The Father of Nephrology in Bihar

Born on 1 January 1938 in Supaur Jamua village of Munger district, Bihar, Indu Bhushan Sinha grew up in a modest government-servant household. He graduated from Patna Medical College in 1960 and later completed postgraduate training in general medicine and dermatology from Patna University. Selected by the Bihar government for specialised training, he studied nephrology at Christian Medical College Vellore, AIIMS New Delhi, Jaslok Hospital Mumbai, and the Royal Liverpool Hospital in the United Kingdom.

Returning home, he joined Patna Medical College as a faculty member in medicine and rose to become Professor and Head of the Department of Nephrology. He established Bihar’s first dialysis unit at the college, laying the foundation for organised kidney care in the state and neighbouring regions. For decades he treated patients, trained young doctors, and served as editor of The Patna Journal of Medicine. He remained a life member of the Indian Society of Nephrology and was widely regarded as the Father of Nephrology in Bihar.

His lifelong dedication earned the Padma Shri in 2008, the Master Teacher Award of the Association of Physicians of India, the Dronacharya Award, and Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Indian Society of Nephrology and other bodies. Married to Kumudani Sinha and the father of two children, he continued to guide colleagues and patients until his final years.

Prof. Indu Bhushan Sinha passed away on 14 November 2022 at the age of eighty-four. In the dialysis centres that now serve Bihar and in the many nephrologists who regard him as their teacher, his quiet pioneering work endures—bringing hope and specialised care to those whose kidneys had once offered little chance of recovery.