The Radiation Warrior Against Cancer

Born on 11 October 1956 in the small village of Kunkoli near Ranikhet in the Kumaon hills of Uttarakhand, Mohan Chandra Pant grew up in a family of modest means. After early schooling in the village and college in Ranikhet, he graduated B.Sc. from Kumaon University and then earned his MBBS (1979) and MD in Radiology (1985) from King George’s Medical College, Lucknow.

He joined the same institution as a lecturer and rose to become Professor and Head of the Department of Radiotherapy, later serving as Director of the department. Advanced training took him to Tokyo for CT imaging, Germany for MRI, and to leading centres in the United States and at the UICC in Geneva for radiation oncology. He specialised in the treatment of common cancers of the mouth, lung, prostate, cervix and uterus, combining clinical excellence with public education and community outreach.

An institution builder, he served as Director of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, and became the founding Vice-Chancellor of the H.N.B. Uttarakhand Medical Education University, Dehradun. He also served as President of the Association of Radiation Oncologists of India. He authored books on cancer in Hindi and published extensively, always emphasising prevention and early detection.

His contributions earned him the Dr. B.C. Roy National Award in 2005, the Padma Shri in 2008, an honorary D.Sc. from Kumaon University, and numerous other national and international honours.

Padma Shri Dr. Mohan Chandra Pant passed away on 13 August 2015 after a brief battle with liver cancer. In the radiotherapy departments he strengthened, the medical university he helped found, and the many patients and students whose lives he touched, his legacy endures—courageous science, tireless teaching, and an unwavering commitment to the fight against cancer.