Dr Shailesh Vinayak Shrikhande, a renowned gastrointestinal cancer surgeon from Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, was awarded The Honorary Fellowship by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) during its Clinical Congress 2024 in San Francisco, recently. This prestigious recognition is the highest, and a rare honour conferred by the ACS, highlighting his significant contributions to cancer surgery.

He is the fourth Indian to get this honour from ACS and only second Indian to get honorary fellowship from American Surgical Association (ASA) in 2021. Serving as the Deputy Director of Tata Memorial Hospital, Dr Shrikhande also leads the division of cancer surgery and the gastrointestinal and hepato-pancreato-biliary service. He is recognised worldwide for his surgical expertise exemplified by performing over 1,200 Whipple procedures for pancreatic tumours. This surgery is universally regarded as the most challenging of surgeries.