Raman Viswanathan, a founder fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences and an honorary physician to the President of India, was an elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, National College of Chest Physicians, Royal College of Physicians of London, American College of Chest Physicians and Academy of Medical Sciences.

Raman Viswanathan was a member of such medical societies as American Thoracic Society, the British Thoracic Society, Indian Association of Pathologists, Associations of Physicians of India and Indian Medical Association.

Raman Viswanathan received the Dhanwanthari Prize of the Indian National Science Academy in 1971.