FLORIDA (TIP): Dr. V. Mohan, diabetologist and founder of the Dr. Mohan’s Diabetes Specialties Center, Chennai, has been bestowed with the Harold Rifkin Distinguished International Service in the Cause of Diabetes Award. This makes him the first Indian physician to receive the highest accolade conferred by American Diabetic Association (ADA).

A noted diabetologist, Mohan has been working in the field of diabetes in Chennai for over three decades. He is the Chairman and Chief of Diabetology at Dr. Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre which is a WHO Collaborating Centre for Noncommunicable Diseases Prevention and Control and an IDF Centre of Education. He is also President and Director of the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation.

Presented in memory of Harold Rifkin, the award is meant to honor individuals who have provided outstanding service in the cause of diabetes. The awardees are usually doctors who have made an impact in the field of diabetes with an international perspective. The award also recognizes individuals whose efforts have increased the awareness of the burden of diabetes worldwide.

Mohan will receive the award during the National Scientific Achievement Awards Presentation Ceremony on the sidelines of the 78th Scientific Sessions of the ADA at Orlando, Florida.

Recipient of more than 160 awards, Mohan started working on diabetes as an undergraduate medical student when he joined his father Prof. M. Viswanathan a pioneer in diabetes in India. Together, they founded the first private diabetes center in India in 1971. He continued to work at this center till 1991.

Mohan and his wife, Dr. Rema Mohan, subsequently established their own diabetes centers under the name ‘Dr. Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre.’ Currently, he oversees 20 diabetes centers and clinics in India and one international diabetes center in Oman. More than 350,000 diabetic patients have been registered at these centers.

In 2012, Govt. of India awarded Mohan with Padma Shri – the highest civilian award – for his accomplishments in the field of diabetology. He is also the winner of Dr. BC Roy Award from the Medical Council of India and the Basanti Devi Amir Chand Prize from the Indian Council of Medical Research.