In a family that valued learning, Ishwar Chander Verma was born on 25 December 1936. He studied medicine, trained in East Africa and the United Kingdom, and returned to India with a clear vision: the new science of genetics could transform the care of children and families facing inherited disorders.

In 1967 he joined the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. There he built India’s first dedicated genetics unit, later recognised as a WHO Collaborating Centre. For nearly three decades he taught, counselled and researched, making advanced genetic tests available at low cost and establishing the country’s first registry for genetic disorders. He unravelled the molecular basis of conditions such as thalassemia, muscular dystrophy and certain forms of deafness and albinism that particularly affect Indian populations.

In 1997 he moved to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and created another leading centre for medical genetics and genomics. Year after year he saw nearly two thousand families, offering diagnosis, counselling and hope where once there had been only uncertainty. He played a key role in shaping India’s National Policy for Rare Diseases so that more patients could receive treatment.

One young colleague once asked him, “Sir, why do you still see so many families yourself?”

Ishwar answered gently, “Because every family carries a story that textbooks cannot fully tell. Listening is the first step of care.”

He received the Dr. B.C. Roy National Award, fellowships of the Royal College of Physicians and the National Academy of Medical Sciences, and entry into the Limca Book of Records as a pioneer of genetics in India. In 2023 the nation awarded him the Padma Shri for his lifelong contribution to genetic medicine.

He continued working and publishing until near the end. On 8 February 2024 he passed away. From the laboratories of AIIMS to the counselling rooms of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Dr. Ishwar Chander Verma spent more than five decades laying the foundations of medical genetics in India and bringing clarity and compassion to thousands of families.